It's almost Valentine's Day, so naturally our thoughts turn to divorce. Actually, they don't, but the Hallmark holiday seemed like a good excuse to look back on those dark days when getting a divorce was officially frowned upon, suppressed by onerous state laws that actively discouraged the civil disunion of couples ready to be singles again.
In the 1930s, the unhappily married fled to Reno, where the town's finest hotels were strategically located near the Washoe County Courthouse. There, judges granted divorces with assembly-line efficiency. It didn't really matter why a husband or wife wanted a divorce, only that the plaintiff had been a resident of the great state of Nevada for a full six weeks.
(thanks Ben)
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