Archive for Pop Culture / History
Gators to Casinos | An American Success Story in Miami
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.
Swinging Sixties: When the Boom Turned to Bust in Miami Beach
Miami Beach was conceived as a glamorous tropical destination where well-to-do visitors could enjoy the sun and surf unfettered by the masses. But, by the late 1950s the Miami Beach experience had become a commodity — a pre-packaged, vacation-on-a-stick experience that was sold to middle America by legions of hotel hucksters intent on making a fast buck off of the illusion of glamour that others had created.
Boys Will be Boys: The Miami Klan in 1937
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…
A New Perspective on the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926
“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 of numb to all the hoopla and warnings of dire consequences that might be coming our way.
Then one day you come across an actual first-hand account of the disaster in a long-forgotten publication and you realize that things were very different for people
Miami’s Club Bali: Faces in the Crowd
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 guy on the left is Miguelito Valdez, the famous Cuban singer and band leader who in the 1940s was known as “Mr. Babalú.”
Miami or Miami Beach? A Question from the Swinging Sixties
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…
Miami Beach’s Long-Gone Lincoln Road Movie Theatre
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.
Sheridan Theatre in Miami Beach
Sheridan Theatre, Miami Beach
The UnWelcomed Visitor: Al Capone in Miami
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 of seven stalwart Sicilians.
Miami Beach High Society / Seventy Years Ago
While it’s easy to assume that Miami Beach society has always been populated by cads, charlatans and reckless party people (which, by the way, is true), every now and then one discovers that maybe things were once a little more refined here in the Magic City. I recently came across a publication from 1936 called…
Social Index: Winter Residents & Visitors
to Palm Beach & Miami Beach
The book’s preamble says…
