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| Fort Lauderdale |
A fast-growing city in 1950, Fort Lauderdale began to capture the attention—and headlines—of northern newspapers. Some news came courtesy of public relations initiatives. Other items raised interest because the city was gaining popularity among potential tourists as well as entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities.
Below is a synopsis of stories published in New York and
Chicago in 1950. They involve a female baseball player, tourism, gambling,
shopping and weather.
Baseball:
Steve Calder, owner of the Fort Lauderdale Club of the Class
B International League (a men’s team), and club official James Hunt, attempted to
acquire female first-base phenom Dorothy Kamenshek, 26, from the Illinois-based
Rockford Peaches All-American Girls’ Baseball League. Calder’s bid to buy out
her contract failed when her team said they couldn’t afford to lose her. Some
said she was good enough to play in “organized baseball.”
Tourism and economy:
A record-breaking building boom raised $20,000,000 in permits
for construction of 122 “apartment houses” and seven hotels.
Tourist entertainment or sightseeing venues included: Bahia
Mar (in its second year), shuffleboard tournaments, boat trips throughout city canals, including a visit to the “Jungle Bird Farm”; a new 18-hole golf course and an annual fishing
festival. Hotel rates started at about $13 on the beach and hotels downtown at
about $10.
About 100,000 vacationers visited Fort Lauderdale annually in 1950 (in
comparison, Port Everglades alone currently sees 4 million a year coming
through for cruises).
Gambling:
The Kefauver Committee on Crime heard testimony about Greenacres,
a gambling joint on “the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale” owned by Frank Erickson.
Former Fort Lauderdale Sheriff Walter Clark and his brother
Robert, once his deputy, were indicted on gambling charges. They were charged
with allegedly owning slot machines and operating a lottery. Florida Governor
Fuller Warren had removed Clark from office after hearing testimony from the
Kefauver Committee.
Shopping on Las Olas:
In May 1950 it was announced that for the “first time in the
history of Fort Lauderdale,” shops would remain open year round. The city
expected its busiest summer season that year.
Weather:
It was reported on January 1, 1950, that 16 inches of rain
the last week in December, caused $1 million in damage to crops near Fort
Lauderdale in the Broward County “Everglades winter vegetable area.” One storm
saw gusts up to 46 mph.
A look back tells us that news about Fort Lauderdale rings the same bells in different ways.
Sources:
Chicago Tribune, Jan. 1, 1950
Chicago Tribune, Jan. 8, 1950
Daily News, Jan. 8, 1950
Chicago Tribune, Feb. 26, 1950
Daily News, March 31, 1950
Chicago Tribune, May 28, 1950
Staten Island Advance, Aug. 4, 1950
Daily News, Aug. 19, 1950
Daily News, Dec. 4, 1950
Tags: Fort Lauderdale in the news 1950, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale tourism, Fort Lauderdale in the 1950s
