LAUGH, AND WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU...

(Source of image: Florida State Archives)

"Okey, Oakite" -- Does anyone know what this strange message means?  The dictionary defines "okey" as simply another spelling for "OK."  But what about "Oakite"?  The photo dates from 1949, yet there's no clue given as to what the occasion was. 

The identity of the gentleman playing the clown is no mystery, though.  He was from Jacksonville, according to the Florida State Archives.  The man and his wife lived on River Road in San Marco, close to the historic Swisher estates.  When he wasn't clowning around, the man worked as a manufacturer's agent, with his own business in the Union Wholesale Terminal Building.  Dating from 1913, this large, warehouse-type structure still stands near the Old City Cemetery in East Jacksonville.  It's located north of State Street on the way to the Mathews Bridge.

MYSTERY PROBABLY SOLVED!!! -- Thanks to Internet sleuthing of Julie Howell of Jacksonville, this mystery is likely solved.  Ms. Howell found that Oakite is a cleaning solvent.  Considering that the man playing the clown worked as a manufacturer's agent, it does seem as if he was plugging the substance and/or a company named Oakite Products Inc.  Founded in 1909, Oakite Products was originally based solely on the production of Oakite, according to a website maintained by Industrial Paint & Powder.  The stuff was used as a household and industrial cleaner to remove grease, oil, and soils from various surfaces.  During World War II (which ended only four years prior to the photo), the Oakite product expanded into a full line of cleaners, brighteners, and rust preventatives.  These served in the manufacturing of aircraft, ships, tanks, and munitions.  Oakite Products has continued today as Chemetall Oakite Products Inc.

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