They're Coming for Your Porn, Even if You Don't Have Any
It's never about what they say.
In 1926, a mom was arrested on Coney Island for “exposing herself” while wringing out her bathing skirt. They hauled her to jail and called her husband to come pick up their kids. The mom had to face a judge.
In the 1920s, cities across the U.S. hired undercover police officers as “censors” to patrol the beaches. Sometimes they carried around measuring tape. In absurd displays of “modesty,” they fined and arrested women of all ages if they didn’t adhere to a strict set of dress codes. Some towns even hired “beach tailors” who worked with censorship boards to modify indecent swimwear.
These codes weren’t special to the Bible belt. Chicago’s police constable went on record praising such work. As he declared, “If it had not been for the unsympathizing policewomen on duty our city’s beaches would have looked like a second Garden of Eden.” Over the years, beach censors became obsolete. There was never any official declaration that women could wear what they wanted on public beaches. Instead, cities just got tired of funding enforcement.
If you thought those days were over…
Think again.