When I first came across this 1943 photo from Miami’s Club Bali (which was located at 8th & Biscayne), I just thought it was sort of a cool shot (notice the white-jacketed waiter in the upper right). But a closer look reveals that the gentleman on the left is Miguelito Valdez, the famous Cuban singer [...]
Archive | Pop Culture / History
Miami Faces in the Crowd: Miguelito Valdés
Published August 27, 2011
Published in Pop Culture / History
Nicholas Schenck | People on Miami Beach
Published July 19, 2011
Had you passed by this old-timer lounging on the sands of Miami Beach with his wife back in 1954, you probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. And you surely wouldn’t have thought to yourself: “Hey, that’s the guy who was responsible for shaping social attitudes in American society through much of the twentieth [...]
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A New Perspective on the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926
Published January 21, 2011
“How one girl survived the Hurricane” Anyone who’s lived in Miami for more than a year or so has undoubtedly heard about the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. The disaster is trotted out every year at the beginning of each hurricane season when the media begins its mass-hysteria campaign, and after a few years you get sort [...]
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Gators to Casinos | An American Success Story in Miami
Published March 24, 2008
The Seminole Queen, shown here in 1950, ran “jungle cruises” to points around Miami including the Musa Isle Seminole Indian Village where tourist could see “real indians” going about their normal everyday routine — which apparently included lots of alligator wrestling.
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Swinging Sixties: When the Boom Turned to Bust in Miami Beach
Published February 17, 2008
Mitch Glazer’s series, Magic City, highlights a part of Miami’s history that many consider the city’s most glamorous era. It was a time when Sinatra crooned in the big Miami Beach hotels while Mr. & Mrs. Middle America took cha-cha lessons by the pool. It was the last gasp of a dying scene and a [...]
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Boys Will be Boys: The Miami Ku Klux Klan in 1937
Published February 11, 2008
Well, here’s a photo that never made it into the travel brochures. From 1937, it’s the Miami nightriders assembling at Moore Park for a night of fun and games doing that voodoo that they do so well…
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Miami or Miami Beach? A Question from the Swinging Sixties
Published October 12, 2007
Question: “My father says he remembers going to the old Playboy Club in Miami, while his golfing buddy swears it was located over in Miami Beach. Is it possible there were two Playboy Clubs in the Miami area?” (Jason K. from Syracuse, NY) Answer: Anything is possible in Miami and actually, they’re both correct—sort of…
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Miami Beach’s Long-Gone Lincoln Road Movie Theatre
Published September 23, 2007
We’ve had several inquiries from Miami Beach history buffs asking for information on a movie theater that once stood in the 1000 block of Lincoln Road on the north side of the street. After a little research and a lot of luck, we finally found the answer: The Community Theatre, 1007 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach.
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Sheridan Theatre in Miami Beach
Published September 22, 2007
Sheridan Theatre, Miami Beach
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The UnWelcomed Visitor: Al Capone in Miami
Published August 13, 2007
Two years after the hurricane of 1926 and while Miami was still reeling from the collapse of the great Florida land boom, Al Capone quietly purchased a bay-front home on Palm Island through an associate for $40,000, and spent another $100,000 to turn it into a walled-in fortress watchfully guarded by his ever-present security team [...]
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