Olskoolninja answered my query for information regarding the Jay, Florida Pac Man graffiti, but his evocative reminisces serve only to deepen by curiosity. What do nudists, hurricane victims and the KKK have to do with Pac Man scrawlings?
I’m deeply fascinated now by what I imagine must be a very simple, and probably very boring story.
I grew up in Pensacola, Florida which is right down the road from Jay. I moved away from the area after Hurricane Ivan because my house got messed up really bad, but during high school we would travel to Jay for football games every season. Jay, along with the rest of the northwestern most tip of Florida’s panhandle was hammered by Hurricane Ivan almost three years ago.
Traveling through the area, you’ll see lots of small buildings that were boarded up prior to the storm, damaged during the storm, and never reopened after the storm due to exstinsive roof damage. I’m sure that this strip of storefronts fall into that category. If you notice in the photo, you can see a claw painted there as well, which is part of an artistic representation of the local high school’s mascot. I’m pretty sure that building use to be an grease trap dinner, but I’m not 100% sure.
Jay itself has always been very small community. A majority of its citizens are members of a nudist commune near there. Everyone else are farmers and whatnot. The first season of Road Rules on MTV had the cast visit Jay and the nudist camp. Also, I think historically, Jay was a strong hold for the area’s branch of the KKK.
Proving once again that video games are essentially racist.
I love this shit, don’t you? Gives me a sort of false-nostalgic tingly feeling of strange places and curious happenings. Thanks, Olskool. Eliza Gauger
Previously on Kotaku: Only Pac Man Remains
Original post by graffiti – Google News
