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 1962. The items were compiled from the Jacksonville Public Library's periodical archives by Staff Writer Max Marbut.
• A six-member Circuit Court jury brought a $390,941 judgment on behalf of an accident victim, 34-year-old Phyllis Parker, who was disabled due to her injuries.
Circuit Judge Charles R. Scott, who heard the case, said it was the largest judgment in Duval County history.
The defendants were Larry Heald, a sailor who was driving an automobile that collided head-on with the vehicle in which Parker was a passenger, killing the other two occupants; and Pat Brady and Rita Madera, the joint owners of the vehicle Heald was driving.
Evidence presented in court indicated Heald was driving after 1 a.m. March 12, 1961, east on Normandy Boulevard west of Cassat Avenue.
His vehicle was straddling the center line just before the crash with the westbound vehicle in which Parker was a passenger.
Three medical specialists testified that Parker would use a wheelchair the rest of her life and require constant nursing care.
The jury set damages at $10,941 in medical expenses plus compensation for Parker's inability to earn wages and for pain and suffering, inability to lead a normal life and for nursing services.
The panel deliberated about two hours before returning the verdict against the defendants.
• The temperature in Jacksonville on Thursday morning was recorded at 12 degrees.
Roads were spotted with steaming motor vehicle engines while many vehicles never moved due to dead batteries.
Ted Stephenson of 5213 Brooks Circle in the Saratoga Point area woke up to find his sailboat trapped in ice on the Riviera Canal, a tributary of the Arlington River.
At the Jacksonville Zoo, the cheetahs, lions and monkeys huddled under sun lamps, while the polar bears and sea lions were at home in the frigid weather.
It was noted that most of the animals were warmer than the 10 people who visited the zoo that day.
"Most all of our animals are from the tropics and have to have heat in a hard freeze like this. They can become acclimated to some degree of cold, but can't take a sustained cold," said Newton Baldwin, zoo director.
"The main danger is that the tails of the monkeys and cats might freeze off. If their tails freeze, you have to amputate it like you'd cut back a limb on a frozen plant. You cut it back to the good part or it will rot off," he said.
Baldwin said only two or three monkeys had lost their tails in the cold since he became zoo director in January 1959.
• Marred by only one name-calling incident, the Duval County Zoning Board held what was described as "one of the quietest sessions in months" and approved 25 petitions to rezone suburban properties.
The lone flare-up came when the petitioner, Charles Smith, became irate over the denial of his request for a zoning classification allowing the sale of liquor. Smith called Commissioner O. Ray Greene Sr. "an old stinker."
Smith appeared before the zoning board to support his petition to rezone a .23-acre plot on the east side of Philips Highway south of Gilchrist Road, from Business B to Business A-2, which would permit liquor sales.
Smith said he wanted to sell beer in a restaurant on the premises. He said tourists would enter the establishment and then leave before ordering when they learned they could not have a beer with their meal.
When Greene stated he would reject the rezoning, he told Smith he could see Zoning Director John Crosby and obtain a letter that would allow a zoning variance to sell beer.
"Somebody told me you were an old stinker," Smith said as he prepared to leave.
"That's right. I am an old stinker when it comes to selling liquor. I've always tried to do the best I can for the benefit of Duval County," said Greene.
"We'll be glad to get rid of you the first of the year," Smith said, referring to Greene's decision not to seek re-election, and therefore scheduled to leave office in January after serving 28 years on the commission.
After the verbal back-and-forth, Greene told Crosby to "forget about" giving the letter by which Smith would be allowed to sell beer.
• Seventy-six Duval County residents who lived in Jacksonville or in adjacent suburban areas were named to the Forward Jacksonville Committee, chaired by Franklin Bunch.
The special committee of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce was formed to promote a favorable Jan. 8 vote on the question of annexation.
Bunch said committee members would "work on a vigorous program" to gain support for the annexation vote to determine if four areas that bordered the city limits would become part of the city on Jan. 1, 1964. Voters in the city and in each of the four zones would cast ballots in the referendum.
Joseph Kennelly Jr., a member of the Duval County Budget Commission, said he could not support the annexation proposal.
"The ultimate end would be a good deal more taxes, particularly in the city area," he said.
Kennelly said property taxes could double if annexation were implemented.
• Richard Hardage of Hardage and Sons Funeral Homes of Jacksonville received the Award of the Roses citation from the International Order of the Golden Rule.
Hardage was the first funeral director in Florida to receive the award, said E.L. Connally, national chairman of the Award of the Roses committee. He said the award each year was made on the basis of contributions to the civic, cultural and business life of a community.
The International Order of the Golden Rule was one of the largest controlled membership organizations in funeral service.
• C.W. Beaufort, president of McCall Service Inc., was elected president of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce. He would succeed Harry Kincaid of the law firm of Knight, Kincaid, Poucher and Harris.
Beaufort was a trustee of Jacksonville University and president of the Jacksonville University Council. He also was vice president of the Boys Home Association, state president of the Navy League and an elder of the Riverside Presbyterian Church.
• Martin G. Williams Jr. followed in his father's footsteps when he was elected president of the Jacksonville Beach Chamber of Commerce for 1963.
Louis Badger, a furniture dealer, was elected vice president in charge of committees. Real estate and insurance agent Harvey Borum was elected vice president in charge of memberships and finances and H.M. Shelley was re-elected executive vice president and treasurer.
Williams, a Realtor, on Jan. 1 would take over the position once held by his father. Martin Williams Sr. was elected in 1941 as the organization's first president.
• A huge bone found buried in the sand at Neptune Beach was tentatively identified as belonging to a whale skeleton.
Keith Hanson, associate professor of biology at Stetson University, and James Layne, a zoologist at the University of Florida, agreed the find could be a bone from a whale.
The artifact was dug up by 12-year-old Pamela Jane Davis of 1662 Flagler St. in Jacksonville, whose family also had a home at 101 Rose Place in Neptune Beach.
• Hundreds of children who mailed their annual letters to Santa Claus were receiving a surprise in return: an answer to their Christmas correspondence.
Postmaster James Workman Jr. said the city's growth led Santa to assign a special helper in Jacksonville. Workman said a big part of the helper's job was to single out deserving local youngsters who had been good at home and in school in 1962, and to decide what kinds of gifts they should receive.
"Santa's helper is answering as many of those letters as he possibly can," said Workman.
He said he was justified in assigning a helper for the project based on the joy it could bring the response recipients.
"I know those kids get a big thrill out of writing their letters, but imagine the thrill they are getting when their letters are answered," Workman said.