In 1923, Atlantic City’s beaches were watched by more than lifeguards. Beach censors patrolled the sand, enforcing rules of modesty and proper conduct, right down to how a young woman wore her stockings.
Eighteen-year-old Sadie White of Philadelphia learned this the hard way when she was ordered to roll up her stockings near Mississippi Avenue. According to the beach officer, her response was not meek obedience, but a single scandalous word: “damn.”
That was enough to get her arrested, accused of abusive language and resisting arrest, and ordered to make a very public apology to the overly sensitive lifeguards and beach patrolmen nearby.
Girl Says “Damn”
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey. — Because she was alleged to have said “damn” to a beach censor who ordered her to roll up her stockings, Miss Sadie White, 18 years old, of Philadelphia, has been ordered to apologize to every lifeguard and beach patrolman in the vicinity of Mississippi Avenue.
Beach Officer Harry Saunders, who had the girl arrested, testified that she not only used abusive language but also resisted arrest.
Source: The Beatrice Daily Express. Beatrice, Neb. September 10, 1923.
