Geanie L.W. Brooks in Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid Uniform Operating a Caterpillar D-7 Bulldozer

Geanie L.W. Brooks in Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid Uniform Operating a Caterpillar D-7 Bulldozer

Photograph: Geanie L.W. Brooks in Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid Uniform Operating a Caterpillar D-7 Bulldozer, 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

Burial--United States--History

Native American art and culture

Archeological investigations

University of Florida

Geanie L. W. Brooks in her Weeki Wachee uniform (a swimsuit) operating a Caterpillar D-7 bulldozer. Geanie learned how to operate heavy machinery at the McCloskey Shipyard during World War II. In the 1950s, Geanie worked as a waitress at the Patio Restuarant at Weeki Wachee Springs and later became a mermaid. She left this position in 1957. After Weeki Wachee, Geanie drove bulldozers, repaired bulldozer tracks, and drove a dump trunk. Even later she worked as a bookkeeper, real estate agent, bowling instructor, and department store manager. Her last job was at Home Depot, she left the workforce upon turning eighty-years-old.

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.

Black and white photograph of Geanie L. W. Brooks Operating a Bullldozer

Original Black and white photograph of Geanie Brooks on a bulldozer, c. 1950s: Private Collection of Shirley Herdge.

ca. 1950-1960

ca. 1950-1960

Digital reproduction of original photograph: c. 1950s. Scanned by RICHES team. RICHES Program, Orlando, Florida.

Weeki Wachee Collection, RICHES.

image/jpeg

25 MB

B&W Photograph

Still Image

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Spring Hill, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Humanitites Teacher

Visual Arts Teacher

Theater Teacher

Original owned by Shirley Herdge, and published by RICHES.

Copyright to this resource is held by Shirley Herdge 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 Shirley Herdge.

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.