The "Kissing Banned!" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Searching the archives of the Lancaster Newspaper for a story I was writing about the COVID Virus when I came across an news article titled, "Ban On Kissing? Not In Lancaster Stations."  Just had to take the time to read the article that appeared on the front page of the "Examiner-New Era" on Tuesday, January 31, 1922.  

Article in Lancaster Newspaper (click to enlarge)

So...what was this all about.  Well, the story said we were supposed to stop kissing in the railroad station in Lancaster.  Seems that a police officer who was on duty at the train station had just been asked that question by a newspaper reporter.  "Got enough trouble!" he told the reporter.  Seems there must have been a bad snowfall and many of the patrons at the train station were stranded due to the trains being held up by the bad weather.  He also said, "Seems to me that it isn't within the jurisdiction of anyone to stop orderly kissing.  If they want to spread germs, let 'em spread it. It's none of our business."  Seems that isn't so in other parts of the country, according to the article.  In Chicago kissing is such a menace that train schedules were affected by it and therefore banned in Chicago train station.  But, in Philadelphia, as in Lancaster, officials can't see how a kiss can interfere with the train schedule.  They said that if a train needs to leave on time, someone late getting on the train due to kissing will just have to miss the train.  They'll have to remain clinched until the next train arrives.  The final sentence in the story seems to tell it all: "So along with Lancaster, Philadelphia, too, remains an open port for those not given to saying it merely with flowers and candy."  Don't you just love it?  The house where I grew up was the house closest to the railroad station on North Queen Street.  I spent many hours at the station watching the trains and perhaps a kiss or two during my youth.  Guys in uniform were known for missing their girlfriends from time to time.  My friends and I would get a chance to watch them smooch a bit more when that happened.  Never remember a policeman telling them to knock it off.  But, kissing was banned quite a few times in history.  A ban on kissing was enacted on July 16, 1439 in England due to the Plague in England and Europe.  It was enacted by Henry VI as a precaution to prevent its deadly trail.  A few months later Italy was considering a ban on kissing and closed all schools and Universities to help tackle the epidemic as the virus death toll in the country continued to rise.  But, along comes the Pope and is seen kissing and embracing the faithful in St. Peter's Square and in no time the Vatican announced he had fallen ill with a cold.  He did test negative for the virus, but it could have been worse.  Then came French President Emmanuel Macron who greeted Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte with a double cheek kiss in Naples.  He too was lucky, but France then told citizens to avoid the rational greeting to help contain the disease.  In the Catholic Church, the "kiss of peace" is a traditional Christian greeting which most Protestant churches have done away with.  For now, it was reported that the ritualistic "kiss of peace" has ben replaced by the handshake.  But, is that as safe as it might appear to be?  In the Middle Ages in England, most Catholics kissed; men kissed men, women kissed women and men and servants kissed the rings and feet of their lords.  The "Kiss of Peace" which is a greeting in the Christian religion, still remains, but is now banned in many European nations.  Kissing has been a big deal for years, but the kiss that went viral was the one taken in Times Square, New York  on August 14, 1945 when Life photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captured one of the greatest photographs in history.  

Eisenstaedt's famous kiss.

A young woman named Greta Zimmer stood motionless in Times Square.  With the 44th Street sign and the Astor Hotel to her back, she looked up at the tall triangular building that divided the two. The message running across the Times Building read, "VJ, VJ, VJ. . . .  As she gazed at the moving type a smile widened her lips.  At about the same time George Mendonsa, dressed in his navy uniform, saw this young nurse dressed in her uniform and grabbed Greta, bending her backwards and to her right.  Their lips locked as his left arm supported her neck.  Eisenstaedt spun around at the right moment and snapped the photo that will forever define the ending of WWII in New York.  The shot of the kiss was on the cover of Life and was Life's most reproduced image as well as one of history's most popular.  That photo of the couple kissing is on the same scale as Joe Rosenthal's photo of the flag raising at Iwo Jima.  Now I ask you, would that kiss had taken place in Times Square if it was a week or even a month ago?  I doubt it!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.