Recommended Reading

On Roadside Attractions

In Association with Amazon.com

cover Dixie Before Disney by Tim Hollis
It's a highly readable, heavily illustrated romp through roadside tourism in the 1950's and 1960's, when a trip to Florida meant the beach and not the mouse. Hollis covers the origins of Stuckeys, Holiday Inn, and numerous tourist traps and attractions throughout the South. If you enjoy this site you'll love this book. Available through Amazon.com.

cover See The USA by John Margolies & Eric Baker.
Remember when travel ads reminded you to See America First and were gloriously politically incorrect? This book does in the best retro-chic tradition. Available through Amazon.com.

cover Miami's Parrot Jungle and Gardens: The Colorful History of an Uncommon Attraction by Cory H. Gittner
Things just haven't been the same south of Miami, Florida, since Monkey Jungle founder Joe DuMond told Franz Scherr: "Why don't you start your own damn jungle?" Franz did, and this book tells his story. Available through Amazon.com.

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Living With Big Cats: The Story of Jungle Larry, Safari Jane, and David Tetzlaff by Sharon Rendell-Smock
Jungle Larry brought his big cats to Caribbean Gardens in Naples, Florida, for the winters (summers he was at Ohio's Cedar Point) and founded an enduring attraction. Available through Amazon.com.

cover Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Rawlings' home at Cross Creek is open to the public, but that's not why this book is listed here. It's just a great slice of Floridiana. Oh, and there's that chapter about Ross Allen, too. Available through Amazon.com.

More books:

For listings of books on theme parks, amusement parks, Disney, carnivals, and other related subjects see the Theme Parks Bibliography.

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Copyright 2001-2006 by Robert H. Brown.