Foul Language

(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

It was a Thursday night in July, 1947, and some people were fishing off one of the bridges in Hobart. Towards midnight, some drunk guy evidently starting making himself obnoxious and using foul language.

What caught my fancy about this Complaint Record was the aggrieved tone of the narrative — "I gave him a chance but he got nasty" — and the seeming shock of the officer (who must have heard worse in his career) that this man would use "nasty words" in the presence of women.

I think the "you" in the report was the Chief of Police. No idea who that was in 1947. I think the "H." signing the report was Officer Helin. Not sure. I'm getting ahead of my newspaper reading here.

In the arrest/complaint record collection, there are a arrests of men for using obscene language in the presence of women — in one case a husband and wife. No arrests of women for using obscene language. A few cases of women being drunk enough to warrant arrest, although their number is dwarfed by the men's.