Have you ever wondered what life was like in Jacksonville half a century ago? It was a different era of history, culture and politics but there are often parallels between the kind of stories that made headlines then and today. As interesting as the differences may be, so are the similarities. These are some of the top stories from this week in 1961. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library’s periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• A committee was formed to coordinate comprehensive planning to meet the Jacksonville area’s future transportation needs.
County Engineer John Crosby was named chairman of the group, which would include the official and semiofficial agencies concerned with automotive traffic in Duval County.
Present at the meeting at the courthouse were representatives of the Federal Bureau of Public Roads, the State Road Department, the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, the Duval County Commission, the City traffic engineer, the Police Department traffic division, the City Traffic Advisory Committee, the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jacksonville Coach Co.
There was an indication that other interested and affected agencies, such as the U.S. Navy, would be added to the membership as the committee’s studies progressed.
Mel Connor, the state’s engineer of traffic and planning, said officials in the Jacksonville area had gone further than officials in most other Florida cities to solve traffic problems, “but there’s still a lot to be done.”
• People walking past a warehouse at 834 E. Bay St. were likely to hear a hoarse-voiced auctioneer as they went by, but they wouldn’t hear any bids and they wouldn’t see any merchandise unless they were watching WJCT Channel 7.
Jacksonville’s educational TV station needed some money, and 1961 being the “electronic age,” it was decided to hold a televised auction to fill the till.
For three days from 5 p.m.-midnight, viewers could bid on items such as a lace wedding dress, fire extinguishers, bongo drums, a squirrel, fishing equipment, sock monkeys and automobile accessories.
Also on the clock were the labor for a new slipcover, a month of car washes and a two-week lunch ticket.
Bids were taken over the telephone and merchandise was sorted and distributed to winning bidders by volunteers.
Mrs. Jack Darby, who chaired the auction, said it was the first of its kind held on the East Coast and all funds derived from the auction would be used for the operation of the television station.
Ira Koger, president of Community Television, summed up the first night’s activity with the comment, “it looks like a real gone thing.”
One of the highlights was when a staunch Democrat made local political history by auctioning the wares of one of America’s most well-known Republicans.
City Commissioner Lou Ritter, who managed John F. Kennedy’s campaign for president in Duval County in 1960, took up the gavel for a book autographed by former Vice President Richard Nixon.
Ritter had to, or the book would not have been offered for auction.
The donor, an unidentified local Republican leader, stipulated that Ritter had to be the auctioneer for that particular piece of merchandise.
Ritter accepted the challenge, uttered some words of praise for Kennedy’s presidential opponent – “in the name of nonpartisanship,’ he said – and called for bids on the book. It brought in $30.
After the gavel fell for the final time, Koger said the auction brought $5,500, substantially less than the $20,000 that had been hoped for, but he said it was a success.
“Response of the merchants who donated the goods and services, the business and professional people who served as auctioneers and took bids over the telephone was truly wonderful. And we thank the public for its generous bids on much of the merchandise,” he said.
Asked if there would be a 2nd annual auction, WJCT Station Manager Gregory Heimer said, “absolutely.”
• The City Commission signed a 10-year contract with the Florida Public Utilities Co. of Fernandina Beach to supply electricity to that area.
Utilities Commissioner J. Dillon Kennedy said the City could realize a gross receipt of as much as $500,000 per year from the contract. He said the City Utilities Department would immediately begin installing lines from the San Mateo area to the Nassau County line along U.S. 17 at a cost of about $200,000. Kennedy said the new lines would also serve new residential development north of the city limits.
J.D. Daugherty, manager of the Fernandina Beach utility firm, said his company would begin construction of a substation and necessary utility lines at a cost of about $400,000.
• A campaign called “Spruce Up Downtown” was launched as a beautification project of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Council.
Franklin Reinstine, chairman of the council, said the six-week effort had been approved by the council’s board of directors.
The drive workers would urge Downtown merchants to brighten their storefronts with new paint, encourage displays of potted plants in front of stores and office buildings and the decoration of store windows in vacant buildings with civic promotion themes.
Organizations would be asked to provide displays promoting projects such as the United Fund-Community Chest fundraising drive, fire prevention and safety programs.
Retailers and property owners would be encouraged to install green shrubs and trees at the entrances to their buildings “to give Downtown a more eye-appealing atmosphere.”