In 1902, a few kisses in a Newark park were enough to land one couple before Judge Herman Schalk and cost them $10.
The story might have ended with a small fine and a bit of local embarrassment, but the public had other ideas. Letters poured in from across the country, many of them mocking the judge and defending the right of lovers to kiss where they pleased.
Judge Schalk soon found himself explaining that he had kissed girls in parks in his younger days, too, and claimed that he would not have fined the couple if they had not pleaded guilty.
The newspaper, however, was not entirely on the side of romance. While admitting that public sentiment favored kissing, the writer still argued that kissing was best kept out of public view, comparing it to the awkward spectacle of eating corn on the cob.
The result is a wonderfully fussy little morality tale from the turn of the century.
Some Kisses and a Fine
NEWARK, New Jersey. — It takes just one column in a New York paper to set Judge Herman Schalk, of Newark, N.J. right.
Incidentally it is alleged that public sentiment is in favor of kissing and will not draw the lines too closely on the publicity of the billing and cooing. The idea seems to be that if men and women desire to kiss, it is the duty of those who don’t like it to look the other way.
The judge fined a couple $10 for kissing in the park. They did it several times. The smacks were copious. Some of them approached in intensity, the degree affected by Olga Nethersole. A park policeman, with righteous indignation burning holes in his jacket ran the couple in. They pleaded guilty, and the judge did the rest.
It didn’t end there. From all over the country came letter to the judge. The missives were full of sarcasm and cuss words. He was denounced and reviled, and he is sorry. He admits that in his younger days he kissed many a girl in the park, and explains that if the delinquents had not pleaded guilty he would never have assessed the fine.
That portion of the public whose opinion is worth much will not condemn the judge.
Why lovers or those who think they are lovers should desire to kiss in public is a mystery. There is supposed to be a certain amount of romance attached to escalation. It is an operation that thrives best and reaches its greatest perfection when shaded by darkness. Few people do it skillfully or artistically. To the outsider it looks mussy, as much so as eating green corn from the cob, and the people will continue to place those who kiss in public in the category of fools or worse.
Judge Schalk’s fine should stand.
Source: The Spokane Press. Spokane, Wash. November 13, 1902.
