1907 – Key West Mayor J.N. Fogarty prohibited the sale of giant firecrackers and toy pistols that fired projectiles. Ordinary fireworks and firecrackers would be permitted during the holidays.
1909 – Key West was recovering from the October hurricane, and most stores and residences not completely destroyed were by that point repaired. Thousands of holiday shoppers crowded downtown, thrilling merchants with the renewed trade.
1930 – The Woman’s Club, the Salvation Army and U.S. Army distributed 291 dinners to poor of the city.
1936 – Pena’s Garden of Roses held its grand opening. It was located on Thomas Street, behind the Monroe County Courthouse, and was Key West’s favored “watering hole” in the days before WWII. The Navy annexed the neighborhood during the war, and the building was destroyed to make room for military structures.
1949 – The Blackout Restaurant had a special “Noche Buena” Christmas Eve dinner of roast pork with black beans and rice for $1.25.
1954 – Over 1,500 Jehovah’s Witnesses arrived in Key West for a three-day regional convention of the congregation’s Southeast Circuit. Lectures, films, and musical programs were to be presented, and the group planned to make house-to-house calls across the island.
Information compiled by Dr. Corey Malcom, Lead Historian, Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.
Image: A crowd gathered inside Pena's Garden of Roses Bar on Thomas Street, ca. 1940. Monroe County Public Library, Florida Keys History Center.