First African American radio station in Miami is ...

WFEC studio Christened at
the Lord Calvert Hotel,
Overtown, Miami  circa 1950
Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Miami radio station WFEC (Florida East Coast Broadcasting Company) launched operations April 10, 1949. Located at that time at 350 NE 71 Street, it promoted itself as the “Whole Family Entertainment Center.”  The station, 1220 on the radio dial, featured news from the communities of Allapattah, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, Little River, 54^th Street, Edison Center, North Miami and Opa-locka. Part of its early schedule included news from the Jewish community.

A day-time operation only, it shifted to “all-Negro programming” by July 1952. By the end of that year the WFEC touted itself as “the only station in Florida featuring all-Negro programming.” One of its disc jockeys, Carlton King Coleman (1932-2010), became a popular Miami radio personality by the late 1950s when the station evolved into WMBM. Coleman later provided some of the vocals for the hit song (Do the) Mashed Potatoes recorded with James Brown’s Band. His career included his own radio shows in New York City and acting in a few films including Bad Boys II.

The station served as an early starting point in the illustrious career of Noble V. Blackwell (1934-1994), known as "HoneyBee" to listeners. He moved on to work as director of broadcasting at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia for more than two decades and as broadcaster for NBN New York City. In 1972 Noble was honored as "Man of the Year" by the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers. He also hosted the popular TV show, Night Train in 1964. His dream of owning a radio station was realized when he bought twin staions WCDL AM and FM in Pennsylvania. He successfully transitioned them into WLSP Hit Kickin' Country. (A recently-launched documentary about Noble Blackwell can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/@noblevblackwell).

Another WMBM personality, Larry King (1933-2021) launched his interview show there in the late 1950s, early 1960s. He later moved to Miami’s WIOD* and syndicated the show nationwide before landing at CNN.

Through a series of license sales, owners, radio dial numbers, frequencies, and locations, WMBM now offers urban gospel programming serving Miami at 1490 on the dial.

Looking back, it could be said WFEC paved the way for ethnic programming with its rhythm and blues and gospel format for Miami’s African American community. The station helped place the city at the vanguard of radio broadcasting before a nationwide increase in station consolidation and decrease in local radio identity became the norm.

Copyright © 2022, 2023, 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan

For more on WIOD, see:

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2013/07/miamis-radio-610-wiod-wonderful-isle-of.html

Sources:

Miami Herald, April 10, 1949

Miami Herald, Feb. 10, 1950

Miami News, Aug. 8, 1951

Miami Herald, July 21, 1952

Miami Herald, Jan. 15, 1953

Miami Times, Nov. 30, 1957

The Tennessean, Sept. 13, 1994

Wikipedia

NB Production Team/Tracye Blackwell Johnson

Tags: Miami radio history, African American history, Miami in the 1940s, Miami in the 1950s, Miami history, Noble V Blackwell,  Carlton King Coleman, Larry King

Orange Bowl plan: to extend Miami tourist season

Coca Cola Float Orange Bowl Parade 1939
Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Miami’s tourist season used to span six weeks, beginning in February and running concurrent with horse racing at Hialeah Park. Times were tough for the young city after the 1926 hurricane and during the Great Depression so the city’s movers and shakers got together at the Biltmore Hotel in 1933 to brainstorm a way to extend the winter season. The winning idea was a football game on New Year’s Day.

The first Palm Festival game was held in 1933 and was a match up between the University of Miami and Manhattan College. Manhattan was guaranteed $3,200—the Hurricanes nothing—but the Florida team routed the northern college with a 7-0 victory. The Palm Festival was held that year and the following in Moore Park at NW 36th Street and 7th Avenue. Both games were a sellout of 8,000 seats.

A charter was issued to 27 Miamians forming the new Orange Bowl Committee, which included Miami Herald editor and namesake of the John Pennekamp Coral Reef Park. Oranges were not a big crop in South Florida then but the name resonated with the committee headed by Director Ernest Seiler. The inaugural Orange Bowl Festival game was held Jan. 1, 1935 between Bucknell University and Miami; Bucknell prevailed 26-0. Ground was broken for a stadium in 1936 at 1501 NW 3rd Street; the sports facility was named Burdine Stadium until 1959. (Orange Bowl Stadium closed in 2008.)

Seiler was able to keep the new stadium filled; he was the consummate public relations practitioner. He developed elaborate 12-minute shows for halftime that were heralded as a popular highlight of the games. His PR skills paid off for the 1939 game when he traveled to Oklahoma to meet with the Sooners and enticed them south with pictures of beaches and palm trees for a bowl game. Seiler asked the team coach to call Tennessee to suggest they play their big game in Miami and it was a go; the bowl game of 1939 propelled the Orange Bowl into the nation’s lineup of major bowl games.

Seiler kept adding to the Orange Bowl festivities with a parade along the Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, a boating regatta, beauty pageant and more. By the 1940s, it was the place to be New Year’s Day. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the honored guest in 1947; President-Elect John Kennedy attended in 1961.

Today the Orange Bowl is a tradition in Miami and across the nation – and the winter tourist season runs five or six months instead of six weeks. The game is now played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens at 199th Street or 347 Don Shula Drive.

www.orangebowl.org

Sources:
Miami News, Jan. 2, 1963
Miami News, Dec. 27, 1946
www.orangebowl.com


Tags: Miami history, Orange Bowl history, Orange Bowl sponsor, Palm Festival, first Orange Bowl game, Florida film researcher, film researcher

Orange Bowl, 1960 Miami,
Florida State Archives, Florida Memories
Dept. of Commerce

Winston Churchill and his Miami Beach vacation

Winston Churchill painting at the
 Miami Beach Surf Club, 1946
State Archives of Florida/Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and his wife, Clementine, came to Miami Beach for a six-week vacation in January and February 1946. It was their first extended holiday after World War II and after Churchill was voted out as prime minister (he won that office again in 1951). Not known for taking many vacations together, the famous couple planned a stay at Col. Frank W. Clarke’s Miami Beach home.

They sailed to New York on the Queen Elizabeth II, and then took a train to Miami, arriving Jan. 17. Churchill aimed to "hide on Miami Beach," to have a low key visit. Col. Clarke, a Canadian steamship and wood pulp executive, said the old lion would accept no invitations nor attend many functions. “Newspapermen” were asked to come seldom and stay only as long as necessary.

The modest two-story Clarke home featured six main rooms decorated in grays, pinks and greens and were casually furnished. A veranda next to the main bedroom provided privacy for sunbathing; a den with a fireplace was used by Churchill as an office. A rear garage apartment housed staff that included Churchill’s “man,” Mrs. Churchill’s maid, a secretary, and a Scotland Yard agent.

 Churchill at Hialeah Park opening 1946
State of Florda Archives

Churchill’s name and photo appeared in the Miami News a few times during his stay. A story about his medical checkup conducted by Dr. Robert M. Harris, a Navy lieutenant commander, revealed his health to be excellent after the 4,500-mile journey from England. The doctor gave advice to the 71-year old about how to adjust to the climate of South Florida’s Gold Coast: stay indoors the first few days.

It doesn’t appear Churchill followed the advice too closely. He was photographed a day or two later - cigar in hand - on San Marino Island where “he was having himself a time.” An accomplished artist, he ventured out to paint scenery that day and set up his easel under a huge umbrella. A group of island residents, including children, gathered. The former prime minister obliged them with autographs on scraps of paper. Churchill used oils to paint the northwest side of DiLido Island, where Leon Lowenstein’s estate, the Villa Leglo, stood. The painting included the villa, nearby homes and a vacant lot owned by the president of Churchill Coffee. Coincidentally, the coffee company was named after the popular British notable.

Daughter Sarah Churchill Oliver flew to Miami to join her parents during their vacation. Part of their visit that year included a week’s stay in Cuba at the exclusive Havana Yacht Club. They were hosted by the wife of the Cuban secretary of state, Mrs. Alvarez.

On the day the Churchills left Miami Beach (March 2), a reception was held for the former prime minister, described by reporters as “mildly tanned,” at the Surf and Turf Club. Afterward the family headed to Washington on the Florida East Coast Railway. Churchill met with son Randolph, then traveled with President Harry S. Truman to Missouri where he gave the first of several speeches across the country, including the famous "Iron Curtain" speech March 5, 1946. He returned to England March 21. 

Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

For a newsreel clip of his arrival in Miami, see: http://tinyurl.com/92x5axf
For more on Churchill at Hillsboro Beach in Broward county during WWII, see: 

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2015/02/wwii-titans-meet-in-pompano-beach-1941.html

https://janeshistorynook.blogspot.com/2020/06/historic-caps-place-gambling-raids.html

Sources:
Miami News, Jan. 11, 1946
Miami News, Jan. 17, 1946
Miami News, Feb. 4, 1946
Fort Lauderdale Daily News, Mar. 2, 1946


Tags: Miami Beach history, Winston Churchill, Miami Beach in the 1940s, Florida history, film industry researcher

Dade County's Public Enemy No. 1 and gambling gambits of the 1940s

Greater Miami 1940
Florida State Archives/Fishbaugh/Florida Memory

By Jane Feehan

Greater Miami during the 1940s was wide open for mobsters who endeavored to get into the gambling business.  One of them, Joseph “Jack” Friedlander, elbowed his way from Newark, NJ into Florida rackets as early as 1940. By 1948, he was declared Public Enemy No. 1 by Daniel P. Sullivan, director of Miami’s Crime Commission.

Sullivan claimed Friedlander brought the New Jersey mob element to Miami through his association with Abner (Longy) Zwillman, kingpin of the numbers, bookmaking and bootlegging business in the Garden State. He was probably right. That association evidently gave Russian-born Friedlander the confidence to ally himself with Harry Russell of the Capone gang and to work his way into the territory of the local SG syndicate by playing one gamer against the other. Friedlander soon became a partner in every gambling house in the Miami area.

Friedlander made life tough for the houses that did not play along with him; he would drop hints to law enforcement who then raided the uncooperative establishments. By the mid- to late 1940s he managed the Blackamoor Hotel in Miami and owned pieces of the famed Island Club, Little Palm, and Club 86. He was the bag man for officials who gladly took money from him to look the other way when they came upon illegal gambling.  Friedlander later admitted that his “Little Syndicate” influenced elections for Dade County sheriff in 1944 and 1948 that set up James “Jimmy” Sullivan (who was later arrested) as the county’s top law enforcer.

In 1949 investigative reporters wrote about a $1.5 million-a-year  numbers racket Friedlander and ex-con David Marcus ran out of two offices. One, operating as Aircraft Equipment Company, was located  at the Aviation Building at 3240 NW 27^th Ave.; the other ran out of 719 NW 2^nd Ave. They employed between 250-300 people to run the numbers racket or bolita. Friedlander was known as the bolita king.

Director Sullivan said Friedlander had no fear of law enforcement. Things changed in 1950. Friedlander was indicted that year for a list of transgressions involving gambling. He testified in 1951 at the Kefauver hearings held in Miami where he admitted to many illicit activities but claimed he might have been Public Enemy No. 999, not No. 1. After the hearings, he, along with other Miami mobsters, were soon out of work. It was the beginning of the end for a $100 million industry that involved operations at 200 hotels and scores of enterprising gangsters.

Friedlander’s descent from glory was rapid. In April of 1952 it was reported that his house on posh Pinetree Drive was ransacked. Friedlander reported $275 in cash and a ring were stolen. The government placed a $14,696 lien on that house a few months after the Kefauver hearings. Friedlander went on to own the Dade Boulevard restaurant but times were tough.  Despondent over his finances, he attempted suicide in 1957 via an overdose of sleeping pills at his Miami Beach apartment on Byron Avenue. His wife, Sally, discovered him unconscious when the telephone rang at 2:30 a.m. and he did not stir.

He survived the suicide attempt (age 56 then) but news accounts of what happened to Jack Friedlander after that and when he died are nonexistent. If you have any information on his death, please post  comment below. Copyright © 2014 All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

 Sources:

Miami News, Apr. 23, 1947

Miami News, Dec. 12, 1948

Miami News, Mar. 13, 1949

Miami News, May 11, 1949

Miami News, Sept. 27, 1950

Miami News, Oct. 22, 1950

Daytona Beach Morning Journal, Feb. 17, 1951

Miami News, June 29, 1951

Miami News, Apr. 7, 1952

Miami News, May 14, 1957

Tags: Gambling in Miami, Jack Friedlander, Abner Zwillman, Miami in the 1940s, film researcher, Miami history

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.

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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