Showing posts with label Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s. Show all posts

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Jolly Roger Hotel and a pirate flag debate

Jolly Roger Hotel 1953,
State Archives of Florida
Pirate flag, Åland Maritime Museum
* See below for more 


By Jane Feehan

A flag controversy at the opening of the Jolly Roger Hotel in 1953 sparked outrage—and a tradition.

The public was invited to opening night festivities at the 50-room, pirate-themed hotel, which included a display of treasure recovered from a Spanish galleon sunken off the Florida Keys. And what would a hotel named Jolly Roger be without a pirate flag, a jolly roger flag? Owner Bob Gill displayed the skull and crossbones pennant on a 75-foot mast along with the flag of the United States.

The July 29 festivities appeared on WFTL-TV. Soon after, calls, many from boaters, came into the station and to the Fort Lauderdale News about flag placement order. It appeared the pirate flag was placed in prominence over the U.S flag. Not only that, but some also said the flag should not be flown at night.

Gill was prepared, though the controversy didn’t end right away. The U.S flag can be flown at night if it was well illuminated, the hotelier said; lights were ablaze. Many said the two flags should not have been displayed together.

On the order of placement, hotel management cited the 1949 edition of Charles F. Chapman’s Piloting, Seamanship and Small Boat Handling. “Honor for national colors on land is as follows: on a straight mast, at the gaff.” The hotel mast had a gaff or yardarm. (At sea, a chaplain’s flag may be flown over the US flag only during services conducted by a Navy chaplain.)

Maybe it was the excitement of the festivities, the romance of piracy or the illumination of both flags, but overnight July 29-30, the skull and crossbones disappeared. Another pirate flag was on display a few days later; it was the first of many flag thefts and replacements. The pirate flag was grabbed again in 1955. Hotel management said the worst part of that incident was the car displaying it while cruising A-1-A in front of the Jolly Roger Hotel.

Fort Lauderdale News wrote that the pirate flag “seems to catch the eye of tourists who get the urge to bring it back home as a souvenir.”

It wasn’t just tourists who wanted that flag. Making off with it became a rite of passage for some kids. Many who grew up in 1950s and 60s Fort Lauderdale know of at least one jokester who stole the iconic flag. Known as the Sea Club Resort today, the hotel maintains a pirate theme, especially in the lobby. The hotel was given a historic designation by the city of Fort Lauderdale in 2009.

For some fun, let’s bring that flag back.

Pirate flag background

The jolly roger flag, so named by the British, is a skull and crossbones pennant first used in the early 1700s. Hoisted by pirates as an identifier in skirmishes or display of bravery or swagger, the traditional pirate flag was also raised by the British Royal Navy during World War II to indicate successful completion of a mission.


Sea Club today

* Picture of flag above:

Pirate flag at the Åland Maritime Museum, one of two pirate flags that are considered authentic. The flag is about 200 years old and came to Åland from the North African Mediterranean coast, where piracy occurred right into the 19th century. It is made of cotton and was once dark brown. Now it is faded by the ravages of time, weather and wind. This photo has been color corrected by user Blockhaj to try to show the flag as it originally appeared.

For more on the Jolly Roger Hotel, see: 


Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, July 29, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, July 30, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 1, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 4, 1953

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 22, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 17, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1958

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 29, 2009

Wikipedia

Tags: Jolly Roger Hotel, Fort Lauderdale History, History of Fort Lauderdale, Jolly Roger flag, Bob Gill, Gill hotels, Fort Lauderdale during the 1950s


Monday, September 11, 2023

Fort Lauderdale's Croissant Park and its colorful developer Frank Croissant - of Roll Royces, diamonds and a solid gold dinner service

 

Croissant Park Administration Building
 at 1421 South Andrews Avenue
 







By Jane Feehan

Many may know of or grew up in Croissant Park, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale. Few are familiar with its namesake, Frank Croissant, and his colorful life.

Born in Brooklyn in 1887, the hugely successful real estate developer (self-described “World’s Greatest Salesman), pursued business opportunities across the U.S. After operating in Ohio and moving to Detroit where he was associated with Henry Ford in real estate, Croissant relocated to Fort Lauderdale in January 1925.

He bought about 1,200 acres in an area south of the New River and Las Olas Boulevard on the west side of Andrews Avenue. The Croissant Park Administration Building, site of his sales office, still sits on South Andrews Avenue and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Sales at Croissant Park were brisk; those were the boom days. Today asking prices for a few houses in that neighborhood are close to $500,000.

Croissant’s plans for his subdivision included a hotel, the Croissantania (also the name of a local baseball team he may have promoted). Designed by architect John M. Peterman, and built by DeCato Construction Co., the 125-room hotel failed to become a reality. Though started in late 1925, the cost of labor and shortage of materials first slowed or delayed the hotel project; it was then halted by the 1926 hurricane. By the end of 1926 and several years after, G. Frank Croissant Co. was the defendant in several lawsuits over mismanagement of money and other disputes.

Some news accounts reported Croissant was worth $30 million resulting from all his real estate endeavors, but it was said he lost most of it in the 1929 stock market crash. He probably lost a significant portion of that fortune beforehand, in the South Florida land bust following that hurricane.

Reversal of fortune did not slow down Croissant nor sour him on Fort Lauderdale. He bought tracts of land in Northern New Jersey (Teaneck, West Englewood, Bergenfield) for development. He opened offices in Europe, including London, Paris, Madrid and Mallorca, where he often talked up Fort Lauderdale, referred to then as “the Friendly City.” Croissant could claim 56 offices with 1,200 salesmen in 11 states and seven countries.

Some say he was involved in the launch or promotion of New York’s radio station WNYC. The station was established in 1924 but his involvement is unconfirmed. 

He, wife Harriet and son moved to Mallorca, Spain in 1933 or 1934 where he reportedly sold more than 8,000 lots in assorted projects. Included in those lots was one he sold to actress Claudette Colbert, another to Hollywood heartthrob Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Croissant’s 13-year-old son died in a mountain climbing accident in Spain and a civil war erupted there in 1936—both spurring the developer’s return to Fort Lauderdale. 

On his return, he was involved in the constructions of Port Everglades, in promoting Hialeah Park racing and operating a stable of 110 horses. He also had his sights set on a project in North Palm Beach near today’s Donald Ross Road. It was abandoned after his death. Ever the entrepreneur, he returned in 1952 from a business trip to Colombia where he landed a few dog track concessions.

A high-profile resident, Croissant remained in local headlines about his business and civic activities and frequent lawsuits. In 1950 he was charged by the federal government with participation in a $2 million international lottery ring. Charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.

In 1954, Fort Lauderdale News columnist Wesley W. Stout provided a list of items and activities that distinguished Croissant as one of the town’s most colorful characters:

  • Won more horse races than all other racetrack notables in 1925-26
  • Owned a 154-ft yacht, the Jemima F
  • Owned three Rolls Royce cars simultaneously
  • Owned a Lockheed Vega aircraft piloted by world famous Clarence Chamberlain
  • Given a 476 solid gold dinner service set by his sales team (stored in a Dania bank vault)
  • Gave his wife a 31- carat diamond pendant and a 22 carat stone
  • “Put out of business” by the Spanish Civil War

Frank Croissant died at his Fort Lauderdale home on Andrews Avenue December 5, 1956, of a brain hemorrhage. Left to his wife, his estate was worth about $10 million.

He was, indeed, a colorful character …

For more on Frank Croissant, see: 

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/02/frank-croissant-worlds-greatest-salesman.html

 Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 9, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 5, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, May 22, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, July 2, 1926

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 9, 1925

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 10, 1939

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 10, 1950

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 28, 1951

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 6, 1952

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 12, 1954

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 6, 1956

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 7, 1956

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 24, 1956


Tags: Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods, Croissant Park, Fort Lauderdale in the 1920s, Fort Lauderdale developers, history of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale communities

Friday, September 1, 2023

Mid-century modern masterpiece - Sea Tower of Fort Lauderdale

 

Sea Tower 2023, rear, facing beach

Sea Tower Apartments
2840 North Ocean Drive
Fort Lauderdale

By Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale first saw high-rise apartments go up in the late 1950s. One, the Sea Tower, was announced in 1956 and completed in November 1957. News accounts claimed it was one of two of the city’s first high rises. The other was Spring Tide at 345 Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard. Both built by Col. T.J. Murrell (Palm Springs Corporation), they stand at 11 stories. Today they would be described as mid rises. (For more high-rise history, see index.)

This post focuses on the Sea Tower, an elegant building designed by noted Miami architect, Igor Polevitzky (1911-1978). He also designed Sunrise Tower on Intracoastal Drive in Fort Lauderdale, Hotel Habana Riviera in Cuba, once owned by mob figure Meyer Lansky  (See index for Meyer Lansky), the Albion in Miami, and several beautiful residences (Tropotype style). including the Birdcage house in Miami. The Sea Tower is described as a “masterpiece of mid-century modern architecture.”

Sea Tower was reportedly built for $2.02 million. I’m not sure if it was launched as a rental before it was recognized as a co-op, but in late 1957, news items reported it as the “tallest co-op in Fort Lauderdale.” Accounts vary as to number of units, 84, 83 or 81 apartments. Carports appeared to be an afterthought as construction began on them in 1958, after opening.

Advertised as sitting in the North Beach neighborhood, Sea Tower could also claim a city park as a nearby feature leading to the ocean. In 1957, its board announced a contribution of $4,900 to the city of Fort Lauderdale for its Vista Park, which remains. The park today refers to the beach and its parking lot steps away.
Park at rear of Sea Tower
with
 beach steps away

Ads announced initial sale prices for a one-bedroom unit at $21,000-$25,000. Two-bedrooms sold for $27,000-$39,000. Early ads indicated prices for penthouses were “available upon request.” A Fort Lauderdale News article in 1957 reported a penthouse for sale for $300,000—a hefty price tag in those days.

In 1958 real estate news waxed enthusiastic about Sea Tower’s unique offerings: kitchens with a “food preparation center,” a built-in combination food mixer, blender and knife sharpener.  Also, an opt-in membership was available for services such as car washes, laundry, food and beverage delivery, travel reservations, swimming and skin-diving instructions, beach cabanas, boat trips—even hair appointments. La de dah …

A glance at board member occupations during these early days may point to perceived justification for such services: a senior vice president of Gulf Oil, president of General Elevator Co., vice president of Retail Credit Co.; vice president of Remington Arms, a subsidiary of DuPont Co.; research engineer for the U.S. Navy and consultant to General Electric Co.

In March of 1958, news accounts reported that 25 liens for nearly $227,600 were filed against the builder, Palm Springs Company, Holland Construction and Engineering and others for unpaid bills. A court transferred the liens to corporate surety bond deposits.

Today, Sea Tower retains its elegance in this quiet beachside neighborhood. Many houses in the area, once averaging $25,000, have been replaced by mansions running for a million dollars at the low end and a few topping $20 million.

As of this post, a one-bedroom Sea Tower apartment sells for $549,000, a two-bedroom for $620,000. Bargains, considering Galt Ocean Mile condo prices.

 

 Sources:

 Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 10, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 9, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Nov. 2, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, March 26, 1958

Fort Lauderdale News, May 24, 1958

Fort Lauderdale News, June 21, 1958

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 2, 1958

Fort Lauderdale News, March 5, 1963

Fort Lauderdale News, May 16, 1965

Sea Tower

Tags: Fort Lauderdale high-rises, Sea Tower, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Igor Polevitzky

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Fort Lauderdale's Harbor Beach: exclusive then and now

 

Harbor Beach circa 1980
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory/Steinmetz















By Jane Feehan

According to some news accounts, the first Fort Lauderdale development after the boom years of the 1920s was Harbor Beach.

The Harbor Beach Company, formed by George W. English, purchased land south of the U.S. Coast Station in 1940 from Fort Lauderdale pioneer Tom M. Bryan for $1000 per acre for 200 acres.

Development commenced with permitting for infrastructure, and a wall, gate and “field office” designed by Miami architect Russell T. Pancoast (grandson of Miami Beach developer John A. Collins the same of Collins Avenue).

The first 73 lots were presented for sale by the Harbor Beach Co. in January 1942. The development was advertised as Fort Lauderdale’s newest oceanfront real estate development, the “only restricted residential beach property in South Florida.” 

Other ads claimed the building requirements provided for “substantial though not necessarily pretentious homes” with sweeping vistas of the ocean, a lake (near today’s Lago Mar) and the Intracoastal. Some inland waterway lots would accommodate 110-foot boat dockage. 

An entrance to the new neighborhood was built as an extension of Atlantic Avenue (now A1A) but the development would be isolated from traffic. Lot prices were not available in early ads, but by 1945 some lots started at $4,200. In 1946 prices rose to $4500 (as comparison, lots in Croissant Park sold for about $1,000). 

Plans were in place by the mid-1940s for a private beach club (today’s Surf Club). All 73 lots in the initial “unit” were sold by 1946 when another unit (number of those lots unknown to this writer) were placed on the market. It was followed by a third unit in the 1950s. Sales must have been fairly brisk by the mid-1950s; lots then generally started at $10,000.

One house went on the market in 1955 for $37,500 with three bedrooms, two baths and maid’s quarters. Today, the walled community is home to 592 residents (according to niche.com). Singer/actor David Cassidy (The Partridge Family) once called the community home until his death in 2010. His house was placed on sale later that year for $3.9 million.

Houses today (2022) range from about $4 million to nearly $24 million. It remains one of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods but is not immune to Fort Lauderdale’s super-charged development woes. Residents complain about difficulties exiting the community to merge onto jammed A1A during certain times of the day or when the bridge at the 17th Street Causeway opens for boat traffic.




Sources:

Weidling, Philip and Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966.

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 18, 1941

Fort Lauderdale News, Sept. 25, 1945

Fort Lauderdale News
, Jan. 17, 1942

Fort Lauderdale News Jan. 31, 1946

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 19, 1946

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 15, 1947

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 9, 1955

Fort Lauderdale News, Feb. 3, 1955

Realtor.com

For current demographics, see:

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/n/harbor-beach-fort-lauderdale-fl/

Tags: Fort Lauderdale communities, Fort Lauderdale developments, Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale architects


Thursday, September 8, 2022

Bahia Mar: "more business, publicity to Fort Lauderdale than any other man-made attraction"

 

Bahia Mar circa 1960s,
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory








Bahia Mar
801 Seabreeze Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316


By Jane Feehan


The following about Bahia Mar does not serve as an historical account of the business transactions that have shaped it over the years, though some will be mentioned. In 1949, the Miami News claimed Bahia Mar was the only land in Broward County that had not been privately owned; that may explain its complicated history.

Some would say its history began in the 1870s.

The United States government built a string of five Houses of Refuge in 1876 in Florida from Cape Florida to the Indian River to provide shelter for the shipwrecked. One refuge, New River House No. 4 was moved in 1891 from its first site near Hugh Birch State Park (Bonnet House) to the beach across from today’s Bahia Mar where the third Fort Lauderdale was built.

The United States Coast Guard operated from the site, a gathering place for social activities into the early 1900s. It served as Coast Guard Station No. 6 during World War I. From the inland waterway—today’s Bahia Mar—the base played an active role in World War II defense activities in South Florida. 

After the war in 1946, the federal government declared the site as surplus, placing it in the public domain.
Bahia Mar 1951
Florida State Archives/
Florida Memory
The city of Fort Lauderdale purchased the property for $600,000 but did not have enough funds for its development.

Private investors, led by Ohioan and developer William E. Schantz* raised funds to build a yacht basin that opened in December 1949. It offered 450 boat slips, shopping, a restaurant with cocktail lounge (Patricia Murphy’s Candlelight Restaurant did not open there until 1959) and 650 parking spaces.

Newspapers lauded the $2.5 million project. Some claimed the marina, with “three miles of docks," brought more publicity, recognition and business "than any other man-made attraction” to Fort Lauderdale. It led to declaration by city boosters that Fort Lauderdale was the “yachting capital of the world.” One news account reported Bahia Mar was the first yacht basin in the nation to be listed on Coast Guard navigation charts.

Not long after opening, the developers declared bankruptcy and the site reverted to the city. The city leased it back to the private sector in 1962 (yes, it’s complicated). Since 1959, Bahia Mar has served as home to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show featuring some of the most spectacular luxury yachts seen anywhere. About 100,000 pay to see the display in late October, early November each year. Today the yacht basin holds 250 boat slips (some land now operated by the adjacent International Swimming Hall of Fame houses 40 slips), the Double Tree Hotel, yacht brokers, shopping and restaurants and other amenities.

Bahia Mar now faces a major transition. Value of the 38.65-acre Bahia Mar property is estimated (in 2022) at $256 million as Fort Lauderdale oceanfront land has fallen piece by piece to developers. The city signed an initial 50-year lease in 2022 with Jimmy and Kenny Tate of Rahn Bahia Mar Hotel. It could be extended another 50 years (status of this arrangement unclear).Their $1 billion plan for Bahia Mar includes, at this point, replacing the current 296-room hotel with a new one and building condos and commercial space. Developers plan to share revenue with the city derived from operations (hotel, marina, condos).

Plans were approved by the city  commission in 2023 for a hotel and three condo towers as controversy swirls around the project's scope.

Resident support is mixed. Some fear the project’s impact on beach traffic and its impact on the boat show; others welcome the needed revamp. Stay tuned …

 

Bahia Mar 1968
Florida State Archives/ Florida Memory

Sources:

Weidling, Philip and Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1966. 

Gillis, Susan. Fort Lauderdale: The Venice of America. Charleston: Acadia Publishing, 2004.

Fort Lauderdale News, March 7, 1949

Miami News, Sept 1, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 3, 1949

Fort Lauderdale News, April 10, 1955

New York Daily News, Jan. 27, 1957

New York Daily News, June 15, 1958

Sun-Sentinel, March 30, 2022

Real Deal, April 6, 2022

https://www.marinalife.com/marina?slug=bahia-mar-resort-and-yachting-center

https://bahiamaryachtingcenter.com/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=yext

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2014/03/houses-of-refuge-fort-lauderdale-and.html

For more on Houses of Refuge, see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2014/03/houses-of-refuge-fort-lauderdale-and.html

For more on William E. Schantz* see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2021/06/bahia-mar-yacht-basin-cabbage-palm-logs.html


Tags: Bahia Mar Marina, Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, yachting capital of the world. Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Fort Lauderdale history

Monday, May 30, 2022

Fort Lauderdale's War Memorial Auditorium: tribute to the fallen transformed

 

War Memorial Auditorium 1967
Florida State Archives

War Memorial Auditorium
800 NE 8th Street
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33304
https://www.fortlauderdale.gov

Owned and operated by Fort Lauderdale, the War Memorial Auditorium opened January 14, 1950. The building seated 2,100 and served as a venue for wrestling matches, exhibits, shows, graduations, dances and more.

Miami News columnist William McHale, Jr. wrote about the memorial building, constructed for $450,000, shortly after it opened:

In the summer of 1946 civic groups began talking about a suitable commemoration for men
and women of Fort Lauderdale who had served in the recent war.

Ideas on what that memorial should be were plentiful, but Fort Lauderdale was in the swirl of a rapid growing period, and the need for a big gathering spot was pretty apparent. So the plan to
build an auditorium was approved by the civic organizations and work began in a hurry -
Miami News, Feb. 23, 1950

The War Memorial Auditorium is located at the 86-acre Holiday Park, which opened in 1947.

In 1948, some residents thought the auditorium would be too big for a small city the size of Fort Lauderdale. When it opened, others said it was not only a tribute to those who died in war but also a symbol of what the living could accomplish.

Today, the War Memorial Auditorium is seen as too small for this growing city. It is undergoing a major transformation.

The city of Fort Lauderdale and the Florida Panthers hockey team entered into agreement in June 2019 to renovate the facility. The Panthers are providing $45 million to build a public skating rink and a team training rink. The city will contribute $800,000 and lease its seven acres for $1 per year for 50 years to the Florida Panthers. The project should be completed summer of 2022.
Under renovation 2020

It is expected the facility will serve as a new family destination. Skaters can cool off in the rink. It will also seat 4,000 for a variety of performances or shows. A 5,000 sq ft restaurant will overlook the park, which will be newly landscaped with additional trees. Lots of excitement to come--and frustration with traffic.

Let us not forget the reason the War Memorial Auditorium was built.

For what's to come see:  https://ftlwarmemorial.com



____

Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 24, 1948
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 14, 1950
Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 26, 2018
Sun-Sentinel, Oct. 18, 2019
Sun-Sentinel, March 3, 2022


Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, War Memorial Auditorium, Florida Panthers, 
Fort Lauderdale history




Sunday, July 18, 2021

The Chemist Shop on Las Olas Boulevard - once "America's most unusual drugstore"

Florida State Archives/Dept. of Commerce

 By Jane Feehan

 A quiet drug store on Las Olas served as the unofficial hub of that boulevard long before trendy restaurants and nightspots opened their doors to the beau monde of Fort Lauderdale.

Werner Betz and his wife Marge opened the Chemist Shop Nov. 19, 1956, at 817 E. Las Olas Blvd.  It wasn’t long before the drugstore and its 40-seat restaurant drew nation-wide attention. Only months after the Chemist Shop opened, industry publication Drug Topic, called it “America’s most unusual drugstore.” More on the why after some background.

Wisconsin born Betz, son of a Methodist minister and educated as an industrial engineer at Cornell University, lost his job during the depression and followed it with a successful sales career. He was living in New Jersey (some accounts say New York) when three Florida friends, Al Watson, Ed Beyhan and William Maus (a familiar name to many of us in town), convinced Betz to open a business in Fort Lauderdale. He worked at a pharmacy in New Jersey without a salary for nearly a year to become familiar with the business. It paid off.

With wheels in motion for his own business, Betz moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1955. Acquaintance Welles Squires, a designer of futuristic cars for General Motors, sketched a design for the store. Robert Jahelka served as architect for the project and brought it into reality with an Old English motif storefront and interior.

Florida State Archives/
Dept. of Commerce
 Betz approached the business with a winning philosophy: “offer more variety and a wider range of prices than any other store.” And so, he did. The Chemist Shop offered an array of difficult-to-find products: special soap for latex swimsuits, bees wax candles, French perfume, German cologne; a torsion balance to measure thickness of lipstick, soap from Spain, Egyptian pewter-washed copper, Droste chocolate from Holland; rhinestone dog collars and dog perfume. They also sold magnetic hurricane tracking charts and fresh flowers … one-stop excellence for the discerning shopper. (A Texan offered Betz a $1000 a month to oversee the development of a Chemist Shop in the Lone Star State but Betz turned it down).

Another feature of the Chemist Shop, perhaps as popular as the merchandise, was its 40-seat restaurant, Fantasy Fountain. Betz later said he often counted as many as 60 waiting to get a table. Lunch was served during most of the day until 4:30 and it could be a shrimp salad plate for $4.95, the Las Olas Sandwich (chicken, bacon, tomato and Roquefort dressing on toast) for $3.95, clam chowder for $1.25 and an array of ice cream sodas with house-made syrups. Prices were above average for the day.

Movers and shakers about town, including former Mayor Virginia Young, met at the Fountain daily. With tables set unofficially aside for power broker breakfasts, the Chemist Shop became the “hub of Las Olas Boulevard.”

Werner Betz ran the store with his brother Gerhardt until 1980. (Gerhardt purchased Gore Nursery at N.W. 9th Ave. where his two sons, Bob and Frederick worked, another family business). In its early days, the Chemist Shop employed 29 during the season and 17 during summers.

Bernard Schuster, one of three Chemist Shop pharmacists, bought the store through a stock transaction in August 1980, making him sole owner. Werner died just months later, in October that year in North Carolina. Gerhardt Betz died January 8, 2008.

The business climate changed during the 1980s and 90s. The Las Olas Merchant Association wanted to elevate the types of stores, clientele and shopping experience on the Boulevard. Bernie and wife Virginia (Ginger) were asked to remodel the Chemist Shop and keep it open until 9 p.m. According to the Sun-Sentinel, rent was raised to $11,000 for its 6,000 square feet, making it unaffordable to operate. Bernie and Ginger closed that location in 1997. They moved the Chemist Shop to the Nations Bank Building on S.E. 3rd Avenue where they rented 1,980 square feet. Business dropped off by half at the store and restaurant; the breakfast club moved to Café La Bonne Crepe (which remains on Las Olas).  

Bernie and Ginger sold the pharmacy in 1999 to Eckerd Corporation (a store sat nearby) where they kept Chemist Shop employees with their seniority and pay. Bernie, a Fort Lauderdale High School grad, died in 2008. I haven’t found anything more on Ginger.

The Chemist Shop, once emblematic of successful Fort Lauderdale family-owned businesses thus closed but remains fondly in the memories of many. Werner and Marge Betz, and later Bernie and Ginger Schuster, ran a unique and much-loved store, one seldom see anywhere today.  

Note: Another Chemist Shop is open on Las Olas at the 1100 block but bears no resemblance or connection to the original.

 

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 26, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, July 21, 1957

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 18, 1979

Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 7, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 26, 1980

Fort Lauderdale News, March 5, 1984

Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 16, 1988

Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 9, 1992

Sun-Sentinel, July 23, 1997

Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 6, 1999

Sun-Sentinel, Nov. 21, 2008


Tags: Chemist Shop, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Fort Lauderdale in the 1990s, Fort Lauderdale history, history of Fort Lauderdale, Jane Feehan

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Bahia Mar Yacht Basin - cabbage palm logs and historical relics?

Bahia Mar 1951
Florida State Archives/Florida Memories



By Jane Feehan

Bahia Mar, once home to the third fort built uring the Seminole Wars and named for Maj. William Lauderdale was also the site of a House of Refuge in 1876 and later a U.S. Coast Guard station. Today, boats of all sizes from around the world berth at the scenic spot. The boat basin project, wending through the vagaries of city politics and developers' woes through the years is now recognized as a world class yachting center. Few remember that a museum was once planned as part of the first Bahia Mar project.

One of the original developers, Ohioan William E. Schantz of Universal Construction Company (of Ohio and Fort Lauderdale), formed the Bahia Mar Corporation to build the marina in the late 1940s. An article about Schantz from the Miami News, Sept. 1, 1949, details plans he had to build a replica of the old fort across from the yacht basin “…using cabbage palm logs as did the Indian-fighters on the same spot on the high ground near the beach. This fort will become a museum housing old documents and relics of the early days of South Florida.”

The museum remained a pipe dream. Bahia Mar Corporation defaulted on payments to the city two years after completion of the marina in 1949 and the city eventually took control of the property. For more on the history of Bahia Mar, see: 




_____
Sources:
Weidling, Philip J., Burghard, August. Checkered Sunshine. Gainesville: University of Florida Press (1966).
Miami News, Sept. 1, 1949.

Tags: Bahia Mar history, Fort Lauderdale history, Florida history, history of Fort Lauderdale

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s - only 37,000 residents ... and today?

 

Fort Lauderdale 1955
 Florida State Archives/Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan


In the 1950s*, gasoline was 24 cents a gallon, Thanksgiving dinner was $3 at Fort Lauderdale’s Governors Club Hotel and there were only three high schools in Broward County. 

Five commissioners governed the county and its first elected representative, Dwight Rogers Sr., went to Washington. Florida’s turnpike was built, and Broward expanded west with the founding of Pembroke Pines, Plantation and six other municipalities. In 1950, Broward had only 83,000 residents while Fort Lauderdale was home to 37,000. By the end of the decade, Florida’s population grew by nearly 79 percent.

Fast forward to the 21st century and the picture is quite different.

Broward County is now the second largest in the state with a population of nearly two million in 2020 (up from 1.7 million in 2011). It’s run by nine commissioners, with districts spanning 31 municipalities and 25 unincorporated areas. The county’s school district, the sixth largest in the U.S and the only fully accredited public school district in the nation, now includes 33 high schools. Fort Lauderdale, Broward’s largest city, has a population of about 183,000 -- up from 165,521 in 2011.

Fort Lauderdale Beach 1955
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory 



*For more on Florida population of the 1950s, see:
https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/07/floridas-population-explosion-in-1950s.html


Sources:
The Fabulous ‘50s by Jane Feehan, Sun-Sentinel (www.sun-sentinel.com), Aug. 21, 2002.
www.broward.org
www.browardschools.com
www.wikipedia.com



Tags: Broward County history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s , Fort Lauderdale in the 50s, Fort Lauderdale history

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Historic Gateway Theater continues to "reel"


Gateway Theater
1820 E. Sunrise Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
954-763-7994

By Jane Feehan

Few living in or visiting Fort Lauderdale fail to drive by the old Gateway Theater (Sunrise and Federal Highway), former site of a lion-breeding pit. The bright lights of its marquee have dimmed only a few times throughout the years. President Kennedy’s assassination was one such occasion; hurricanes knocked out power the others ... and then the longest stretch for the Covid pandemic.

Ground was broken for this 1,600-seat Wometco theater – then one of about 30 in the state - June 30, 1950.  A preview of the event made the Miami News June 25, 1950.

… 500 children will dig for buried treasure on groundbreaking day and a parade and a hillbilly band will be featured as part of the festivities. A parade … will move from formation at King Motors, Inc. and march to the construction site in the new Gateway development. After the ceremonies a “Gateway gold rush” will take place with the youngsters digging for gold coins on the construction site, entitling them to prizes. Master of ceremonies will be T. R. "Bud" Starr and Wometco will be represented by Sonny Shepherd of Miami.
Gateway's collection of opening day memorabilia

Sandra Starr, daughter of Bud Starr was one of the children on hand for the coin search. Early days of the Gateway Theater involved the whole family:
  
I was there with my grandmother for the coin search at the property. My sisters – Jerri and Susie – and I walked to see the movies every Saturday …My grandfather was the janitor of the building and my cousins the ushers. My father, Thurman Robert “Bud” Starr, a transplanted advertising man from Pittsburgh, named the place Gateway after the Gateway Center in Pittsburgh. The Gateway Center, the first commercial center away from downtown, was his project from concept to development. It was his passion bringing about his early death at 42 in 1952.

Bud Starr’s vision, also his passion, led to the successful opening of the theater March 24, 1951. The first film shown was the world premier of Up Front starring David Wayne.

A few months later, the Miami News (Dec. 22, 1951) reported that management of the Gateway Theater could not entice any stars of the film Distant Drums to attend its Fort Lauderdale debut so “they settled for a group of Seminole Indians.”

The Gateway Theater has kept its doors open for most of its 71 years, except for 13 months due to the COVID pandemic. (King Motors closed its Sunrise location during the last decade.) 

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported April 30, 2021 that the theater was to reopen after the 13-month closure. Franzblau Trust Holdings signed an operations contract with the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival to run the theater. About a year later, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (July 8, 2022) reported that the 71-year-old theater was to be managed by Tamarac-based Paradigm Cinemas.


Copyright © 2019, 2020, 2023 
All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
_________



Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Broward County history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, movie theaters of Fort Lauderdale

 

Saturday, September 12, 2020

A tunnel under Fort Lauderdale's Intracoastal at Las Olas, a short-lived idea ... until now

Florida State Archives



By Jane Feehan

Many know about Fort Lauderdale’s Henry E. Kinney Tunnel* along US Highway 1 (Federal Highway), under the New River. A controversial subject for two decades, it was finally completed in 1960. But not many know – or remember – that a second tunnel was proposed for the city in 1951.

A  proposal for a second tunnel, one to go under the Intracoastal off East Las Oas Boulevard, had been toyed with once before and was cast aside. But estimated revenues from the proposed New River project revived thoughts about the second tunnel as part of the Broward County traffic improvement program. Traffic was becoming a monumental problem in growing Fort Lauderdale during the 1950s. 
Looking east on Las Olas

State Representatives John Burwell and Ted David from Broward County were probably influential in turning down that plan. They were more focused on starting work on the bridge at SE 17th Street.

It would be hard to imagine Fort Lauderdale without the beautiful vista of the waterway provided by the Las Olas Bridge today.  

Meanwhile, the tunnel built by  Boring Co. has problems in Las Vegas:




Update: July 7, 2021 The city of Fort Lauderdale approves bid from Elon Musk's Boring Company for a tunnel from downtown to A1A: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-tunnel-to-beach-fort-lauderdale-20210707-vtv5p3xhr5f73jjae73ar3za2u-story.html

Update: April 11, 2021 - Elon Musk is in talks with the city to make such a tunnel a reality - by 2022.

Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

*See index for more on the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel.

Source:   Miami Daily News, Dec. 20, 1951

    

    
                                                                                            
Florida State Archives



Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale tunnel, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, film researcher


Saturday, August 8, 2020

Arrests for bicycle sirens in Fort Lauderdale?


Posted by Jane Feehan

Kids have always managed to find mischief. These days arrest-worthy shenanigans may be computer, drug or gun-related. During the mid-1940s in Fort Lauderdale, law enforcement was concerned about kids on bicycles.

Bikes weren't causing problems; it was the sirens youngsters mounted on them that sounded like ambulances, fire trucks and police cars.

The Fort Lauderdale Daily News found the problem noteworthy enough to publish a brief front-page story about it June 5, 1945 when law enforcement announced an initiative to do away with sirens.

"Owners of bicycles with sirens will be arrested," said Police Chief R.A. Addison.  He warned the public that sirens were to be used  only by emergency vehicles and police cars.

"I don't like to arrest a bunch of kids," said Addison, "but these unauthorized sirens cause too much trouble."

Those halcyon days ...

Fee-based license tags were required for bicycles in the 1940s and into the 1960s. In 1945, 2,608 bike tags were purchased for about a dollar each at local police stations or schools. By August of the following year, sales slumped to 1,138. By the early 1960s, tags were issued for $10 for two years. Today, registration is required but there is no fee. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department recently reported nearly 2,400 bicycles have been stolen over the last five years; that number does not include thefts of unregistered bicycles. 

And ... there have been no published reports of arrests for nuisance bicycle sirens, no doubt a short-lived fad.


Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale crime in the 1940s, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale history


Sources:
 Fort Lauderdale Daily News, June 5, 1945
Fort Lauderdale News, July 26, 1946
Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Aug. 20, 1946
Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Feb. 18, 1950

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Lauderdale Manors and the 1950s boom ... of square dances and midwesterners






By Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale grew significantly during its second real estate boom.  Work began in February, 1950 on a ‘huge new development” - Lauderdale Manors - in the northwest section of the city. The first permits for Lauderdale Manors that year were issued for 15 houses on the 1500 and 1600 blocks of NW 11th Street. The dwellings were to cost $7,000 a piece. 

The development, which originally took up one fourth of the old mile-square Chateau Park subdivision of the 1920s, was platted without any through streets. After the first real estate bubble burst in the 1920s, mortgage holders for the five or six houses built in Chateau Park came to pick up the pieces. According to builders of those first few homes, the mortgage people found things to be so bad that even the houses had been stolen. 

The more successful attempt of 1950 included houses planned on courts that ran east and west, a unique footprint at the time. The entire project was platted from NW 10th Place to NW 14th Court and from 15th to 20th Avenue where hundreds of houses were eventually built. The footprint expanded to about 24th Street (perhaps beyond) by the mid 1950s.

In 1955, other builders bought lots for new homes, expanding the Lauderdale Manors neighborhood. The Albert Construction Company built between 19th and 24th streets. As a sales promotion, they held free community square dances with free prizes. The builder collected names of attendees from dance ticket stubs and contacted them later about houses for sale for under $6,000. No doubt this marketing promotion appealed to the many midwesterners flocking to Fort Lauderdale at that time. 
 
Fort Lauderdale News, Feb 4, 1950
Later in 1955, ads for resales appeared for a variety of houses in Lauderdale Manors, including a three bedroom, one and a half bath (CBS construction) house for $11,250 furnished or $10,500 unfurnished with a down payment of $2,500.

It's unlikely square dances would appeal to today's home buyer in Lauderdale Manors; the demographics and dances have changed. And prices in 2020? Closer to $100,000 ... 

For more on Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, see index.

________
Sources:
Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Feb. 4, 1950.
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 22, 1955
Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 7, 1955.



Tags: Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, film researcher



Sunday, August 2, 2020

Beer-drinking pig draws customers to Fort Lauderdale restaurant until ...





After World War II tourism gained a strong foothold in Fort Lauderdale. But this seaside city had not yet earned the sophisticated reputation of Miami Beach with its fancy hotels and floor shows. It was not easy to climb above the noise of the competition beckoning visitors with all sorts of roadside attention grabbers.  But one operator of a restaurant off State Rd. 84 in Fort Lauderdale did get notice of new patrons – and a sanitary inspector. It’s a story that made the front page of newspapers as far west as Kansas, and as far north as Ohio.

A pig in a parlor act in a restaurant run by Gina Riva featured a sow named Suzette who, on command, would sit on her hind legs and drink scotch, beer or soda from a bottle. The act, no doubt, was hilarious, but sanitation inspector Ray Almeida declared it unhealthy for customers and cited Ms. Riva. 

She appeared in Broward County criminal court where Judge W.T. Kennedy may have appreciated the skills of Suzette or the humor of the situation. He withheld Riva's sentence after she pleaded guilty and told the court the pig was sent back to her pen. Never mind the health or rights of poor Suzette; these were the days before PETA. 

Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.


Sources:
Miami News, April 6, 1951
Miami Herald, April 26, 1951


Tags: Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s, Florida tourism, Fort Lauderdale tourism, film industry researcher

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Sen. Kefauver stunned by Broward Sheriff Clark 1950 acquittal

Kefauver
By Jane Feehan

Broward County Sheriff Walter Clark turned a blind eye to illicit gambling for years (he served as sheriff 1931-39 and 1941-50). The mob rewarded him for his hands-off policy when they allowed him to run a bolita operation and own slot machines through his Broward Novelty Company.

Clark did not escape the attention of Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN), who headed a high-profile federal investigation of organized crime and gambling in 1950-51. Presidential hopeful Kefauver conducted some of the hearings in Miami, questioning mobsters Joe Adonis, Frank Costello, Vito Genovese and a roster of others, including Clark and Dade County Sheriff James Sullivan.

The Broward sheriff was evasive but was not convincing enough to evade a subsequent local grand jury indictment for owning slot machines.

A trial soon followed but Clark, his brother Deputy Sheriff Robert Clark, and Gordon F. Williams were acquitted in Broward County Dec. 8, 1950. The evidence was circumstantial. No defense witnesses were presented during the tumultuous proceedings. What most don’t know – or remember - of the trial’s outcome was Kefauver’s reaction. When the senator heard about the acquittal he told a congregation at a Miami temple that he was shocked and surprised.

“I heard testimony from Sheriff Clark in Miami, and I don’t mind admitting I was considerably shocked at the jury’s findings,” said Kefauver.

Later that month in the Saturday Evening Post, the senator elaborated.

“It is hard to stomach the admissions of characters such as Sheriff (Smiling Jimmy) Sullivan of Dade County and Sheriff Walter Clark of Broward County that they grew rich in office, far out of proportion to their modest salaries (Clark admitted he was worth more than $750,000).

Kefauver’s reaction drew the ire of Pompano Beach resident and jury foreman James Wilson.

“I’m shocked and surprised at the statement of Sen. Kefauver, in which he, by inference, tied together the testimony … he heard in Miami with the local Clark trial,” said Wilson.  “He is evidently unfamiliar with the facts of evidence introduced in the trial. Doesn’t Kefauver know that the evidence gathered in Miami was not introduced? This jury did its civic duty in an intelligent and forthright way. Furthermore, as a taxpayer, citizen and ex-U.S. Marine, I resent any reflection on my intelligence or veracity. If Kefauver wants to debate the issue publicly, I will meet him either in Florida or in his native hills of Tennessee.”

A movement to reinstate Clark was underway when he died April 24, 1951 of leukemia. Many mourned the colorful 47-year-old sheriff who was known for his charitable ways.

Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, Dec. 9, 1950
Miami Herald, Dec. 10, 1950
Fort Lauderdale News April 11, 1951
Miami Herald, April 13, 1957

Tags: Kefauver hearings in Miami, Broward County gambling in the 1940s, 50s, Sheriff Walter Clark, Sheriff Clark acquittal, Kefauver reaction to Clark acquittal, Miami hearings on gambling 1950, organized crime in Broward County,


Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Sunrise Junior High now Sunrise Middle: a brief history and a chuckle


Sunrise Middle School, same place different face
Sunrise Middle School today









By Jane Feehan

Fort Lauderdale needed schools in the 1950s. The city led the state in population growth by the middle of that decade. Plans for Sunrise Junior High School materialized after Fort Lauderdale pioneer and realtor M.A. Hortt donated his property at 1750 N.E. 14 St., not far west of Federal Highway. 

In May 1956 the Broward County School Board awarded a construction contract to Miami’s J.S. Stephens and Sons for $563,735, lower than the estimated $600,000 to $800,000 for this new facility. Population growth was expected to continue at the same rate so at that May meeting the board also approved the cost of stockpiling lumber for 30-35 portable classrooms of a 100 portable classroom county-wide project.

Plans for the new Sunrise Junior High (sixth through eighth grades) included a large patio, larger than the one at the old Fort Lauderdale High School, 24 classrooms, a physical education building, library, “cafetorium,” a home economics room and an administration/music building.  About 500 students attending the Naval Air Station Junior High were expected to move to Sunrise Junior High when it was contracted for completion by Feb. 1, 1957. The school was designed for 750 students but 1,000 were expected to enroll.

Construction was behind by early October 1956. Only 35 percent was completed with 50 percent of the contracted time behind them. Sunrise Junior High did not open on time, but a month later, on March 4, 1957 with Mr. J.A. Wilkins as principal. Bus transportation was provided for students two miles beyond the school. 

In a board meeting back in January, 1956 members had asked for a report or feasibility study on avoiding early opening of county schools to cope with peak traffic and—get this one—from opening early on “cold, damp mornings” (in Florida?). Those possibilities did not materialize because, other than being unreasonable, it became moot. By August 1957, mere months after opening, Sunrise Junior High was busting at the seams (as were others). It operated split or double sessions as they awaited completion of 16 portable classrooms. The proposed late openings for cold, damp days and traffic morphed quickly into the need to get students at school (s) earlier.

Today, about 1,350 students attend Sunrise Middle School, a Montessori Magnet School. Baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, track and field are offered. There’s a pool on the expanded campus, but it’s not operated by Sunrise Middle School. The campus has grown. Sunrise Middle School is now painted in white with blue trim. And about its newspaper, for which I once served as assistant editor … it’s long gone.
Sunrise Middle today


Sources:
Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 6, 1956
Fort Lauderdale News, May 26, 1956
Fort Lauderdale News, Oct. 4, 1956
Fort Lauderdale News, May 1, 1957
Fort Lauderdale News, Aug. 30, 1957
Sunrise Middle School Administration – thank you.

Tags: Fort Lauderdale middle schools, Broward County schools in the 1950s, Fort Lauderdale school history, Sunrise Middle School, Jane Feehan, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s