Weeki Wachee Mermaids Sitting in Front of Hercules Beetle Statue

Weeki Wachee Mermaids Sitting in Front of Hercules Beetle Statue

Color Postcard: Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids Sitting in Front of The May Museum of the Tropics' Hercules Beetle Statue c.1950s

Weeki Wachee Springs (Fla.)

Tourism--Florida

Photograph albums--1960-1970

tourism & museum

Tourism--1960-1980

Mermaids--Florida--Weeki Wachee--History

Theater--20th century

Color postcard of Weeki Wachee Springs mermaids sitting in front of a Hercules Beetle Statue and the May Museum of the Tropics. For a little over a decade, the May family of Colorado displayed some of their family's private collection of tropical bugs and animals in a museum on Weeki Wachee Springs property. Photograph taken sometime in the 1950s.

Along with a group of investors, Newton Perry opened Weeki Wachee Springs to the public in October of 1947. At the time, roadside attractions were becoming popular stops along Florida roadways. The attraction consisted of an amalgamation of vendors, an orchid garden, a river boat tour, as well as the star attraction: a mermaid show that took place in an underwater theater. Eventually, the May Museum of the Tropics, an "abandoned Seminole village", a show called “Birds of Prey”, and a petting zoo were added. After peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, attendance began to decline as theme parks and highways changed the dynamics of Florida's tourism. The State of Florida took over the attraction as a state park in 2008. Since then, the park has focused on appealing to a modern audience while preserving its history.

Color Postcard of May Museum of the Tropics Entrance

Weeki Wachee Spring State Park

Original color photograph of May Museum of the Tropics, c.1950s: May Natural History Museum Collection.

c. 1950s

Digital reproduction of original postcard: c. 1950s. Scanned by RICHES team. RICHES, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Weeki Wachee Collection, RICHES.

image/jpg

3.60 MB

Color Postcard

Still Image

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Spring Hill, Florida

Donation

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Originally created by Weeki Wachee Springs, owned by May Natural History Museum, and published by RICHES.

Copyright to this resource is held by May Natural History Museum and is provided here by RICHES for educational purposes only.

Florida Humanities Council Community Grant Program and Friends of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park

Schwandt, Rebecca

May Natural History Museum Collection.

Allman, T.D. Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013.

Ammidown, Margot. “Edens, Underworlds, and Shrines: Florida’s Small Tourist Attractions.” The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts 23, (1998): 238-259.

Georgiadis, Bonnie and Lu Vickers. Weeki Wachee Mermaids. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.

Hollis, Tim. Glass Bottom Boats and Mermaid Tails: Florida’s Tourist Springs. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2006.

Pelland, Dan and Maryan Pelland. Images of America: Weeki Wachee. Mount Pleasant: Arcadia Publishing, 2006.

Revels, Tracy J. Sunshine Paradise: A History of Florida Tourism. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2011.

Vickers, Lu. Weeki Wachee City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida’s Oldest Roadside Attractions. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.