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.
• The Circuit Court was asked by 7-Eleven Stores Ltd. to issue an injunction barring Mayor Haydon Burns from trying to close one of its stores on Sundays.
The complaint, filed for the grocery chain by attorney G.B. Stockton Jr., charged that Burns, in his role as police commissioner, had embarked on a campaign to prevent Sunday sales at the 7-Eleven store at 4500 Brentwood Ave.
It said the mayor, in ordering the arrest of a 7-Eleven employee on Dec. 16, relied on a 129-year-old state law. That statute, the complaint said, was not geared to modern business and social conditions and was unconstitutional on a number of grounds.
Aside from the injunction restraining Burns from his efforts to close the store on Sundays, the complaint asked Circuit Judge Marion Gooding to declare unconstitutional the old state law and also several City ordinances on the subject of Sunday sales.
Stockton said that 7-Eleven had tried without success to dissuade Burns from his attitude and called his attention to the fact that in Jacksonville, many grocery stores and other types of stores sold various types of commodities on Sundays without being molested by the police.
• Lithonia Rozier, 1961 Gator Bowl queen, opened a week of activities connected with the 17th annual Gator Bowl at a breakfast the day after Christmas for the queen and her court.
After the breakfast, Rozier and her court went to St. Augustine to greet the Penn State University football team.
Also on the agenda were television and personal appearances and presiding over the Gator Bowl basketball tournament.
Attending Rozier during the week of activities were Maid of Honor Maybeth Coker from Auburn University, Delores Loll from the University of Florida, Sherry Lynn Whitmore from the University of Georgia, Janice Marie Russell from Judson College and Charlotte Yonge from Jacksonville University.
• In the Gator Bowl game, Penn State defeated Georgia Tech 30-15 before a record crowd of 50,202.
Penn State quarterback Galen Hall, named almost unanimously the most valuable performer for the Nittany Lions, completed 12 of his 22 passes, including three for touchdowns, with no interceptions.
In giving up the 30 points, Tech not only marked its second post-season defeat in 10 games under head coach Bobby Dodd, it was also the worst football setback since the University of Alabama recorded a 54-19 defeat of the Yellow Jackets in 1950.
• The owner of a Beach Boulevard auction house was arrested and charged in connection with the theft of almost $20,000 worth of whiskey, which police said had been recovered.
George John Schweiger Jr., 41, of 6226 Holly Bay Drive, was being held in the Duval County jail on a federal charge of receiving property stolen from interstate commerce. Bond was set at $5,000.
City Police Capt. Robert Starratt said Schweiger was taken into custody when he arrived at the T&R Auction House. He was apprehended following information from City Patrolman K.A. Brown that the liquor was believed to be at the auction house.
Officers found 483 cases of whiskey in the building and in a panel truck parked behind the building. Starratt said part of the load had been left in the truck because all of the whiskey wouldn’t fit in the building.
Starratt said Schweiger claimed he got the whiskey from a man who told Schweiger he would give him two new television sets and $500 if the whiskey could be stored at the auction house.
Schweiger said he had received the television sets and was to get the money after the whiskey had been sold. One of the sets was found at Schweiger’s home and the other was found in the auction house, police said.
The whiskey, along with a large trailer in which it had been shipped from Baltimore, was stolen from Jacksonville Transfer and Storage Inc. at 1207 Willow Branch Ave. after someone hitched a tractor unit, also stolen, to the trailer and drove off.
• The City Commission approved specifications for a new San Mateo substation intended to improve electrical service in the northern end of the county.
The commission authorized the City Electric Department to let the project for bids, due Jan. 23. The station would be similar to those at Robinwood Acres on Merrill Road and several others in the electric system.
The commissioners also adopted a resolution endorsing a proposed airline route between Jacksonville and Nassau in the Bahamas. The resolution noted there was “a great trade potential” between Jacksonville suppliers and Bahamian merchants, as well as “tremendous tourist potential” that could be served by such a route.
The route was being sought by Mackey Airlines and would be the first direct international airline service in Jacksonville.
• Wood’s Pharmacy at 1186 Edgewood Ave., which also housed a post office contract station, was robbed of $343.10 in cash, but the post office was not looted.
Patrolman J.W. Douglass said the burglars forced open a door leading to unoccupied offices above the store, went into a utility closet in one of the offices and used a power saw to cut a hole in the closet floor.
They then used a rope to lower themselves into the store, he said.
The police report said the robbers looted three cash registers and a service window into the postal station was forced open, but no packages or mail were taken.
• At a meeting at the Robert Meyer Hotel, Franklin G. Russell was elected chairman of the Committee of 100, the industrial and business development group of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce. He succeeded Ira Koger, who had served in the post for two years.
Also at the meeting, Mayor Haydon Burns urged support of a special $7.65-million municipal improvement bond issue that would be voted on in a freeholder election April 3. Burns said the proposed bond issue was the first in Jacksonville in 25 years to be dependent on direct ad valorem taxes.
Burns said the funds were to be used to build a waterfront parking lot behind City Hall on East Bay Street, a new public library and a riverfront park on the Southbank.
“The more we can do to make our community attractive, the more we will do to bring new business and industry to Jacksonville,” Burns said.
• It was noted that Jacksonville might be “regaining its pre-World War II status as a cruise ship port of call.”
Capt. Norman Helfrich, secretary of the World Trade Committee of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, announced there would be five Caribbean cruises from Jacksonville early in 1962.
For a few years prior to 1961, there had been one cruise to the Caribbean from Jacksonville each year in connection with trade conferences held under the committee’s auspices.
Helfrich said those cruises had been so successful that the five excursions were planned for 1962. Reservations for the first departure April 29 were already coming into his office, Helfrich said. The committee was sponsoring the first cruise as a goodwill tour for local business owners to meet business contacts in the Bahamas.
Other cruises were scheduled May 3, May 7, May 11 and May 17.
“These cruises will be the biggest thing that has happened in shipping circles in Jacksonville for many years and are certainly something we want to foster and encourage in every way possible,” Helfrich said.