In the 1980s Tonight Show host Johnny Carson dropped B-bombs on Bakersfield,
but by that time newspapers had long bruised the town’s image. The scolding about summer heat, tar-and-feathering, vigilante hangings, rigged town elections, and an expanding red-light district. A local newspaper wrote, in 1882, “This town, or its name rather, has become almost proverbial as the home of the gambler and sportsman. Horse racing, foot-racing and dog fighting are the everyday amusements, and at night time the gambling houses and dance halls are in full blast.”