THE GOLD COAST LAND BOOMIN THE 19208

By J ohn Will iam Parton

This brochure . 'printed in 1926. was one of the more tastefule xample s of boom time promotional1iterature in south Florida.

"The Tropical \vonderJund "

CJort/@tlenloleC]loridlfJ

Since the 1880s Florida had been developed bypromoters hoping to lure wealthy patrons to th e"American Riviera." Henry M. Flagler, who hadmade a fort une from Standard Oil stock, typified suchboosters of Florida sunshine. As his Florida East CoastRailway stretched down the east coast of the state , hedeveloped a str ing of resort hotels in Saint August ine,Palm Beach , and Miami . The state offered many otheroppo rt unities for boosterism : Carl G. Fisher turned amangrove swa mp into Miami Beach; George Merrickconverted his dream of a beautiful planned communityinto the reality of Coral Gables ; and Addison Miznerbegan his amazing career as designer and architect forthe wealthy of Palm Beach and Boca Raton.

By the ea rly twenties the rich - the Vanderbilts ,Ludens , DuPonts , Firestones , and others - vaca ­tioned on the " Gold Coast. " President Warren G.Hard ing attrac ted even more attention to the areawhe n he relaxed in the area's sunshine. Carl Fisherhad one of his elepha nts , which he used in promo­tional st unts, serve as the pres ident's cad dy durin g around of golf. The "ballyhoo" had started and wouldgrow in int en sity as the Coolidge Prosperity swept thenat ion ~

The Boom Begins

At the height of the Florida land boom of the1920s, it seemed to T. H. Weigall , an Englishnewspaperman , that every storefront in Miami houseda rea l estate office. Its streets were bustling with menin shirt-sleeves tr ying to se ll land to every passerby.The Florida land boom was another in a series offrenzied real estate speculation that had occurredth roughout American history, but no previous spec ula­tive orgy had matc hed its size. Florida' s boom andbus t were unique by-products of the 1920s and were arehearsal of the Great Bull Market and subsequentcras h later in the decade. The land boom exemplifiedhow American society had emerged into a consumption­oriented , affluent society by the time of the " dollardecade."

Following World War I the real es ta te valuesalong the Gold Coast rose precipitiously as theint rinsic values of Florida bec ame more well known.Indeed . few states could rival its climate and the

On the7JixieC)tigltllJa!i beuoeen.

palm 13eaclt &>c.Aliami.-

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The automobile was one of the backbones of south Florida's land boom during the 1920s. Here, on Fort Lauderdale beach in 1925, theModel-Ts and other models line what one day would become "the strip."

untapped wealth of its agr icultural lands . But the statecould not have become the center of national attentionuntil certain prerequisites came into existence . Theboom depended upon the modern ization of Americansocie ty . Con sumption , s pe nd ing, booster ism ,optimism. mobility. and desire for wealth ep itomizedthe affluence of the newly industrialized and urbanizedAme rica. The nineteenth century values of thrift andprudence gave way to a popular culture dominated byconspicu ous consumption and by the search for luxuryand leisure. Coolidge Prosperity had arri ved ; Ameri ­cans had more money to spend and a wide r variety ofgoods to choose from.

Furthermore. technology and mass produ ctionhad eased the rigors of tr avel to Florida. The advent ofthe inexpensive Model -T and th e availab ility ofra ilway. steamship and even air transportation meantthat middl e-class urba nites and far mers could join thewealthy in the Florida sunshine . Other innovat ionspermitted the promoters to exploit the environme nt.They dredged harbors, crea ted artificial islands. andfilled swamps. Such construction projects also les senedthe danger of swamp-re lated diseases. Thus. tech­nology, mob ility, pros perity. and the new popularculture converged to make possible the selling ofFlorid a to a recep tive nation .2

While the sta te experienced impressive economicgrowth in the period from 1920 to 1926. the land boomreach ed its apogee during the month s of July throughOctober 1925. In the latt er period the boom reache dfantas tic prop ort ions , acting as a vacuum sucking inswarm s of people who hoped to make " killing" inFlorida real estate. During these four months Miami's

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popul at ion swelled from 75,000 to 150.000. Similarly ,Fort Lauderda le increased its population by 150percent in the last nine months of 1925. A total of2,500,000 tourists poured into Florida in 1925.3

Persuasive Public Relations

The migration to the state resulted partly frominnovative and pervasive publicity campaigns like thatof Art hur W. Pye, passenger traffic manager for theClyde Steamship line. In 1915 Pye init iated a nationalcampaign, aimed at middl e-class families . thatdepicted Florida as a summer resort . At the sametime, the Clyde line redu ced its summer rates. Soonthe name Florida symbolized "orange groves under ablue sky, blond beaches warmed by tropic suns , palmtrees and pink hibiscus , tarpon in a tepid sea. " By1925 massive advertis ing in northern and midwesternstates has contribute d to a national mania to reap out­rag eous profits from Florida rea l estate deals. Thetourist innundation of the state reminded GertrudeMathews Shelby of how the smell of blood attractedwild animals; the smell of money drew people to theGold Coast. The advertising campaigns succeededbecause the national mood accepte d with alacrity the

d. 4

exaggerate stones.

In March 1925 the Literary Digest asserted thatFlorida , which had more advertising than any otherstate, benefited most from " word of mouth " publicitythat was "spread by the banker and the tin -cantourist , who had been impressed by the climate andthe land-gambling feve r." Everyone, apparently, wasstriking it rich. A returning sold ier, so the story went,

o swapped an overcoat for a deed to ten " worthless"

acres near the beach that were valued at $25,000 in1925. At the height of the boom a woman sold herMiami lot , which she had bought for $25 in 1896, for$150,000. Clara G. Stillman wrote that Forida had"suddenly discover ed an unlimited pride and faith inherself, an enormous appetite for wealth and power." 5

That Floridians became unconscionable boosters isundeniable . An examination of boom literature revealsmuch about their state of mind .

In 1925 th e Florida Realty Associates attempted toassuage northern critics of the boom by publishing asmall pamphlet , Florida: Som e Reasons Why: RecentProfits in Florida Real Estate. Citing the 1924ame ndments to the state constitution which prohibitedsta te inherita nce and income taxes, the Associat espointed to the activ ities of "far-seeing" businessmenas the main reasons , besides the state's climate , forthe rapid economic developmen t. According to thi spamphlet, land values would not rea ch their peaks forte n years . Hoping to induce more people with a readysupply of money to the state , the Florida RealtyAssociates repeated stories of the tremendous profitsderiv ed from real es ta te investments."

The Hard Sell

But thi s represent ed some of the milde r type s ofadve rt ising . In 1925 developer s resorted to all kind s ofpublici ty . New sp ap er adve rt ise me n ts , billboard s ,signs pulled by airplanes and boat s , free bus rides tothe developments from all over Florida and large citiesoutside the sta te, and free performances by a variety

of celebrities abounde d. Typical of newsp aper adver­tisem en ts were the ones for Coral Way Par k andLauderdal e-b y-the-Se a developments. On January 4,1925, both advertised in the Miami Herald: Coral WayPark gave away grapefruit , and Lauderdale-by-the -Seaheld a free fish fry and staged-a free sight-seeing ride .Although both claimed to be developing home sites,they emphasized th e " quick and profi table" returnsfrom speculative investm ent in their developments .

Similarly, on April 26, 1925, the developers ofMiami Shores enticed the readers of the Miami Daily

. News by app ealing to the excitement of living in "this.great sub-tropi cal regio n" which had been re made"into one of the most marvelous beauty spots of all theworld thro ugh man's genius and efforts." Thisdeveloper assured the prospective buyers that thefuture of Miami Shores, " America 's Mediterranean, "was bright. In Fort Lauderdale, G. Frank Crois santatt racted investors by having Sidney Smith , creator ofthe cartoon character Andy Gump , meet people atCroissant Park .7

The develope rs of the more exclusive areas usedmore subtle pub licity. George Merrick, who hadalready sold forty million dollars worth of real es tate inCoral Gables , contended in an advertisement in the

Miam i Daily News that Florida, and especially hisdevelopment, merited the increased attention andeconomic activity. Because of the climate and thesteady growth of Miami sinc e 1900, Merr ick claimedthat he found a large market for his " extremelywell-built" houses which were pr imarily owned by

Addison Mizner's Boca Raton was a long way from being "the world res ort of unrivalled opportunity" when this photograph was taken onDixie Highway in 1925.

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Miami's wea lthiest and oldest residents . Thu s, heenvisioned Coral Gables as a model city built for theupper class, and not a spec ulative venture . AddisonMizner, the creator of Boca Raton, procla imed in anadvertisement in the Mia mi Herald that Americansdeserved and needed a great resort, such as BocaRaton, because of the wealth and immense power ofmodern America. According to Mizner , Boca Raton,"The World Resort of Unriva lled Opportunity," wouldbeco me America' s showplace for the world .8

Advertising was hardl y confined to newspapersand pamphlets . Real estate agents and " bird dogs ,"people who steered prospects to certain agents for apercentage of the commission, flooded train depotsand ship docks to sec ure buyers before they arrive d inthe bus iness sections of Florida cities. When tourist sfirs t arrived by train or boat , they saw airplanespulling signs and motorboats dragging advert ise mentsthrough the ocean. The plethora of billboardsdisgusted Francis McCullagh, an English visitor toFlorida during the boom. McCullag h declared thebillboards ' appeals " slangy, ungrammatica l, full ofmixed metaphors, but eloquent in [their] own way,inexhau stible , and fitte d with a semi-religious, se mi­patriotic fervo r." This type of appeal, McCulla ghasserted. was very effective in America.9

Money. Mon ey, Mo ney

Most developers exploited Florid a' s climate andemphasized the profits that could be made from realestate. In an art icle published in the New Repu blic.

Elsie Weil vividly described the "get rich quick"mania which permeated the state. After venturing intoa real esta te office, Wei] pointed out to the agent th atthe property he was trying to se ll her was more thantwo miles from the ocean . He repli ed:

"You don't under stand values . Thisis a choice lot, an exceptionally rar ebargain. Only twe nty-five hundreddown and the next paymen t of fivethousand in three weeks . Why, youcan se ll it before the first of Decemberfor a hundred thousand dollars."

That was what Gertrude Shelby defined as resalepsychology:

" Did you ever kee p chickens?" Iremem ber someone asking me . . .."the land rush is similar . Put down inthe henyard a pan full of big scraps.The hens come running. The first ofthem grab big pieces and departhastily for the back country. Theothers see the piece in the beaks andinstead of realizing ther e 's plen tymore in the pa n, they chase the hen swho got the first pieces and snatchpart of their dinners. That's resalepsychology." 10

The massive adve rtisi ng onslaught had its desir edresult s as touri sts , who flocked to the state, becamespec ulators.

Billboards were a very popular means of adve rtising during the boom years. This photograph. taken in downtown Fort Lauderdale in theTwenties. indicates the size and numbe r one might have found in populated areas . Note the large painting ove r the Maxwell billboard.

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/.. .. /-.

_.

Hollywood's J . W. Young bought a fleet of buses to ferry his prospective customers to bls.boemtlme community. Here the buses are lined-up in front of the Hollywood Hotel where a Publix market stands today. Photograph courtesy of Charles LaFavre.

The heady atmosphere of th e boom also sweptaway the common sense of th e Florida newspaperpublishers . On the last day of 1924 the Miami DailyNews pred icted th at 1925 would be an eve n betteryear; the next day the News prophesized that Miami 'sgrowth would exceed all reasonable estimates . OnJ anu ar y 3, 1925, the News proclaimed that Miamiwould have a population of 250,000 by 1930, since onemillion people who lived within a two-day train ride ofMiami were middle-aged and financially independentand should, therefore , become seasonal residents ofsoutheast Florid a . With Miami real estate prices stilllow, th e News believed th at "smart men " would seizeth e opport unity to enjoy the state' s climate and turn anice profit while , at the sa me time, owning an areahome . Writing in the News, Gera ld Brandon foundMiami ' s climate , architec tural art istry , and scenicbeauty to captivate completely even the most skepticaltourists. 11

Positive Press

The south Florida new spaper s never que stionedthe validity of the boom , even at its most frenziedexcesse s. At the height of the speculative orgy , theNews ince ssantly applauded the rising real estatevalues as indi cators of a tremendous growth forMiam i. On July IS, 1925, after reminding its readersthat man y nati onally successful bu siness and profes ­sional men and the important national chain storeswere investing in Florida, the News remarked thatsuch facts were more convincing than " the mostfanciful prognosticat ion of the profes sional optimists ."Miami' s land values, the News claimed, were stillmoder ate . Moreover , on Augu st 29, 1925, the Newscaut ione d Miamians to be prepared for a terri fic surgeof visitors in the winte r of 1925-1926 because of theimpe nding national coal strike and Californi a 's vulner­ability to ea rthquakes . It compared Miami to asnowball rolling down a slope, inexorabl y gatheringimpetus and mornentum.P

The Miami Herald also help ed to inculcate theboom psychology. During the winter of 1925 theHerald chided the northern public ist s who tried toexalt the "winte r joys. " " We never have to slusharound in the slush, " enrtorialized the pap er , " nor dowe hav e to risk our neck upon streets and sidewalksthat glare with ice. " The Herald found " no goodrea son" for Miami's prosperity not to continueindefinitely. With its advertising volume sixty-twopercent ahead of the 1924 pace, the Herald. on April29, reasoned that the gen eral business level of Miamialso must have increased sixty-two percent over the1924 level. On April 25, 1925, the Herald quoted froman article published by the Alexander HamiltonInstitute which declared that the conditions in Floridaresulted from urgent and persistent demand forproperty; the Herald hoped that this rea sonedexplanation would calm the fears of the timid.

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.~.

Miami' s Flagler Street was a busy thoroughfare in 1924 and thoughpedestrians might not have needed "to slush around in the slush .to

they were clea rly at the mercy of the traffic.

On October 5, 1925, th e Herald happily reportedth at th e volume of its advertising had increasedninety-one percent over the 1924 figure. Four dayslater it paid tribute to the earl y developers of Floridawho "applied to the rope of sand Florida ' s east coastthe fusing heat of the ir indomitable faith" and cre ateda haven for millions of people. The "golden strand,"the Herald wrote, "is only beginning to take onultimat e beaut y . . .which will be achieved becausethere is still faith in the souls of the men and thewomen who are her e and who are coming." 13

The press also boosted Fort lauderdale . InJanuary 1925 the Fort Lauderdale Sentine l proudl yprocla imed that the city was the "one spot of all theworld" and urged the city fathers to build a racecourse in orde r to entice eve n more "sport ing peop le"who spe nt " money liberally." Its rapid development,the Evening Sentinel reasoned, augured well forfuture growth and profits . And the Fort LauderdaleDaily News congratulated the city commission forapprovi ng city improvements which would draw morepeople and more business.!"

The boom probably could have occurred only inthe 1920s. The people who swarmed to Flor idareflected the changed values Americans held afterWorld War I. Undoubted ly. the effect of technologicaladva nces ga ve many Americans the chance to breakaway from traditional patterns of life. While waiting ata train station in North Dakota , Anne O'HareMcCormick witnessed the impressive appeal thatFlorida had on the ordinary far mers . She asked thestat ion master where a farm family in a loaded-downFord was going. Replying that they were going toFlorida, the station master appeared mesmerized bythe intriguing word , Florid a. McCormick even felt the" magic of the word as he lingered over it." Thepublicity campaign had worked extraordinarily well ,enticing usually conse rva tive people to invest inFlorida real estate : S

Man y contemporary analysts be lieved th e migr a­tion to Florida exemplified th e pioneering spirit innateto Americans. The New York Tim es labeled them" pioneers de luxe " because, by 1925, the lure toFlorida was mone y. Elmer Youngman, the editor ofBankers Magazine, found the so-called pioneeringspirit in the state to be man ifested by the " longing forchange and for greater opp ortunities of wealth andhappiness" and by the hope which " beckons manonward." While such qualities as hope, enthusiasm,and a spirit of adventure could be found in the mobs ofproperty buyers, Elsie Weil correctly identified theprime attraction as money. 16

Hot Dog Lun ches

While material accumulation had long been a signof success in America, the 1920s, and especially theCoolidge Prosperity, elevated wealth to a more

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respectable pos ition . Ther e was a " get rich conscious­ness" in Florida; nothing else can explain theirreverent attitude of the mobs which filled Floridacities . Reginald Townsend found that land agentsharped on the quick turnover, the overnight profits .He est imated that every third person on the Miamistreets was a real estate agent . " One is literallydazzl ed by the riches promised by these high-pressuresalesm en, " J . Frederick Essary wrote, but hewond ered why so many of the agents had to cat at hotdog sta nds. Walter P. Fuller , a real estate age nt inTampa during the boom, described it as a " greedydelirium to acquire riches . . .without benefit of effort ,brains or services rendered ." 17

Th e conditions in Florida can best be depicted asunchecked mob psychology. To the visitors the boom,Bruce Bliven asserted, was just anot her Americanmiracle. Bliven wrote that it was typical for the"she epish " prospects to be set upon by the•~wolf-eyed sal esmen ." Americans , Elmer Youngmanproclaimed , liked the " goings-on" in Florida; theactivity, energy, hurry, and noise. " Those who have

' ETY CAR

Coral Gables was the much heralded dream city of George Merrick.In 1925 the city had street cars to compliment its fine architecture andwell-des igne d city plan.

visite d .. . Florid a and have failed to become itsdevoted ad mire rs and friends ," Youngman wrot e,"would do well to make a careful exa mination of thequality of their American ism ." No one, John Jordanclaimed, could und er stand the " psychological crowdfren zy" with out experiencing the boom's milling mobswhose hysteri cal act ions were directed by neither logicnor reason. 18

Swayed by the allure of advertising and wealt h,Ame ricans had become cons umers in a prepackagedworld . All one had to do was go to Florida and becomewea lthy. The boom exe mplified the ballyhoo of the1920s and its ramp ant hedoni sm ; Henry Bloch thoughtthat Florida pro mote rs had discovered the "Fountainof Jazz," not the fountain of youth. The discordan telements of American societ y had found outlet in theboom. It demonstrated the uncertain values of themiddle class . the former solid foundation of society,because many of them aspired for "quick , overnightprofits" in order to match the power and prest ige ofthe patrons of Palm Beach. 19

The Florida boom cannot be blamed on thepioneer spirit. It hap pened becau se of man y diversereasons: the disillusion ment after the war; the dreamsof pro mote rs; the receptive state of mind of the middleclass; the Coolidge Prosperity; the secularizatio n ofAmerican values; the hedonism of the 1920s; and theimposed conformity of society. The boom showed thatthere was a widespread gambling insti nct in Ameri cawhich was readily coupled with the desire for the easylife . Perhaps the Ne w Republic was correc t in its 1926assessment th at the boom was a reaction aga instAmerican civilization, a reaction against the triumphof twentie th-cent ury urbanisms, indu st riali sm , cen­tralization, and sec ularizat ion over the values of thenineteenth century.20

Or was it simply the magic of money?

FOOTNOTES

1. George B. Tind all, "The Bubbl e in the Sun,"American Heritage. August 1965, pp . 76-83, 109-11;Frederi ck Lewis Allen , Only Yest erday (New York ,193\) , chapter XI.

2. David A. Shann on , Between th e Wars: America.1919-1941 (Bosto n, 1965), pp. 84-95; Fra nk P.Stockbridge . "The Florida Rush of 1925," CurrentHistory. November 1925, pp . 178-85.

3. Tindall , " The Bubble in the Sun ," p. 82; Ft.Lauderdale Daily News. December 16, 1925.

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4. Miami Daily News. July 9, 1925; Anne O'HareMcCorm ick, " Main Street , Too, Winters in Florida,"New York Times. February IS, 1925; Gertrude M.Shelb y, " Florida Frenzy," Ha rper 's. J anuary 1926,pp .1 77-86.

5. Lit erary Digest. March 14, 1925, pp. 58, 60;Shelb y, "Florida Frenzy," pp. 178-79; Clara G.Stillman , " Florida: The Desert and the Rose," Nation.November 31. 1923, pp . 485-97.

6. Florida Realty Association, Florida : Som e ReasonsWhy ; Recent Profit s in Florida Real Estate (Phila­delphia, 1925).

7. Miami Herald. January 4. 1925; Miam i DailyNews, April 26, 1925; Ft. Lauderdale EveningSe ntine l, February 12, 1925.

8. Miami Daily News, November 2, 1925; MiamiHerald. June 30, 1925.

9. T. H. Weigall, Boom in Paradis e (New York,1932), pp . 30-1; Shelb y. " Florida Frenzy," 177-86;Fran cis McCu llagh, " Mia mi, " The Nin et eenthCentury and Aft er, February 1926, pp. 211-21.

10. Elsie Weil , " August Florida in Novem ber Retro­spect," New Republic. Dece mber 9, 1925, pp . 82-4;Shelby, " Florida Fren zy," p. 185.

I I. Miami Daily News. December 31, 1924. JanuaryI. 3. 1925; Gerald Brandon. "Westward Trend Had ItsDay." Miami Daily New s. January 4, 1925.

12. Miami Daily News. July IS, August 29,1925.13. M iam i Herald. January 4, 9, April 25, 29,Octob er 5, 9, 1925.

14. Ft. Lau derdale Sen tinel. January 2, 19,26, 1925;Ft. Lauderdale Evenin g Se ntinel, February 4, 1925;Ft. Lauderdale Daily News, December 16, 27, 1925.IS. Anne O'H are McCormick, "Main Street, Too,Winters in Florida, " N ew York Times. February IS,1925 .

16. New York Times. September 18, 1925; Eimer H.Youngman, " Florida: The Last Pione er State of theUnion." Bankers Ma gazine, J anuary 1926, pp . 7-51;Weil, " Aug ust Florid a," p. 84.

17. Reginald Townsend, "The Gold Rush to Florida, "The W orld 's Work. Ju ne 1925, pp. 179-86; J .Frederick Essary, " Have Faith in Florida!" NewRepublic. October 14, 1925, pp. 194-96; Walter P.Fuller, "This Was Florida' s Boom," St. PetersburgTimes (reprint: St. Petersburg , Fl. , 1954).18. Bruce Bliven , " Where Ev' ry Prospect Pleases,"Ne w Republic. March 26, 1924, pp. 116-18; Young­man, " Florida," pp. 31-2; Jo hn S. Jordan , "What'sLeft in Florida," The World 's Work. September 1926,pp. 571-77.

19. Henry Bloch, " Florida 's Land Boom Analyzed,"New York Times. November 22, 1925.

20. " The Forida Madn ess ," New Republic. January27, 1926, pp . 258-59.