Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun

by Tim Hollis

Before Walt Disney built his mammoth theme park, there were the Fairyland Caverns of Rock City Gardens, the glass-bottomed boats of Silver Springs, and Stuckey's Restaurants around each bend. From the Smoky Mountains to the Ozarks, from the Florida coast to the Mississippi gulf, the Southern roadside was a string of attractions--some based on history, some on pure imagination. Dixie Before Disney chronicles the wonderful and wacky history of these tourist spots. Tourism rose in Dixie just after the Civil War, when Northern millionaires discovered the joys of spending the winter months in balmy Florida. Locales such as St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, and Miami Beach became snowbird playgrounds. Soon the roadsides were alive with eateries like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Horne's, and motels with names like Big Bear Cottages and the Sea Dip Motel. Later, jungle parks, nature sites, and Wild West towns began drawing funseekers. Then, in 1971, Walt Disney World in Orlando eclipsed them all. For three decades Tim Hollis gathered family memorabilia and met with collectors nationwide. Lavishly illustrated with his findings--vintage photographs, brochures, advertisements, and postcards-- Dixie Before Disney will bring back a torrent of memories for anyone who grew up traveling the South.

Genres: Travel, History, Nonfiction

193 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are very few people who'd want to be stuck on a long roadtrip with both fanatic amateur Florida historian Serge A. Storms and Florida bon vivant Binky Watrous, but reader? I AM THAT PEOPLE.

The author really, really loves roadside architecture and bad puns, and combines that with enthusiastic historical research based largely on personal interviews and combing small, regional newspapers. That was one of the two things this book made most abundantly clear: the value of small, regional newspapers in the United States, filled with hyperlocal articles written by and for people who are genuinely interested in their localities.

The other, of course, is revealing the existence of the Society for Commercial Archeology, which is apparently where you can go to just *revel* in roadside bits n' bobs. Forward my mail.

The book itself is a mixed bag, otherwise. Chapters are organized by theme: beach things, jungle things, Florida, Confederate things. No, there's no kind of critical reflection there. But there is a whole section on fiberglass dinosaurs, so... a wash?

*sigh*

Also: bibliographic essays! Instead of a conventional bibliography, the author included a little bonus essay for each chapter, citing the people and works he drew from for each via exhaustive and creative lists of bad puns. And I will admit I enjoyed that more than the standard MLA or APA formats.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been awhile since I read this book or more accurately, looked at the pictures and thought about all the great places I missed seeing before they were gone.

Traveling to Fl on vacations, I remember getting the free travel brochures for all the great attractions before Disney became, The Magic Kingdom and Epcot was opened. I was thrilled with the thought of seeing the Magic Castle (?) or going to the Dali museum even thought I wasn't sure who Dali was but I know I wanted to find out.

There are still some attractions like Silver Springs in Ocala where you can still enjoy yourself but at a slower pace. No need for a fast pass there.

Thank you Tim for writing all these great books and all the memories you've given us.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun it was in the South before Disney. As a fan of ketchy touristy places, this book brought back fond memories of places I went as a child, places I wanted to go, and places I didn't know about that are, sadly, no longer around. My only complaint is that pictures are in black and white.

[Ty Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great recollection of the American South and our roadside attractions from the time before the Interstate highways and large corporations forged a trans-continental "vanilla" experience.

[GlenK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not from the south and as a child never went deeper south than Virginia (Williamsburg for summer vacation) but this book was a nostalgic treat. Great fun.