Newspaper Article Announcing the Employment of Rebecca Young as a Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid

Newspaper Article Announcing the Employment of Rebecca Young as a Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid

Marshalltown Times-Republican Article Announcing Rebecca Young's (then Stahlhut) Employment as a Weeki Wachee Mermaid

Weeki Wachee Springs (Fla.)

Tourism--Florida

tourism & museum

Tourism--1960-1980

Ballet--1970-1980

Mermaids--Florida--Weeki Wachee--History

Theater--20th century

A newspaper article published on February 22, 1973, in the Marshalltown Times-Republican announcing Rebecca Young's (then Rebecca Stalhhut) employment as a Weeki Wachee Mermaid. The article reads, "Becky Stahlhut, a mid-term graduate of Marshalltown High School has been accepted to swim as a mermaid in the world famous Spring of Live Mermaids at Weeki Wachi [sic], Fla. She was a member of the MHS girls swim team, synchronized swim group, intructor and life guard at the YMCA and on the Y swim team. Becky is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Stalhhut of St. Petersburg, Fla., formerly of Marshalltown."

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.

Newspaper article

Marshalltown Times-Republican

Original Newspaper Article: "Miss Stahlhut To be 'Mermaid'", Marshalltown Times-Republican article, February 22,1973: Private Collection of Becky Young.

Marshalltown Times-Republican

1973-02-22

1973-02-22

Digital Reproduction of original ticket: Becky Young, 1973. Scanned by RICHES Team. RICHES, Orlando, Florida.

Weeki Wachee Collection, RICHES.

image/jpeg

21.1 MB

Newspaper article cut out and taped together.

eng

Still Image

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Spring Hill, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Humanitites Teacher

Visual Arts Teacher

Theater Teacher

Originally created by Marshalltown Times-Republican, owned by Rebecca Young, and published by RICHES.

Copyright to this resource is held by the Marshalltown Times-Republican 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

Private Collection of Becky Young.

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.