The Barefoot Mailman

by Theodore Pratt

When the great Florida Boom was just a dream....

The time was the 1880's -when Miami was little more than a mangrove swamp, Palm Beach was still looking for a name, dangerous beachcombers threatened respectable folk, and whole communities could live off goods from storm-wrecked ships thrown up by the waves.

It was in this rough and ready Florida that young Steven Pierton took the job of "barefoot mailman" -carrying letters barefoot over 100 miles of gleaming white sand between Jupiter Lighthouse and Miami, trying to cope with the elusive, enticing girl called Adie and fighting to thwart the schemes of the unscrupulous land spectator, Sylvanus Hurley.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Book Club, Classics, Adult Fiction

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Theodore Pratt (1901 - 1969) was an American writer who is best known for his novels set in Florida. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1901 to Thomas A. and Emma Pratt. The family later moved to New Rochelle, New York, where Theodore attended high school. After completing high school, he attended Colgate University for two years, and then Columbia University for another two years, but did not graduate. He worked in New York City as a play reader, a staff reader for a movie company, and a columnist for the New York Sun. He also free-lanced articles for The New Yorker and other national magazines.

Theodore Pratt published more than thirty novels, including four mysteries under the pseudonym of "[author=Timothy Brace|21712110]", two collections of short stories, two plays (adapted from his novels), a few non-fiction books and pamphlets, and numerous short stories and articles in periodicals such as Esquire, Blue Book, Escapade, The Gent, Manhunt, Guilty Detective Story Magazine, Coronet, Fantastic Universe, Space Science Fiction, and The Saturday Evening Post. Some of his novels had strong sexual content by the standards of the time. The Tormented (1950), a study of nymphomania, was turned down by thirty-four publishers. It eventually sold more than a million copies. Five of his works were made into feature motion pictures.

Reviews

[Faydra Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the true events of mailmen who walked the mail up and down the coast of Florida. This focuses on the stretch between Palm Beach and Miami

For native Floridians I think this should be required reading. The descriptions of Florida in the mid 1800s made me yearn to have seen it in its lush, pristine, untampered beauty and truly wild wilderness. There is a scene with sharks and gators - whew! Another scene of sandhill cranes - it made me smile because I know exactly how these cranes behave but also sad, because my sightings of them are often in parking lots or just off a busy road.

A little love story. A little politics. A lot of of nature. Great read.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story of the early Florida years when Miami was still homesteaded and mailmen walked the beaches carrying sacks of mail from city to city. Wonderful sense of place and descriptions of a natural Florida lo g gone. This should be required middle school reading in Florida.

[Laina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my new favorite books! I knew from the very first page that I loved this book when it started with a rich image that was so detailed and beautiful I couldn't help but mourn the way writing styles have changed. The story is for the most part fluffy, but I enjoyed learning more about this wild Florida that I can barely comprehend now. The characters were all fun, realistic, and I often laughed out loud at Steven, the main character. The author did an amazing job of capturing the spirit of early Florida, and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something pleasant and not completely deep.

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Barefoot Mailman does not stand out because of its originality; it has all the classic elements of a romance novel: a love triangle, misunderstandings, love at first sight, etc. Where this book is really especial is on its depiction of the old Florida, with the solitary beaches, the little towns and the undeveloped country, long gone by now. Around this background the author describe a love story, old as time, but with enough ingredients to captivates ones attention.

It was a lovely reading.

[Mr. Kovach · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and interesting book about the late 1800s undeveloped Florida Coast, my favorite book about the Sunshine State since Strawberry Girl, The Swamp, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. While of the four only The Swamp is non-fiction, all are rich in Florida history and lore. I love to visit and read about Florida (though I wouldn't want to live there because I'd miss the snow and the hardwoods of the Northeast), another very interesting and beautiful place in a country of countless interesting and beautiful places. God bless America.

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This book was a good read for me because I enjoy the historical facts weaved into a tale of fiction that describes a simpler time near the area where I grew up. It includes a clear reminder of how much progression has been made since this undeveloped era depicted took place.

[SPOILER ALERT]
The age old lesson of good verses evil ended with good winning out, which made for a very happy ending!"

[Georgette Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book club selection and boy oh boy was it a super read. I love reading novels filled with historic information. I love the characters and the plot and how it all ended! Perfect! An awesome book to honor our history, especially Florida's history.

[Nancy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intriguing story, based on true events that happened in Florida in the late 1800's. There was a group of mailmen who walked and carried the mail all the way from Palm Beach to Miami, and back again. They had a set walking route, with much of it done on the beach, so they were at times in much danger from many different things, especially things in nature such as alligators, hurricanes, floods, and much more. The main character in the story is one of these mailmen, who risked much to complete his responsibilities, just as the real men did. Also there is a romance underlying much of the story that makes the reader want to keep reading to see how it turns out. In another plot line, this story also details the fight between those who wanted the county seat of Dade County to be in the northern end of the county, versus those who wanted it in Miami, complete with all the shenanigans that people did to swing the result their way. Although the author has fictionalized the story to be more easily read, the human struggles are easily seen and understood by anyone who knows that human nature often makes everything very complicated and stressful.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fictional book is based on the true practice of mailmen being hired to walk back and forth from Palm Beach to Miami around the turn of the 20th century. It took them three days to walk sixty miles. They hid small boats to cross intersecting rivers. The author wove a story of adventure, treachery,and romance into this delightful book. Recommended for those interested in Old Florida history.

[Josh Liller · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Barefoot Mailman" is the story of Steven Pierton, a young man who takes the mail route between Palm Beach and Miami in the 1880s. With no roads or waterways most of the way, he walks most of the distance barefoot on the beach. Along the way he meets a cast of characters caught up in the struggles of pioneer life in southeast Florida. Originally written in 1943, this book is responsible for popularizing the term "Barefoot Mailman" in regards to the more than a dozen men who carried the mail in this manner.

This is a short and simple book and an easy read. It offers up a slice of Florida pioneer life in much the same way as A Land Remembered, connecting readers with lots of real places and events.

However, I feel that in the process of fictionalizing real events, Theodore Pratt fictionalizes things a little too much, and inconsistently. William Baker and George Matheson are among the very few real people I recognized in the book. On the other hand, the character of Jesse Paget is a composite of Alfred Smith, Hannibal Pierce, James Edward Hamilton, and...I'm not even sure who the part about the Cubans is based on. It also jumbles the chronology of certain events. For example, in the book both the Celestial Railroad and Houses of Refuge are built during the course of the story, which seems to cover less than a year. In fact some HORs were built in 1876, the rest in 1886, the incident happened in 1887, and the Celestial Railroad opened in 1889 (and was not so nicknamed until a magazine article several years later).

My complaints as a historian aside, a major part of the book involves a love triangle, and I detest that plot device. The book also feels a bit dated; in particular, some of the language (the author's descriptions, not the characters' speech) feels a bit odd and the only Seminole character is portrayed as a fat alcoholic.

This book is fine for casual readers (especially a YA audience) and anyone who really likes fiction about Florida and/or pioneers. I think I'm a bit outside the target audience.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Barefoot Mailman” by Theodore Pratt is an iconic work of Florida literature. Using historical details in a fictional work, the story centers on the Barefoot Mailmen who carried the mail from Palm Beach to Miami from 1885-1892. The setting and the atmosphere painted by Pratt is accurate and vivid, describing the beaches, palm trees, animals and rivers surrounding South Florida during that time period. The book reads like an original screenplay slated for the big screen. With a romantic triangle forming in the middle of a primitive location just being settled by Northerners is enough to give readers a sense of awe and trepidation to what will happen to these characters in the long run. Read it and enjoy the ride!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Barefoot Mailman written by Theodore Pratt takes us along what used to be the old mail route back between 1885- 1892. They say it was something like an 100 mile stretch these men had to walk just to deliver the US mail. From Palm Beach to Miami all along the coastline. Although this story is fictional...the fact that there was men that were paid to deliver the mail in such way is true. I loved reading about what some of these men might have encountered on their deliveries, what they endured/suffered and how they died. Great book where you can actually learn some real history intertwined with fiction. Highly recommend.

[Sharon Archer]

One of the things I enjoy most about my bookclub is reading stuff that I would never otherwise pick up. Although fiction, it is based on a true story that is every bit as fasinating as the Pony Express but with very little press. The descriptions of roadless Florida were breathtaking and I am in particular awe of how alive he makes action scenes. Imagine a time when there were less than 250 folks between Miami and Titusville!!

[Rhonda Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a small, horizontal paperback format for the Armed Services Editions published for soldiers during World War II, designed to save paper (not the edition pictured here). This entertaining light fiction is based on the history of postal service on the east coast of Florida, during the raw era of early frontier settlement. Worth reading. Armed Services Editions can be found on Ebay.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad this was on display at my library...I've meant to read it for ever so long and now I have.

I'm working my worth through South Florida reads, both fiction and non-fiction. This book based on the true stories of the Barefoot Mailmen here on the Atlantic Coast of South Florida. Fascinating history!

[Clifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have really given it a 4.5 if it was an option but I'm leaning more towards 5 than 4. This was such a fun read with a little bit of history, fiction, adventure, and romance. Great book on Florida and super short. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Take this one to the beach to enhance the read!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put this in my ‘history’ category even though it is fiction- great history of the development of the southeastern coast of Florida before the train went all the way to Miami.
Also a great read for anyone interested in the flora and fauna, and for those imagining what it would be like to walk for 3-4 days on the beaches and hardly see any people! Hard to imagine!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Walking the beach would become a thing of the past. It gave him a queer feeling of life changing, turning over, and of good, familiar things passing."
Wonderful older story of a mailman's experiences in an even older time on the southeast Florida coast.
I read this years ago at my grandparent's house on an island in Florida. Stories of pioneer life are fascinating!

[Karencornett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a historical book about the barefoot mailmen that delivered the mail by walking along the beach in early Florida with a good story intertwined. Chase had to read this for school and I read it with him and I thought it was very good, informative and entertaining.

[lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book from the 50's. The story is a simple one about one of the barefoot mailmen who walked the route from Palm Beach to Miami before the Gold Coast was developed. A love story which incorporates some of the history of that time period before all innocence was gone.

[SweetCheeses And Coffee Dreams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It had adventure, love, danger, politics, and some beautiful descriptions of a wilder Florida. It made me want to hold a paper Nautilus in my hands, and walk the path of the barefoot mailman in a trip back in time.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though a work of fiction, this book is based on actual events which took place in south Florida. The setting is from Jupiter down to Miami. The mail was actually delivered by mailmen who were barefoot.

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Florida reading. This was a very popular historical novel in the 1950's. It's still an entertaining read that gives an almost unbelievable picture of the Miami area in the 1880's. No roads, gators, and a few hundred people.

[retronerd Steinkuehler · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have never read this book you are in for a treat. This is my 5th reading. It is a 'go to' book when I have read several others that were disappointments. This one will pick you up and make you a believer in an old-fashioned way to tell a good story.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read book for Florida residents. It is a historical fiction novel set around the post office route between Palm Beach and Miami. Before roads were developed here the route was done by a mailman traveling along the beach.

[Brenda C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on true events of the Florida boom and the mailmen who walked the beach from palm beach to Miami. Fictitiously written o based facts of how the area was developing. Hurricanes were called “the blow”. And season lasted only to September.

[Eco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is part of the native Floridian book cache that I inherited from my grandmother. The story takes place in the late 1800s before the Florida boom.
I liked the peek inside the lifestyles of the past even if the attitude toward women are antiquated.

[London Litchfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very descriptive of early south Florida life with a sweet love story intertwined. Great fun for a Floridian to read.

[Jo Haight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book about old Florida's east coast. Great description of what life was like, the animals and insects, the heat, the difficulty getting from one place to another.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the story. Living in south Florida, it was interesting to read about places I know and how they used to be. Clean and appropriate reading for young tweens and teens.