Posted on May 9, 2013 by Beth

Boys with a toy train set, Fort Meade, 1880s

Girl with toy lion and blocks, 1890s

Girls with their toys, Gainesville, ca. 1900

Ida Raa and her baby stroller, Tallahassee, ca. 1908

Girl holding a doll in a toy car, Pensacola, ca. 1910

Ted Mack with his toys, Bartow, ca. 1915

Jimmy Keith and his mechanical dog, Sarasota, ca. 1925

Arthur and Jack Courshon with a toy airplane, Miami Beach, ca. 1925

LeRoy Collins Jr. driving a toy car, Tallahassee, 1937

Sharon Monts-DeOca and her toy rabbit, Jacksonville, 1946

Seminole children in a toy wagon, Brighton Reservation, ca. 1948

Koreshan boy on a Castelli tractor pedal car, Estero, ca. 1950

Boys and girls with hula-hoops, 1950s

Minnie Doctor and child with Seminole dolls, Dania Reservation, 1961

Boy with toy castle and soldiers, Tallahassee, 1963

Ah Nuts!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Beth

Drying racks laden with pecans, Monticello Nursery Company, 1923

Workers gathering tung nuts, 1946

Processing nuts at the Tungston Plantation, Capps, 1946

Oneta Rodgers, Merline Harrison, and others grading peanuts, Graceville, 1947

Tung nut blossom, Waukeenah, 1952

Boiled peanuts at the Renaissance Park Cultural Festival, Marianna, 2000

Don’t Be Alarmed

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Beth

The vehicles used to carry firefighters to the scene of an emergency have seen a few changes over the course of a century…

First Hose Wagon, Tallahassee, early 1900s

Horse Drawn Fire Wagon, Madison County, 1910s

Firefighters, Lake City, early 1900s

First Fire Truck, Tallahassee, ca. 1916

Key West Fire Department, 1917

Pensacola Fire Department, 1927

Quincy Fire Department, ca. 1920

Chevrolet Truck Used by the Florida Forest Service, St. James Island, 1934

Jacksonville Fire Department, 1960

International Harvester Fire Truck, Key West, 1975

I’m With the Band

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Beth

Florida has never lacked musicians ready to perform.

Madison town band, ca. 1900

Jug and harmonica band, 1880s

Eustis Cornet Band, 1885

Edward Wyer’s Creole Cornet Band, Pensacola, 1887

Palatka band, 1890s

Brass band awaiting President Grover Cleveland’s arrival, Lakeland, 1894

Saint Cloud band, ca. 1900

Jensen Cornet Band, 1900s

Tallahassee band, 1910s

Florida Is for Swingers

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Beth

Teeing off at the Royal Palm Hotel, Miami, 1899

Columbia County, early 1900s

Gene Sarazen, Granada Country Club, Coral Gables, 1920s

Golf at Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, 1902

Third Tee, Tallahassee Golf Club, 1920s

Babe Ruth and former New York governor Al Smith, Miami Biltmore, Coral Gables, 1930

Babe Zaharias, St. Augustine, 1947

Take It From the Top

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Beth

Before Web pages and social media sites, before television, in the early years of radio as a mass communications medium, businesses promoted themselves through other means of advertising, including eye-catching designs on their office stationery.

In the first half of the 20th century, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s, office letterhead meant more than just a business name and address. Colorful artwork, detailed drawings, and inspiring slogans adorned much of the office stationery of the time, providing not only information and some humor, but also a glimpse of how we viewed ourselves, our work, our environment, and each other.

What’s Your Hurry?

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Beth

Why race off? Slow down and smell the salt water!

Ranson E. Olds in the Olds Pirate: Ormond Beach (ca. 1896)

Louis Ross in a Stanley Steamer automobile: Daytona Beach (1903)

Arthur McDonald in his Napier racer: Daytona Beach (1905)

Barney Oldfield racing the Blitzen Benz: Daytona Beach (1910)

Sir Henry Segrave in the Golden Arrow: Daytona Beach (1929)

Tommy Milton: Daytona Beach (1920)

Harry Hartz: Miami Beach (1926)

Ralph DePalma in his Packard V-12: Daytona Beach (1919)

Buddy Callaway: Daytona Beach (1936)

Jack Etheridge in Bill Milam’s Special 1: Daytona Beach (1947)

Sig Haugdahl in the Wisconsin Special: Daytona Beach (1922)

Sir Malcolm Campbell in his Bluebird: Daytona Beach (1935)

A Day at the Beach

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Beth

How’s the weather where you are? Come to Florida, where any day is just another day at the beach.

Ormond Beach (ca. 1895)

Miami Beach (early 1900s)

Fort Myers (1961)

Key West (1978)

Smathers Beach, Key West (1989)

The David Clark

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Beth

Steamer David Clark, St. Johns River (1880s)

The David Clark, launched in Jacksonville on February 27, 1875, was built in the Brock and Stevens shipyard, registered #6865. It traveled the Jacksonville to Enterprise (on Lake Monroe) run for the Brock Line on the St. Johns River. It was sold in auction to Captain Joseph Smith in August of 1877 because of Jacob Brock’s bankruptcy.

In October of 1889, it burned in Fernandina, Florida, and was officially listed as abandoned in 1893. The steamer had a side-wheel paddle and a tonnage of 483 gross and 442 net. It was 147.5′ long, 41.4′ wide, with a depth of 7.8′. It had 51 nominal horsepower, and could make speeds of 14 knots.

Put Me In, Coach!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Beth

In a tradition a century old, major league baseball teams are reporting to spring training camps in Florida (the Grapefruit League) and Arizona (the Cactus League) to prepare for the upcoming season.