Florida National Bank at Coral Gables.
Street scene, Miami.
Likely Red Coconut RV Park.
Hollywood Beach Hotel.
Downtown St. Petersburg.
Fruit stand at Floral City.
Streets in Ft. Lauderdale.
Daytona Beach.
Murphee Hall at Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Pinellas St. in Belleair, near Clearwater.
American Legion in St. Petersburg.
St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
Booker High School, Sarasota.
Chatterbox Restaurant, St. Petersburg.
Couple at the Space Satellite Hotel, Pompano Beach.
Street in Sarasota.
Shop at Key West.
Nice ! .
So much color, I miss all that .
-Nate
Turtle Burger served at the Key West restaurant. Get it while it’s hot.!
Here’s a car I spotted in Key West. Comes with it’s own dolly.
Perfect pictures on this dark overly cool weather rain day here in Richmond VA. Your sunshine pictures almost make me feel a little warmer.
In the early to mid 1960s Dad was base commander at Robins AFB in GA. Every year we would head to Florida for a few weeks so Dad could watch baseball Spring training. Dad loved baseball as he went to collage on a baseball scholarship before WWII. I would get out of school (with homework assignments) and took my best friend with me. I think over the years we hit every tourist spot in Florida. Dad would spend his days watching baseball, Mom would be shopping, self and friend spending time at a pool or beach. Nights parents out dining / dancing, and un-supervised self and friend exploring and lots of miniature golf. Older teenage brother never came, he stayed home doing whatever un-supervised teenagers did in the 1960s. In the later 1960s, time for the brothers to go to college. Brother headed to LA and study automotive design, I headed to Miami to study architecture. Wonderful memories of Florida in those golden years. Forgot to mention we always had one cat traveling with us. Never left the cat in the care of my teen brother.
Look at that boy wearing his Sunday best gray trousers standing next to his Dad in the blue Chevy in Ft. Lauderdale. Good luck finding anyone that age wearing such nicely pressed trousers in that setting today, unless they just got home from a school where they have to wear that in their uniform.
Great shots, and a beautiful wide variety of colours in the cars.
1940 Plymouth with an “A” ration sticker on the windshield in the second photo. If it was taken during the war, it would make the Cadillac in the background a relatively rare 1942 model. I admit I can’t tell the difference between the ’42 Cadillacs and the immediate postwar models. The Caddy might also have an A sticker, but it’s hard to tell.
The Ft. Lauderdale street scene is, I’m guessing an older brother behind the wheel of the ’49-’50 Mercury posing with his little brother. Maybe the older one has just gotten his license. Cute picture!
Also, is that a Fiat 1100 parked in front of the American Legion?
1958 or 59 Fiat.
I love all of these photos, but the former Chatterbox in St. Petersburg sent me down this rabbit hole of learning more about it. It was originally founded by expatriates of Evanston, Illinois (a short L ride away from where I live in Chicago) and was in business for 35 years between 1936 and ’71, and operated by the same family.
The other picture of downtown St. Pete in this feature makes me think about when it seemed like it was bumpin’. I love downtown St. Pete (actually, the last time I was there was in 2013), but it seems so different than what I see in this above picture.
I loved and cherish my years spent living in the Tampa Bay area.
I went down the Chatterbox rabbit hole too! It just looks like the kind of a place that would have a good story to tell. Apparently when it first opened in 1936 it was more of a cabaret, and was extremely popular. It quickly expanded and became one of St. Petersburg’s premier restaurants. Most celebrities who visited St. Pete ate there – most famously Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe.
Here’s a picture from when it first opened – it didn’t stay this size for long, as there were several additions made before 1940.
The Bayfront Tower Condominium occupies the site now.
Looks like a building from “up north”.
That first pic taken on a “bank, holiday”? Maybe just a “Sunday”. The “Rambler” in front of the high school looks a “FL”, car.
Damn, that Florida National Bank is a BEAUTIFUL BUILDING. Made my day.
Lead image of the Florida National Bank is just gorgeous.
The Red Coconut in Ft. Myers Beach was wiped out by Hurricane Ian in 2022. I lived in FMB in the early 1970s and knew the area well since Dad bought a retirement lot there in 1957. The land itself brought $52 million in 2023.
In looking at these views, I’m thinking, “How did they survive without air – conditioning?”… especially with cars, driving in that hot and humid climate must have been sheer torture…
I lived in Tampa during that period. You never complained about the heat because it you never knew anything about air conditioning .
I’m still in awe of Florida National Bank. The building is almost big enough to be the Treasury Building.
These Florida pictures are great, especially the ones in Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale, I am from South Florida and grew up in Fort Lauderdale and I love seeing vintage photos of Fort Lauderdale.I have been living in North Carolina for the past five years and miss some of the great memories of growing up in what used to be paradise.
The brilliance of these photos is excellent. Also, the clean and well kept look of the city streets and neighborhoods is inviting.