 | Bob Gabordi is executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat and Tallahassee.com. He can be reached through this blog, at bgabordi@tallahassee.com or (850) 599-2177 |
On the day man would accomplish the barely imaginable, the landing of our astronauts on the moon shared the front page of the Tallahassee Democrat with one of the great political and personal tragedies of the decade, if not the century.
On Sunday, July 20, 1969 the Democrat headline blared boldly “Big Day – Our Men Will Land on the Moon”. The next day's headline was even bolder -- printed in giant type and red ink: "Man Conquers Moon".
But taking up nearly a quarter of that Sunday’s front page was the story of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s car crashing into a saltwater river after it slipped off a bridge linking Chappaquiddick Island to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Kennedy – the kid brother and last survivor of America’s nearly royal foursome – escaped with his life, but his presidential aspiration were dashed by what are still largely unanswered questions. Among them: Who was Mary Jo Kopechne and what was this lovely young woman who was killed doing in Kennedy’s car that night? And why did the senator leave the scene of the accident without reporting it for eight hours?
For those of us who remember the first time man walked on the moon, it feels as if it was yesterday. It is hard to believe it was in reality 40 years ago. And yet time has raced by.
Man would indeed land on the moon that afternoon. The next day, July 21, the Democrat carried a complete transcript of the words Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin Jr. spoke from the moon’s surface to Michael Collins, who was orbiting the moon in Apollo 11.
We tried to guess what Neil Armstrong would say when he first stepped foot on the moon. A story in that day’s newspaper said it was his private secret. Then, when he stepped onto the surface he said: “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”
For the next 2 hours and 11 minutes, the world sat transfixed, barely able to believe our eyes, watching fuzzy black and white TV images of man’s greatest triumph in all of our history.
Oh, my goodness, nothing else was even close. Even soldiers in Vietnam paused to watch the landing.
Four large – barely discernable – black and white front page photographs sent back from the moon were displayed on the front page. They were technological miracles and accompanied by a note from the editors imploring readers to “Save Today’s Democrat” for posterity.
Inside those two newspapers were stories of everyday life here on Earth and an insightful look at a nation still struggling with civil rights and anti-Vietnam war protests. Our pages then – as now – captured for history life in Tallahassee.
Publix took out a double-truck ad (across two pages) offering 12 ears of corn for 49 cents, white bread for 19 cents and shrimp cakes for 59 cents.
A one-paragraph story from The Associated Press next to the ad told how the brother of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev A.D. King, 38, was found dead in a swimming pool at his Atlanta home.
A story on the front of the “Women” section showed women learning "useful" trades at Lively Vocational-Technical School. Included: Gloria Vickers taking recorded dictation; Jake C.C. Smith learning cosmetology; and Virginia Clark, Anita Parker and Earline Brewster learning to be nurses.
The Sunday newspaper was 56 pages; Monday contained just 24 pages.
A Legal Ad in the Sunday newspaper listed line items in the county budget. Revenues included $2,096,680 raised by assessing a tax of 5.117 mills. County commissioners were paid a combined total of $30,240 and had combined expenses of $4,560.
A smiling, mainly toothless Sherri Lynn Raker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Carlos Raker, was pictured in the Monday newspaper – amid all the lunar madness – on the occasion of her first birthday. Happy 41st birthday Sherri Lynn.
The parents of 11 local women announced their engagements that day.
Miller Shoes continued its semi-annual sale, with all shoes reduced to $10.99 or below.
Employment ads let you know if they wanted a man or woman worker, one saying: "Be a man, get a man’s job" working construction. Another was seeking a “Girl Thursday”. One ad said they take a man or woman.
An “Area Locator Map” in the real estate advertisement section went as far north to barely locate Killearn Estates and as far south as the fairgrounds.
A 3-bedroom, 2-bath home with a marble fireplace on 1.3 acres fenced and ready for a horses went for $24,000.
An asbestos-shingled, three-bedroom home near FSU, complete with central oil heat and a couple of air condition units was a bargain at $13,500.
Firestone offered a deal on tires: The first one cost $20; the second only $12.
Turner’s offered fine Knox straw hats for $12.99.
There was very little of what we would now call local news except feature stories, though a photograph of a cigar-smoking Frank Olds accompanied a small story on him taking a new job as controller at Florida A&M.
Movie advertisements showed the John Wayne, Glen Campbell, Kim Darby flick “True Grit” playing at the Varsity Theater, with the “Love Bug” being held over at the Miracle. A double feature of Sean Connery as James Bond in “Goldfinger” and “Dr. No” was playing at the Darby downtown.
Between them, both days sports section mentioned Florida State once, reporting that FSU football Coach Bill Peterson was back from visiting two former players, Chip Glass and Walt Sumner, then in camp with the Cleveland Browns. There was no mention of FAMU's sports program.
The reporting on the moon landing was spectacular. The July 21 newspaper not only carried the photographs and transcript, but also a large full color photograph of the moon, with red Xs showing where our astronauts landed and the spot 500 miles away in which an unmanned Soviet vehicle, Luna 15, had touched down that day.
It all feels so ancient history now, but really wasn’t so long ago, just one small step in the life of a man; one giant leap into the future.
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