This day in history: Parachuting Santa wowed crowds at Shadle Center; airplane bootlegger surrendered

From 1974: The Christmas shopping season got off to a wild start at the Shadle Center.

Thousands of people jammed the parking lot, necks craned to the sky as an airplane appeared high overhead.

A figure dropped from the airplane, red smoke trailing behind him. Suddenly, a red-white-and-blue parachute opened up, and as the figure floated closer, it became clear: It was an airborne Santa Claus.

He descended to a roped-off area. His heavy boots smacked the blacktop and after “a quick roll to his knees,” he bounced back to his feet.

“Hearty waves and handshakes closed the program.”

From 1924: Verne Secrest, the notorious “airplane bootlegger” surrendered to authorities to avoid a $1,500 bond forfeiture.

Then he made an unusual request. He said he wanted to be allowed to “enter the penitentiary alone,” without being handcuffed. He said it would hurt his pride to be treated like an ordinary bootlegger.

The sheriff was not sympathetic. He told him he would be taken to prison with a guard and handcuffs like everyone else.

Secrest had been caught months ago with a load of liquor near Minnehaha.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1487: The first German Beer Purity Law is promulgated in Munich by Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria, stating beer should be brewed only from water, malt and hops.

1876: Archaeologist Henrich Schliemann discovers the gold Mask of Agamemnon at Mycenae in Modern Greece, known as “the Mona Lisa of prehistory.”