The Museum Of History hosted a temporary exhibit entitled "Souvenirs of Florida From Tasteful to Tacky." On display were mementos such as citrus shaped hand bags, attraction brochures and the always delightful shell lamp. It was a walk down memory lane to the camp everyone once loved to visit.

Many of the items on display were from the private collection of Ken Breslauer. Breslauer is the official historian for Sebring International Raceway and contends he has the largest collection of Florida souvenirs around. Pieces from his ten year hunting spree were published in a book called "Roadside Paradise." Brochures, decals, maps and matchbooks illustrate brief paragraphs about mostly defunct destinations.

Breslauer turned his love for roadside attractions into a movement to save one of Florida's oldest, Sunken Gardens. In order to avoid development of the property, Breslauer went to work writing its history. In the end the attraction would be designated a local historic landmark and be run by the city of St. Petersburg as a public garden.

Florida attractions suffered sever blows over the past decades. A new highway system diverted tourists from the roads which housed them. As attendance thinned, developers moved in for the plow. Three-fourths of the roadside attractions built before 1971 no longer exist. Then of course there was Disney.

At first, many thought Walt would be a boom to business. They had not counted on his world being so inclusive. There was little need to leave once inside the gate. As a result, attractions even just a short drive from Orlando began to realize, it was a small world after all and they were not on the map.

Souvenir gator milk
 

Disney also brought a change in public attitude to what an attraction should be. Unlike early Florida roadside which was built around the beauty and nature of the land, Disney created the extreme opposite. Why go to McKee Jungle Gardens when robotic birds talk in The Tiki Room?

A sign on one museum wall seemed to sum it all up. Written across a magnified, vintage postcard from Sunken Gardens read "The end of an era, a mouse comes to Florida."

Museum Of History
335 Second Avenue NE
St. Petersburg, FL