Back in Time: The Subtropical Exposition
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5550-n032892.jpg)
Towering 100 feet above First Main, the Subtropical Exposition opened in 1888 to lure tourism to Jacksonville.
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http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/843
When I see those pix of old Jax I cannot imagine how hot it must have been without AC and wearing full coat and tie or the women wearing the heavy long dresses...ugh....
great pictures, first ones I've seen of the interior. About 6 years ago I picked up very nice decantur and set of glasses marked with the subtropical exposition at tin roof antiques
It didn't last very long once people decided to just go to subtropical south florida.
What a great building though. Imagine if that thing was still standing.
QuoteWhen I see those pix of old Jax I cannot imagine how hot it must have been without AC and wearing full coat and tie or the women wearing the heavy long dresses...ugh....
I've thought that very same thing many many times. Also note that there was not Secret or Old Spice deodorant back then either.... P.U.!
Add to that the horse dung in the streets and the outhouse type latrines... Just think of one of those 98 degree 100% humidity days... with no breeze...
..... paper mills and factories right up the road.... shipyards and fisheries the other way....
People back then must not have had a sence of smell. :)
What an amazing building. It would be awesome to have something like this downtown today only as an aquarium and maritime museum.
Ahh... back in the days when buildings were unique with intricate architecture and creative designs. Not the cookie cutter buildings we build nowadays just to save a buck.
You have to remember that it (the smells of fisheries, horse dung, factory smells, musky crotches and underarms, etc.) had been that way for centuries so people were used to these smells and were accustomed to them from the time they were born; it was the way of life back then so people were used to it and the smells. Obviously when you had some of those smells, (horse dung, smoke, fisheries, etc.) this was ususally an indication of a sign of progress and prosperity.
Heights Unknown
Quote from: heights unknown on July 19, 2008, 09:32:12 AM
You have to remember that it (the smells of fisheries, horse dung, factory smells, musky crotches and underarms, etc.) had been that way for centuries so people were used to these smells and were accustomed to them from the time they were born; it was the way of life back then so people were used to it and the smells. Obviously when you had some of those smells, (horse dung, smoke, fisheries, etc.) this was ususally an indication of a sign of progress and prosperity.
Heights Unknown
No doubt... Thats why I said it was hard to imagine....
I think they were quite used to it. In the Middle Ages, St. Bernard said, "We all stink. No one smells." I think that sums up their tolerance for it.
We had an enormous tolerance for cigarette smoke 25 years ago. Every indoor space was filled with it. Restaurants, the mall, department stores. But I never noticed it particularly. Now if I go into a bar I can smell it 10 feet from the door. 25 years ago, I wouldn't have even noticed it. BTW I smoke but not in the house
We have covered the idea of World class museums, hosting a worlds fair *(2017 is open and would be the FIRST Worlds Fair in the USA for a long, long, time). Also rebuilding Dixieland, or the Ostrich Farm, either as a "TROLLEY PARK".
Now you've done it, gone and dug up the photos of the sub-tropical expo, in Jacksonville. There was also another element to this, a special train which toured the entire country, making stops all along the way showing the virtues of Florida Livings and JACKSONVILLE! Gee, what an idea for today... What a thing to recreate.
Ocklawaha
Thank you Ocklawaha for always sharing your knowledge of Jacksonville history in your posts. As a transplant here, I enjoy learning about Jacksonville's past.
Quote from: samiam on July 19, 2008, 01:56:22 PM
I think they were quite used to it. In the Middle Ages, St. Bernard said, "We all stink. No one smells." I think that sums up their tolerance for it.
We had an enormous tolerance for cigarette smoke 25 years ago. Every indoor space was filled with it. Restaurants, the mall, department stores. But I never noticed it particularly. Now if I go into a bar I can smell it 10 feet from the door. 25 years ago, I wouldn't have even noticed it. BTW I smoke but not in the house
Great point!! People do become nasally fatigued afer even a relatively short exposure. Back when I was a plumber I amazed myself with what smells I could tolerate. Can't handle them anymore though! :)
I remember back in the 1950's, a fish processing plant that used to be located a block east of the old train terminal and a half block south of Bay St. which, when the wind was right, would broadcast its odor directly into the noses of all train passengers. This must have been just what new arrivals to Jacksonville needed to form a first opinion of our city. If that wasn't enough, a northeast wind would give us the delightful smell of the pulp mills. We must remember, though, that Jacksonville at one time was the largest city in Florida and an industrial center that was also the only developed tourist destination around the turn of the last century. Middle and south Florida, at that time, was mainly rural and not suited for the tourist trade until the 1920's land boom.