Patrick Smith's (A LAND REMEMBERED) Florida: A look at Florida in 1933

[1monster]

I moved to Florida when a some of the Old Florida still remained and got to see a little bit of this before it was all gone...

[Old Crow]

1. Enjoyed this a great deal--thank you! (N/T)

[tblue37]

2. I lived there from 1958-1962. nt

[1monster]

3. That was before Old Florida was completely gone...

I got here in 1974 and I saw some of those travel courts... And I remember when there were no condos on the beach (and you could see the ocean from A1A) for miles and miles and miles.

The people were really colorful too.

[Plucketeer]

4. This was fun

That said, growin' up in rural Southern Michigan in the 50s, I was a wide-eyed kid that thought of himself as lucky to have the wonderful world I knew there. Sadly, like this old Florida - the Michigan of my youth has disappeared. Time goes forward only. AND.... there's both good and bad to that fact.

[Brother_Love]

5. Loved this.

[monmouth4]

6. Truly love this, thanks so much....n/t

[Piasladic]

7. Have you seen this?

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Totch+Brown%27s&t=ffcm&ia=videos&iai=zZh5DOIKy8c

[1monster]

8. Thanks for this. I've started watching and will finish later.

There are still some pockets of Florida that haven't quite made it into modern Florida. There are places west of Jacksonville on over to the west coast of Florida where I swear you can hear Dueling Banjos playing in your mind.

And the Miccosukee still live traditionally in the Everglades...

[Piasladic]

9. Old Florida

I was born here and was a daughter to a snailer. He dragged me all over South Florida in the 70's, 80's,and 90's when these guys were still alive.

The Thousand Islands are still a mystery, and people T. Brown only make it more real.

[1monster]

10. My DH tells a tale of one of the old timers (who if he is still alive must be in

his nineties now).

Let's call it a road side attraction and not mention any names, because, while it is no longer there, it was famous in its day. We worked there with Jay. He was Old Florida. One day DH went to do his shtick for the audiences and was stopped by one of the animals (Lady) in the show. She would not let him pass. He sweet talked her, petted her, and tried to move on to his designated spot. Still the Lady would not let him pass.

Then Jay, who was on the other side of the low partition called out to DH and told him not to move. Then walked over a few steps, reached down like lightning and picked up a seven foot Eastern Diamondback rattler and disposed of it. He was as cool as an ice cube in January.

(Since there was a place called Rattlesnake Island just across the river from the attraction, rattlesnakes did make an appearance on the grounds of the attraction occasionally, but not normally in the show arena.)

Lady was a smart cookie. She and Jay both saved DH at the least a tremendous amount of pain and recovery time, and probably his life.

One thing that hasn't changed is there are still loads of rattlesnakes, moccasins, and other snakes in Florida.