General Company Rules for Mermaids, Swimmers & Trainees

General Company Rules for Mermaids, Swimmers & Trainees

Weeki Wachee Springs Employee Handbook

Weeki Wachee Springs (Fla.)

Employee handbooks

Tourism--Florida

Springs--Florida

Parks--Florida

Weeki Wachee Springs employee handbook for mermaids, swimmers and trainees. The first four pages detail scheduling rules, dress code and rules of conduct. Some of the rules for mermaids cover what makeup to wear in and out of the water, where to keep bathing suits and costumes, how to act in the villa, how to announce the shows, as well as how to act in public when off duty. Pages 5-10 detail safety measures for diving. There are rules for how to care for the sinus, answers to an air lock test, and a list of diving diseases and their symptoms.

Weeki Wachee Springs is a state park that opened to the public in October of 1949 by Newton Perry along with a group of investors. This attraction opened as the roadside era of Florida was ramping up and consisted of an amalgamation of vendors including an orchid garden, a river boat tour, as well as the star attraction- the mermaid show that took place in an underwater theatre. The attraction grew to include The May Museum of the Tropics, an ‘abandoned Seminole village’, an show called “Birds of Prey”, and a petting zoo. As theme parks became the new norm for Florida’s tourist industry, Weeki Wachee Springs began steadily declining until the state of Florida absorbed the attraction into the state park system in 2008. The attraction now focuses on appealing to a modern audience, while still preserving its rich history.

Weeki Wachee Springs

10-page typewritten handbook by Weeki Wachee Springs, c.1950s: Weeki Wachee Springs State Park Weeki Wachee, Florida.

ca. 1950-1959

ca. 1950-1959

Digital reproduction of original 10-page typewritten handbook by Weeki Wachee Springs.

Weeki Wachee Collection, Hernando County Collection, RICHES.

application/pdf

1.2 MB

10-page typed employee handbook

eng

Still Images

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Weeki Wachee, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Humanities Teacher

Originally created and published by Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.

Copyright to this resource is held by Weeki Wachee Springs State Park and is provided here by RICHES for educational purposes only.

Rebecca Schwandt's Thesis Project

Schwandt, Rebecca

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. Accessed November 9, 2018. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1504171?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Georgiadis, Bonnie and Lu Vickers. Weeki Wachee mermaids: thirty years of underwater photography. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012.

Hollis, Tim. Glass Bottom Boats &

Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2006.

Pelland, Maryan. Weeki Wachee Springs. Arcadia Publishing Inc, 2006. .

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

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