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    Orlando in Vintage Postcards
    Orlando in Vintage Postcards
    Orlando in Vintage Postcards
    Ebook185 pages58 minutes

    Orlando in Vintage Postcards

    By Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly

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    About this ebook

    "Beautiful weather here. When are you coming?" Those words have been written millions of times on postcards mailed from Orlando. Known today as home to America's most famous theme parks, Orlando has always been a destination for visitors from all over the world. During its early period as "The Phenomenal City," through the years as "The City Beautiful," to the era of "The Action Center of Florida," Orlando has a story to tell.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 25, 2001
    ISBN9781439629086
    Orlando in Vintage Postcards
    Author

    Lynn M. Homan

    As museum exhibit designers and the authors of more than 15 books, Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly enjoy telling the stories behind the pictures. So grab a cool drink and a shady spot under a palm tree, and join the authors as they re-create the experience that is the Florida Keys.

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      Book preview

      Orlando in Vintage Postcards - Lynn M. Homan

      present.

      INTRODUCTION

      A destination for millions of visitors from all over the world, Orlando is best known today as home to America’s most famous theme parks. That is only a recent event, however—before the 1970s, today’s vast pleasure emporiums didn’t even exist. Nevertheless, just as tourists today mail off thousands of postcards depicting their Orlando vacations, earlier visitors also recorded their trips with postcards. Covering the period from the late 1800s through the mid-1960s, these views relate a story of a vastly different Orlando. They tell of a small, but steadily growing central Florida community peopled by cattle ranchers and citrus growers, polo-playing English expatriates and real estate speculators, military personnel and ordinary people seeking a home or vacation in the warm Florida sunshine.

      Orlando had much the same beginning as many other Florida towns. At the conclusion of the Second Seminole War, homesteaders seeking free land joined the handful of hardy pioneers already in central Florida, earning a living in agriculture and cattle ranching. Following Florida statehood in 1845, the gigantic and somewhat ominously named Mosquito County was rechristened Orange County.

      By the mid-1850s, Jernigan, a small settlement near Fort Gatlin, had been transformed into the town of Orlando. According to local history, Judge J.D. Spear led the movement to relocate the county seat from Enterprise to Orlando in 1856. He may also have played a role in the naming of the community—some sources cite Judge Spear’s fondness for Shakespeare’s play As You Like It as the origin of the community’s name. Still others tie the name to Orlando Reeves, a soldier killed in an 1835 Indian attack, or to an early settler in the area, Orlando Rees. While the exact origin will probably never be known, residents voted to incorporate a municipality named Orlando on July 31, 1875. Citrus planted in the early 1870s began to bear fruit. Bringing both people and goods with its arrival in 1880 and subsequent expansion, the railroad linked Orlando with the rest of the state. Census records showed an increase from 200 to 2,481 residents between 1880 and 1890.

      Unfortunately Mother Nature had other ideas. Although cold waves had periodically damaged crops, winter took on new meaning for residents in late 1894 and early 1895. Known as the Big Freeze, plummeting temperatures devastated the citrus industry, wreaking havoc with the area’s economy. While several growers replanted their groves, others turned to cattle ranching, celery growing, or turpentining the forests of central Florida. One grower converted his citrus packinghouse into a skating rink complete with picnic facilities. Some gave up completely and moved back North.

      The freeze of 1894–1895 had destroyed the economy. As the population declined, the Daily Record’s references to Orlando as The Phenomenal City ceased. By 1905, however, Orlando’s economy was rebounding. As newcomers arrived, both the business and residential districts expanded, giving the town a different, more permanent appearance. Orlando was becoming a metropolis. Although Albert Gallatin Branham had planted approximately 400 oak trees in 1885, an additional 5,000 live and water oaks had been added during the ensuing years. In 1908, a landscaping campaign that included the planting of hundreds of palms, azaleas, and flowering shrubs throughout the town gave rise to a new appellation—The City Beautiful.

      When America entered World War I, Orlandoans did their part. More than 700 residents registered for military service; Lester LoBean was the first to land in France. Randolph Cobb was the first local soldier to be awarded the Croix de Guerre. Civilians also joined the effort; Liberty Loan and Red Cross drives never failed to meet their quotas during the war years.

      Orlando set a precedent when women received the right to vote in municipal elections in April 1919. The Board of Trade also began a concentrated effort to make the state, and especially Orlando, America’s new winter home. By 1920, the organization, renaming itself the Chamber of Commerce, had posted highway signs advertising Orlando as far north as New England. Civic clubs, railroads, bus lines, and real estate promoters joined the campaign to attract Northern visitors as well as businesses looking for branch office locations.

      The Florida land boom had begun. By August 1920, real estate had become the most popular occupation—occupational licenses had been issued to nearly 150 real estate operators in Orlando alone. Subdivisions were platted; land auction extravaganzas attracted buyers. Although the developments often consisted of nothing more than sets of fancy entrance gates and a lot of hope on the part of the promoter, many sold out immediately. Property changed hands on a daily or even an hourly basis, as speculators gambled on ever increasing prices. One of Orlando’s most ardent proponents, Carl Dann, later commented, It finally became nothing more than a gambling machine, each man buying on a shoestring, betting dollars a bigger fool would come along and buy his option.

      By 1926, speculation had reached an all-time high—and then the bubble burst. As out-of-state newspapers issued warnings of risky Florida land purchases, banks became increasingly wary of real estate loans. A September 1926 hurricane spared Orlando but further dampened the Florida land boom. By 1928, the crash that still awaited the American stock market had already hit Orlando. Not until just prior to America’s entrance into World War II would the economy improve substantially.

      In 1940, the federal government established a pilot training facility, the Army Air Corps Center, at Orlando’s municipal airport; adjacent land was leased for military housing. Pine Castle, a second air base, was quickly constructed just south of the city. Aircraft companies opened new facilities, spurring additional growth. Placed on standby status after the war, the bases saw reactivation during the Korean Conflict. When Orlando Air Base was eventually taken over by the U.S. Navy as a training center in the

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