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Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast
Contributor(s): Hollis, Tim (Author)
ISBN: 1578066271     ISBN-13: 9781578066278
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
OUR PRICE:   $22.50  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: January 2004
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Annotation: An entertaining and informative trip down memory lane for those who long to recall the tourist attractions and vintage hotels of the Sunshine State's Gulf Coast. 160 illustrations, 20 in color.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States - State & Local - General
- Travel | United States - South - South Atlantic (dc, De, Fl, Ga, Md, Nc, Sc, Va, Wv)
- History | United States - 20th Century
Dewey: 975.990
LCCN: 2003015776
Physical Information: 0.62" H x 8.4" W x 8.42" (1.52 lbs) 217 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
- Cultural Region - South Atlantic
- Cultural Region - Southeast U.S.
- Geographic Orientation - Florida
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Since World War II, tourists have flocked to Florida's northwest Gulf Coast and sun and fun spots at Panama City Beach, Fort Walton Beach, and Pensacola Beach. Every year those visitors number in the millions.

For those who long to recall how the vacationland appeared thirty, forty, or even fifty years ago, Tim Hollis has written Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast.

In a style that informs and entertains, Hollis describes the rise of early developments, such as Long Beach Resort, and major tourist attractions, such as the Gulfarium and the Miracle Strip Amusement Park. With heartfelt nostalgia and a dose of tongue-in-cheek, he reminisces on the motels and tourist cottages; the restaurants, such as Captain Anderson's and Staff's; the elaborate miniature golf courses, such as Goofy Golf and its many imitators. He takes a special delight in recovering the memories of those quirky businesses that now exist only in faded photographs and aging postcards, such wacky tourist traps as Castle Dracula, Petticoat Junction, Tombstone Territory, and the Snake-A-Torium.

In the book, Hollis examines how this area became known as the Miracle Strip, and how the local chambers of commerce got so tired of that image that the name gradually fell into disuse. The book is illustrated with a profusion of vintage photos and advertisements, most of which have not been seen in print since their original appearances. For the nostalgia lover, the snowbird, the tourist seeking yesteryear, Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast will be a welcome traveling companion.


Contributor Bio(s): Hollis, Tim: - Tim Hollis has published twenty-four books on pop culture history. For more than thirty years he has maintained a museum of cartoon-related merchandise in Dora, Alabama. He is the author of Dixie before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun; Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast; Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs; Ain't That a Knee-Slapper: Rural Comedy in the Twentieth Century; Toons in Toyland: The Story of Cartoon Character Merchandise; and, with Greg Ehrbar, Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records, all published by University Press of Mississippi.