Book Review - Glass Bottom Boats and Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs by Tim Hollis
Category Book Review Tim Hollis Glass Bottom Boats and Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs
Continuing in the Florida tourist vein, I got the other book by Tim Hollis that deals directly with the topic... Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. And like Selling the Sunshine State, this is a great read for those interested in that trip down memory lane... specifically to all the "Springs" that drove Florida's tourist industry for so long.
The springs covered here include (with their own chapters) Silver Springs, Silver Springs' Neighbors, Wakulla Springs, Rainbow Springs, Weeki Wachee Spring, Homosassa Springs, and then a grouping of smaller attractions that were ok and not-so-ok. Instead of being a coffee table book like Selling the Sunshine State, Glass Bottom is much more detailed with history and commentary on each attraction. This format gives Hollis plenty of space to talk about how places like Silver Springs came into existence, how it turned from a natural scenic site into an attraction that drew local visitors, and how they morphed into vacation destination spots instead of just places to stop for a couple of hours. I found it amazing how something as simple as a glass bottomed boat could be the key tool for changing a location's fortune. And you can't ignore how so many sites built on each other's successes to stay even and surpass the competition. It was very hard to find something *new* that wasn't soon duplicated in a dozen other locales.
I think my favorite chapter was the one talking about Weeki Wachee Spring. They were the ones who created and perfected the underwater mermaid shows, featuring graceful and beautiful routines performed in a nearly weightless environment. I also now understand the significance of the adagio position, the signature move that ended nearly all shows and became the signature of Weeki Wachee Spring. I think of any of the sites covered in the book, this is the one place I would have liked to see in its heyday.
If you're only into looking at interesting pictures, you'll probably find this volume a bit lacking compared to other Hollis titles. But if you want to go into the history of the Florida Springs, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything better than this book. And you get good pictures to go along with it. :)
Continuing in the Florida tourist vein, I got the other book by Tim Hollis that deals directly with the topic... Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs. And like Selling the Sunshine State, this is a great read for those interested in that trip down memory lane... specifically to all the "Springs" that drove Florida's tourist industry for so long.
The springs covered here include (with their own chapters) Silver Springs, Silver Springs' Neighbors, Wakulla Springs, Rainbow Springs, Weeki Wachee Spring, Homosassa Springs, and then a grouping of smaller attractions that were ok and not-so-ok. Instead of being a coffee table book like Selling the Sunshine State, Glass Bottom is much more detailed with history and commentary on each attraction. This format gives Hollis plenty of space to talk about how places like Silver Springs came into existence, how it turned from a natural scenic site into an attraction that drew local visitors, and how they morphed into vacation destination spots instead of just places to stop for a couple of hours. I found it amazing how something as simple as a glass bottomed boat could be the key tool for changing a location's fortune. And you can't ignore how so many sites built on each other's successes to stay even and surpass the competition. It was very hard to find something *new* that wasn't soon duplicated in a dozen other locales.
I think my favorite chapter was the one talking about Weeki Wachee Spring. They were the ones who created and perfected the underwater mermaid shows, featuring graceful and beautiful routines performed in a nearly weightless environment. I also now understand the significance of the adagio position, the signature move that ended nearly all shows and became the signature of Weeki Wachee Spring. I think of any of the sites covered in the book, this is the one place I would have liked to see in its heyday.
If you're only into looking at interesting pictures, you'll probably find this volume a bit lacking compared to other Hollis titles. But if you want to go into the history of the Florida Springs, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything better than this book. And you get good pictures to go along with it. :)
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