September 7, 1968: The Great 'Bra Burning' Myth and the Freedom Trash Can

The Day Undergarments Made History (Without Actually Burning!)

On September 7, 1968, Atlantic City hosted its annual Miss America Pageant, but the real spectacle was happening outside on the boardwalk. Around 400 feminist activists organized by New York Radical Women staged a protest that would accidentally birth one of pop culture’s most enduring urban legends (History.com).

The Infamous "Freedom Trash Can"

Armed with signs and plenty of snark, protestors set up an oversized trash receptacle dubbed the Freedom Trash Can. The plan was simple: ceremoniously discard items deemed oppressive or ridiculous symbols of forced femininity. Into the can went:

• High-heeled shoes
• False eyelashes
• Corsets and girdles
• Issues of Playboy and Cosmopolitan
• Dishcloths
• And yes—bras!

The Fire That Never Was

While popular memory insists the event was an epic, blazing inferno of lingerie—giving rise to the phrase "bra burner"—the boardwalk had strict city ordinances against bonfires. Organizers Robin Morgan and her fellow activists never actually set fire to anything in the bin; the contents were merely thrown inside! A journalist covering the protest playfully compared tossing bras into the trash to draft-card burnings of the era, and the sensationalist rumor spread like, well, wildfire.

Crowning Miss America… The Sheep?

To make their point about society evaluating contestants like livestock, protestors also crowned a literal live sheep as Miss America right on the boardwalk. The sheep reportedly remained unbothered by the sash and thoroughly unimpressed by pageant politics.

Next time someone mentions historical 'bra burnings,' you can tell them the true story of September 7th: a sheep, a trash can, and an unlit undergarment revolution!