Product Description

Today, we're familiar with the major theme parks which charge families hundreds of dollars a day to wait in line for moments of thrills on technologically amazing rides. Florida, however, has been drawing tourists for centuries with simpler attractions which cost much less to view the animals or exhibits, or commune with nature. In Historic Photos of Florida Early Tourist Attractions, Steve Rajtar brings us back to the simpler ways early visitors enjoyed their time in the Sunshine State.
Tour the state with photos of the tourist attractions which were here before Walt Disney World, in the days when a row of antique cars sufficed and tourists did not require constant action. See the wax figures which amazed visitors long before the invention of audioanimatronic mannequins. See what curiosities brought in the tourists and their dollars decades before today's theme parks dominated the billboards and themselves became worldwide vacation destinations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #238701 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 216 pages

Review
Turner Publishing has produced Historic Photos of Florida Tourist Attractions, a new coffee-table book, which offers a fun-filled look back at Central Florida attractions of yesteryear. Black-and-white photographs, from the State Archives of Florida and the Library of Congress, fill the pages. The accompanying text is by Steve Rajtar, a longtime Floridian who also has written books about history and hiking. --Orlandosentinel.com

Steve Rajtar's new book, Historic Photos of Florida Tourist Attractions, is so much fun. Each of the photos in this rich book offers a glimpse back into historic locations, while the captions provide additional details. Each image invites close examination and evokes feelings of wonder. The sheer number of these attractions and their history make it easy to see where the stage gets its varied and often notorious character. For many, it will stir up memories of family road trips where billboards promised possibilities of untold adventure at the very next exit. That offer of excitement has always been part of the allure of the Sunshine State. --Scott Leon, Orlando Arts Magazine

Tour Florida with these wonderful photos of the attractions which were here before Walt Disney World. You will see what curiosities brought in the tourists and their dollars decades before today's theme parks dominated the billboards and themselves became worldwide vacation destinations. --Accent On Tampa Bay Magazine

Tour Florida with these wonderful photos of the attractions which were here before Walt Disney World. You will see what curiosities brought in the tourists and their dollars decades before today's theme parks dominated the billboards and themselves became worldwide vacation destinations. --Accent On Tampa Bay Magazine

About the Author
Steve Rajtar grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, came to Florida to go to college, earned degrees in mathematics, anthropology, law and taxation and decided to stay. The combination of a love of the outdoors and local history has resulted in his establishment of over 150 historical tour routes through the communities of Central Florida, which anyone can use to learn about the areas' histories. He also leads guided walks, bike rides and kayak trips of the communities as a leader with the Boy Scouts and the Florida Trail Association. His previous thirteen books deal with history and hiking.

Customer Reviews

What a time it was in America when all these oddities were worth driving to see!
Long before Disney World, Florida was the home of the tourist attraction. It was a state that worked hard to draw visitors and, as it grew in population, give its new residents novel things worth driving to see. This book is full of these wonderful venues, most of which are long gone from our modern and far more homogenized world.

Steve Rajtar brings a similar experience to editing this book. He grew up around Cleveland, Ohio, but came to Florida to get multiple college degrees and the place grew on him, so he stayed. He has laid out 150 historical tour routes so you can drive through Florida and see the cool, the strange, the odd, natural wonders, and historic places. Rajtar had written 13 books before this one. I enjoyed his selection of photos, his captions for them, and his concise chapter introductions.

This book isn't divided in to chapters based on time periods. Instead, the photos are organized by county with as few as one photo for Citrus County, for example, while there are more than 20 for Miami-Dade as you might expect. While there are many based on `mermaids', dolphins, alligators, water-skiing, there is also a wide range of the unexpected such as Pioneer City with its old west theme. There are snake shows and natural caverns with amazing stalactites and stalagmites. You can see attractions based on sea shells, strange plants, trees, and sunken treasure. The attractions based on genuine historical item and Indian culture is set cheek by jowl with Tiki Gardens and Webb's City the `world's most unusual drug store' where you could see all kinds of strange acts including tight rope walking roosters.

While the book is clearly based on Florida attractions it speaks to a period in American culture where these oddities seemed to make sense and were attractive to millions of our fellow citizens.

Great stuff.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI