Sunday, September 18, 2011

Cypress Gardens November 1991

I think 1991 was the last time I went to Cypress Gardens until 2004 when it reopened as Cypress Gardens Adventure Park.  These pictures come from that day.  I think this may have been during the annual Mum festival.

Italian Fountains

Italian Fountains.

Actually located outside the park on the rim of an old sinkhole that had been transfomed into a circular parking area.

Mediterranean Falls

Mediterranean Falls

Resting on the lawn with the Gardens of the World in the background.

Southern Belles.
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6 comments:

  1. Susan Stone-LawrenceSeptember 18, 2011 at 1:25 PM

    I remember the sink hole!

    In recent years, when I look at photos of Cypress Gardens Southern Belles, I find myself amazed by how out of place they would appear in the pre-Civil War era setting I always assumed they were intended to conjure in the imagination of park visitors. Tanned skin, blonde hi-lights, 1980's "fly-back" hairstyles, the apparent lack of any substantial foundation garments, etc. But I doubt the job paid enough to allow the young women to transform themselves more than putting on a frilly, pastel dress.

    Then again, I don't know enough about the origins of the concept. Maybe the Southern Belles were intended to be contemporary visions of floral females enhancing the garden setting.

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  2. BrianSeptember 18, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    You're second assessment is the correct one. They were meant to be flowers, not to represent any particular place or time period regardless of what the name "Southern Belle" might conjure up.

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  3. Susan Stone-LawrenceSeptember 19, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    Now that we have established that fact, can we remember seeing (or do we have any photographic evidence of) any non-white Southern Belles at Cypress Gardens?

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  4. BrianSeptember 19, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    I actually just finished a couple of books on the history of the gardens. Yes, there were non-white Southern Belles but they took a long time to arrive (at least an African-American one). I don't recall the year of the first one but I believe it may have been in the 90's or 00's.

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  5. Susan Stone-LawrenceSeptember 20, 2011 at 12:24 PM

    Ah, Publix, Cypress Gardens, IPC, Florida, America, the World!

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  6. AnonymousNovember 3, 2011 at 3:00 PM

    I was one of those belles and I got a lot of modeling jobs, commercials, etc from working there. What year was that post card? I don't think too many African American girls wanted to be a belle back then. We weren't there to represent the war. Check the whole story and you'll know how they came about.

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