A Sunshine State of Mind

Map of Floria in oranges and grapefruit, circa 1940s. This postcard, along with others in this post, are from the wonderful site Florida Memory.
For modern-day Florida, see tonight’s Republican reality show with Newt, Mitt, Rick & Ron.

If you’d like some visual distraction, here’s a bit of nostalgia from the Sunshine State.


Juice King orange crate label.


Ostrich Farm


Shell show catalog, St. Petersburg, 1967.


Brochure, The Fountain of Youth, St. Augustine.


Ceiling of the post office in Miami Beach. (via Flickr)


Weeki Wachee Mermaids.







Busch Gardens, Tampa.


Early Bird Special at Wolfies, in Miami Beach. (From here)


Anita Bryant in an ad for orange juice, 1970s.

The Fountainbleau Hotel, Miami Beach, and
Slim Aarons photo of the cat-shaped pool.


"A Florida Blossom Among Grapefruit and Oranges"
via Kitschy-kitschy-coo.

Anonymous Good: Eyelash Photo

A friend of mine has this totally cool black and white photo of false eyelashes hanging in his bathroom (TMI?). He found it in a warehouse that was being emptied many years ago. I presume that it was for advertising, but there really is no clue as to age, purpose, or maker. And none of that detracts even one wink from its fabulousness.

I love how the length is exaggerated with those long luxurious shadows, and how there’s only one pair that is “open.”

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN GREENBERG

Public Service Billboards: Blasts From the Past

Fry Now. Pay Later.
The digital archive of outdoor advertising, part of the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History at Duke University, contains over 27,000 images spanning the1920s through the 1990s.

These roadside messages use brevity, humor, catchiness, irony, shock—anything they can--to permeate our peripheral vision, often at speeds well over 60 mph, to embed themselves in our collective psychic landscapes. Here’s a small sample.

Keep an eye out for Columbus, Ohio billboards in particular. There are two ads for what I think is water conservation, and then there are billboards for both sides of the bullfighting-arena controversy. Who knew?

Jimmy took a "TRIP"


Can't stop smoking? Yes you can!


Nuclear War No Cure Only Prevention


Some Call Him Pig! Support Your Police Dept.


Voluntary Integration. Better Education by Choice. (1968)


Life Preservers. (1985)


Buckle-Up Arrive Alive! (1960s)


Leave Her Alone With Your Cologne (1965)


Let Him Skip His Bath Tonight (1964)


Call 1-800-COCAINE (1983)


Think Metric


A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.


The Key is Knowledge


Smash the Axis Pay your taxes (1942)


Vote No! Tax


"What's An Orgy?"


Future Site of Columbus Bullfighting Arena


Keep Bullfighting out of Columbus


Site of New Phoenix Bullfight Arena


Care for your Car-for your Country (1942)


This is Your Country Conserve Energy (1974)


The Paris Peace Accords resulted in the signing of the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam on January 27, 1973.

Photo Graphics

Having grown up in the era of capturing moments (as opposed to the real-time 24/7 documentation that goes on today), the looming Kodak bankruptcy filing makes me a bit misty-eyed.

It’s amazing how much physical stuff beyond the camera itself, was involved in the taking and making of photographs. And each item came packaged with some representation of colorful optimism. At one end was the film. It was housed in a color-coded spool, which was safely ensconced in a lidded canister, which in turn was packaged in a trusty yellow box. At the other end were the printed images, which arrived in an elaborate system of envelopes and sleeves.

Here are just a few physical remains of the moment-capturing process, brought to us by Kodak and the others who packaged every step of the way. Just think, when Facebook files for bankruptcy in about a hundred years, there will be no clutter, at least of a physical nature, left behind.







I couldn’t find a year for this Brownie camera manual, but it is filled with
tips like “Hold the camera S-T-E-A-D-Y and press the exposure release
with a gentle squeezing action …” and “Be sure your finger
is not in front of the lens.”





These souvenir slide collections are promoted
as "Not From Postcards."










Order forms to send in for duplicate
Polaroid prints.