Showing posts with label South Florida history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Florida history. Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2015

SOFLA Travelogue 1880s: Of fishing, sailing, an earthquake and more …

Wonderland, by
George Potter of Lake Worth

 By Jane Feehan


In the late 1870s, Ohio physician James A. Henshall (1836-1925) urged a few “chronic” patients from Kentucky who lived on fried food to improve their health by joining him on a trip to South Florida. A “plain diet, pure air and bright sunshine” would go far in curing their ills.

Henshall had been to Palatka and St. Augustine but never south of those towns. He could not find anything to read about South Florida so decided to write of his travels during the winters of 1879-1880 and 1880-1881. What resulted was probably the first travelogue for the area, Camping and Cruising in Florida. The book provides a vivid snapshot of wild and settler life in the early days of Florida development.

This post will focus on his first Southeast Florida journey.

Henshall and his party traveled aboard his boat, Blue Wing, from Titusville, at the head of the Indian River, to Biscayne Bay on that first expedition. They camped, hunted, fished and visited a few Houses of Refuge along the coast where they made friends and picked up a few travel tips.
Blue Wing, by George Potter

Some of Henshall’s highlights include remarks about:
  • The two best harbors - the Hillsboro Inlet and New River (today Port Everglades), reached from the “outside” or ocean instead of the conventional interior route;
  • Hunting and dining on deer, possum, ducks, squirrels and fish;
  • Bass fish aplenty (“too good of a good thing”) at the south branch of St. Lucie River; bits of white cloth used successfully as bait;
  • Sea cows (manatees) spotted in St. Lucie River and shares a story about Captain Estes who shipped two sea cows to Philadelphia for the Centennial Expo where they died in a fire opening day;
  • Redfish near Merritt Island 20 pounds and more;
  • Sharks, pompano, drum fish, green turtles, oysters, bluefish, kingfish and crabs in or just "outside" Lake Worth in the ocean;
  • Lake Worth residents (25 families on east side of the lake) who say the climate there is better than that of Southern Italy. They grow pineapples, coconuts, sugarcane;
  • Thousands of green turtles (20-200 pounds) caught, held in pens and shipped north each year;
  • New River (winding through downtown Fort Lauderdale today) … “the straightest, deepest and finest river I have ever seen in Florida.” Thousands of fish visible in its clear, amber-colored waters, include an abundance of Crevalles (jacks) 10-30 pounds. Also largest alligator (12 feet) of the trip spotted in New River;
  • The beauty and silence of the Everglades and its friendly Seminoles;
  • Their experience of an earthquake Jan. 12, 1879 (probably one of a pair near Palatka) at 11:30 p.m., which threw oil out of the lamp of the Jupiter Lighthouse and shook its brick foundation (one of several recorded in Florida and was felt for 25,000 square miles);
  • Jupiter Lighthouse, which provides “one of the grandest and wildest views of land and water in Florida.” (It still does);
  • The Biscayne Bay area, with fewer than 30 residents, is cooler in summer than any other portion of Florida because of the trade winds. It does  not get as hot as New York City. One day it will be a “popular health resort or sanitarium.” (Today the Magic City and Miami Beach lie at the bay's edgesanitariums indeed.)
An avid angler, Henshall is chock full of fish tales—the kind that would have today’s anglers pining for time travel.

Current Fort Lauderdale resident, famed fisherman and author Steve Kantner says fishing is not the sport it used to be because of one thing: habitat destruction. Pollution from development and over-population has affected natural environments.

It’s interesting to note that Henshall did not mention tarpon in New River. Kantner, also known as the Landcaptain, caught one weighing 135 pounds; others have landed giants of 200 pounds. (Search index for fishing or Kantner.)

"Fishing in Lake Worth or in the ocean 'outside' remains remarkable," said Kantner. "That’s because only one canal, the C-16, pours into it and the Gulfstream flows closest to that area." The Landcaptain knows of one fisherman who snagged a tuna in the Lake Worth lagoon.

Fishing there may one day be closer to what it was in Henshall's time. Plans are underway to restore the salinity and original habitat of Lake Worth.

Dr. Henshall, who has since been referred to as the “apostle of the black bass,” left medicine to write several other books on fishing, some included in the American Sportsman’s Library. His Camping and Cruising in Florida (see link below to view book) remains the centerpiece of his legacy. Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.


Sources:
James Alexander Henshall, M.D., Cruising and Camping in Florida. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1884
Kantner, Steve. Ultimate Guide to Fishing South Florida on Foot. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2014.
University of Florida (geology)




Tags: Florida travel, Florida fishing, Steve Kantner, Florida history

Monday, October 21, 2013

Miami tops Los Angeles in cars per capita in 19...

By Jane Feehan

The Automobile Manufacturers Association reported in 1940 that Miami led the nation among major cities in the number of cars per capita. A count of 53,078 cars converted into an impressive 2.8 per capita, or a car for every 2.8 persons. That figure topped the 2.9 number in Los Angeles and 3.0 in Long Beach CA. The Magic City held the lead in the number of cars well into the 1960s.
The national auto per capita (per 1,000) the following decades reveals how impressive Miami’s 1940 statistic was:

1950      .28 per capita
1960      .37         "
1970      .48         "
1980      .62         "
1990      .72         "
1999      .77         "

With a metric that could point to prosperity or a climate well-suited for conspicuous consumption, came grim vehicle-related news a few decades later. In 1962, the Miami area—Dade County—held the distinction of reporting the highest number of vehicular deaths in the nation. It may not come as a surprise to some that in 2009 the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach statistical area ranked among the nation’s top 50 in motor vehicle crash death rates at 11.1 deaths per 100,000. Jacksonville, FL counted 13.3 per 100,000, while Houston, Texas cited 12.9 deaths.

Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.
-------
Sources:
Miami News, Dec. 30, 1962
Miami News, Nov. 16, 1964
Centers for Disease Control www.cdc.gov
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics 2007



Tags; Miami history, SOFLA auto ownership history, cars in Miami, auto deaths, vehicular motor crash stats, film researcher, historical researcher

Sunday, September 1, 2013

South Florida's Skipper Chuck: more than Popeye Playhouse



By  Jane Feehan

It was tough getting a kid in the audience for Popeye Playhouse, the popular children’s show hosted by “Skipper Chuck” Zink on WTVJ (CH 4).  At times there was a three-month wait to get a coveted seat. Children had to be five years old to get on the set; it was not uncommon for mothers to lie about the little one's ages.

After five years in radio and television in Pennsylvania (when he was second choice host to a show Merv Griffin landed), Zink came to WTVJ in 1957. He hosted Popeye Playhouse, a concept he developed around a syndicated cartoon package, weekdays at 5 p.m. In 1961 he expanded programming for children with a Saturday show at 8 a.m. It replaced the weekly Western movies he hosted.

By 1961, the two shows were all that was left of live television at WTVJ. Zink, proud of that distinction, was known as a stern taskmaster on set who let cameramen and production assistants have it when they flubbed a prop cue.

By that time, Zink, who did not have children of his own, had a trove of stories about kids on the playhouse. He recounted one tale in 1961 about a boy who called out “Chuck” during a commercial. When Zink asked what he wanted the kid said “hurry up so we can get out of here.” When a savings institution sponsored Popeye Playhouse, Zink coaxed 9,000 South Florida kids into saving about $750,000 in total. Also noteworthy, the show had the first integrated audience of children in South Florida. 

Popeye Playhouse ran until 1979 but by that time, Zink's resume included a number of titles and projects that elevated his popularity among all age levels. He hosted the Orange Bowl Parade a few times as well as the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. In 1968 he played a bit part in the Miami-made movie Mission Mars. He served as national vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and hosted the local productions aired during the Jerry Lewis telethons for the cause. Zink also hosted and produced a Ringling Brothers show and participated in about 50 documentaries.  

After his WTVJ days, Zink moved to Palm Beach County where he hosted a number of radio shows for seniors. Indiana-born Zink, a former U.S. Marine and Bronze Star Medal recipient who served in World War II, died in Boca Raton in 2006 at age 80 (or 81). He was survived by wife, Clarice Zink who died in 2011. Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Sources:
Miami News, Oct. 29, 1961
Miami News, Nov. 27, 1980

Miami Herald, Jan. 6, 2006


Tags: Kids TV shows in Miami during the 1960s, Chuck Zink, WTVJ history, Skipper Chuck, broadcast history, historical researcher