Friday, May 8, 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday #14

It's Postcard Friendship Friday! Today's vintage linen postcard is of the First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is fitting, I think, since Thursday was the National Day of Prayer. The description reads:
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One of the South's most beautiful churches, located in the heart of the tropics with a membership of over 2,000.
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We last met the person who wrote the card on my March 6th PFF post when she was on her way to Weeki Wachee Springs. Today's postcard was postmarked February 28, 1959 in Lake Worth Florida. It was mailed to the same address as the previous card.



The message reads:



Friday (on beach)



We got home yesterday from West Coast. Had such a nice time. Looked up some friends and spent a couple of hours with them. Went to Sunken Gardens in St. Pete. Took a roll of pictures (20) but don't know if any are good. It was cloudy at times. Have been thinking of Sis so much today. On way No (north?)




Love, Me






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It Was Wanda's idea to go to Sunken Gardens. It was another botanical stop on their driving tour, and Ted owed her this one after Weeki Wachee Springs. Those mermaids were quite shapely, and she spent the entire day sitting in the under water theater while Ted pressed his nose against the glass.

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They enjoyed their walk through the gardens and visited the gift shop which was touted to be the largest gift shop in the world. She chose some lovely china ashtrays adorned with pink flamingo's and orange blossoms as well as matching playing cards for the bridge table. She also found boxes of salt water taffy and some cute little jars of mango jam to take home as gifts. Ted insisted on getting one of those hula girls for the dashboard, and Wanda was sure she would get a migraine from the shimmying and shaking of that blazon little vixen. What will mother think?


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Anyway, the trip through the beautiful sunken pathways was beautiful, and Ted enjoyed the walking tour and had his picture taken with four parrots on his arms! They were surprised to learn that acreage was purchased in 1903 and was the private garden of the Turner family. An ancient lake on the property was drained, and plants thrived in the rich soil. In the 1920's George Turner and his family were charging visitors a nickel to tour the gardens.
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Sunken Gardens was owned by the Turner family for three generations, and was purchased by the City of St. Petersburg in 1999, The famous gift shop is now a children's science museum.
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Ted and Wanda especially loved the beautiful pink flamingos that graced the quiet little pond.

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They decided then and there to purchase some for their yard as soon as they arrived back home in Michigan. Wanda also decided to bury that hula girl about 2 feet under the lilac bush.
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Wadda you lookin' at?
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The icon of lawn kitsch, the plastic flamingo, was born in 1957 and is still adorning lawns today. The designer, Don Featherstone was awarded the Lg Nobel Prize for Art in 1996.
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Here's a question for you to mull over: Did pink plastic flamingos ever adorn the lawn of the Muse? Did they ever brighten your lawn?
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For more Postcard Friendship Friday fun, visit Marie at Voila Vintage Postcards!

29 comments:

Paul van Yperen said...

Another wonderful post. I love to read your detective work and imaginative onbservations each week. Thanks.

Pat said...

Fascinating, these sunken gardens. My mother and I took a trip to Florida when I was 12, and we brought back some pink (concrete) flamingos.....

Four-eyed-missy said...

Oh... wonderful!
I am reminded of the sunken garden in my university (90s)where, at night, it was populated by lovey-doveys *lol* I'm afraid one of my aunts had a pair of similar pink flamingos in her garden in the early 80s. The 7-year-old in me thought it was pretty unusual for a bird to have a pink color because the only rightful animal to be pink was Hello Kitty... hahaha.

Postcards Crossing

Marie Reed said...

Let me at the gift shop! I need a hula girl and three flamingos to perch in my lawn! My Mom had a pinky when she lived in Plantation, FL! It doesn't seem kitsch when you live there... somehow it just fits in divinely with sunshine, blue skies, and palm trees!

Mandala Michelle said...

Love those flamingos! I keep threatening to put one out in our yard for a week. My snooty neighbors would have a cow!

Betsy Brock said...

There's a home on my way to the grocery that has pink flamingos in their yard...and about 300 other yard ornaments, too! It's one of those places that will stop traffic as people gawk in disbelief. I have no idea how they cut their grass!

Debby said...

I have enjoyed your post, the postcard is lovely and your pics and story, beautiful and fun!
Debby

Candy said...

Nice post for Prayer Day.
Loved the tour of the sunken gardens...awesome flowers.

My first PFF,
Candy

viridian said...

I try to decipher my postcards, but you are the best at telling the backstory!

Beth Niquette said...

How lovely! I especially loved the one with the dripping white trumpet flowers. I remember when my grandmother had those plastic pink flaminco birds in her garden next to the pond she built. (Grin)

Robin said...

:-D
Great post!.....
Your lawn pic looks like my back yard. I have 24 plastic pink flamingos out there lurking about.

It all started some 14 years ago out of protest to living in officer Navy housing on Pearl Harbor.......a very scary place. =:-o

Have a beautiful weekend.

Terry said...

What a fantastic post .
All the cards were so great today .
I wish I had thought of posting a church card for National Day of prayer.great postcard.
Anyway I remember my grandmother had two Pink Flamingos in her flower bed that had a little pool of water ,I remember because my two year old insisted on calling them PINK SWANS ,don't know why but it stuck and when my grandmotehr passed he wanted to know who would take care of the pink swans. Ah the garden flowers you posted are just gorgeous !
Happy PFF .thank you for a wonderful post today .
Have a great Mothers Day weekend.

ilyani said...

I saw flamingos last week at the zoo.. they say flamingos turn pink because they eat certain fish.. otherwise they always stay white!

Happy PFF!

imajica

Daryl said...

Its such fun to read the back stories you create for these vintage cards

Chris Overstreet said...

Well, I lived in Plantation, FL too and I did not have a pink flamingo in the yard. By the way, the Ig Nobel Prize awarded to the flamingo's inventor was not an honor.

Margo said...

I love all the unique facts you share on PFF! as well as your stories. The pink flamingo guy won a Nobel prize? Love it! Happy PFF! (I was "flocked" on my 40th birthday with 40 pink flamingos in the front yard)

mel said...

great post...who doesn't LOVE pink flamingos? *grin*

happy pff!

Aimee said...

Great post, as usual, Muse! The sunken gardens look beautiful. I like pink flamingos, but I've never had any in my yard.

fortuitous faery said...

pretty pink flamingoes! they're the garden gnome's sole rival! hehe.

Sparky said...

So many of your PFF posts remind me of the Florida I grew up with. Florida was enjoyable in the '60s and '70s. We had the pink flamingos and the painted white partially buried tires lining the driveway. Those were the days, my friend. :o) Happy PFF! Sorry I didn't get to post mine this time.

Marie Reed said...

Sooooooooo! Have you ever had a pink flamingo in your yard! Inquiring minds need to know:)

Pearl said...

As always, an Excellent post...
I have a Hula girlie in my bathroom, but still no Pink Flamingos in my yard...
woe is me ~sigh~

Have a wonderful weekend

~blessings~
Pearl

Kat Mortensen said...

Musey - You have such a wild imagination! I loved going along for the ride. Hula girls on the dash - great stuff!

Kat

Mim said...

I look forward to your stories all week! I do the history thing - all facts and figures and historical accuracy so I love your imagination, and ideas, and funny adventures.

Debby said...

Muse, didja see?!!!! There's another Debby! "HI DEBBY!!!"

*waves wildly*

Lavinia said...

Some future archaeologist will dig up that hula girl from the backyard, a thousand years from now, and she will then tour the world's museums in her own glass casse, famed far and wide as the mysterious buried hula girl from an ancient civilization! ha ha ha

Nana Trish is Living the Dream said...

Cyn, I have visited First Baptist West Palm Beach several times for weddings. It's gigantic now. I spend my teen years and twenties in Lake Worth so you gave me some memories. Your stories are great.

MuseSwings said...

I saw Debby! I thought it was you for a sec. Livvvy - you got it right. Something like the "Smithsonian Barbie". The hula girl will be in the case next to the fuzzy dice and that wooden car seat massage thing.

Lavinia said...

Yes Musey, and the Michael Jackson Thriller Album that future historians will try feverishly to de-code. I wish they could know: Don't bother!