A bit of Florida kitsch bites the dust

I saw this posted by roadside superstar Debra Jane Seltzer this morning, the news that the odd "Orange Bird" that used to reside along A1A in St. Johns County has met his demise. According to the blog post by realtor Barbara Jenness, a developer foreclosed on the property and demolished the strange orange monolith without any warning. Had I know it was in jeopardy, I might have tried nominate it to the Society for Commercial Archeology's Falling By The Wayside list to earn some publicity to try generate some public will to save the roadside icon.

I first learned of the big fella when my brother photographed it for one of our Florida Roadside Retro calendars back in 2002. According to the AIA website, the orange bird was created by Aramand Fischetti in 1982 to go outside his roadside produce stand. His big orange body was created when a buoy found at nearby Marineland was filed with concrete. Supposedly it was modeled after an Orange Blossom Honey logo, but roadside historian Tim Hollis thinks it was a take off of Disney's Florida Orange Bird.

Disney's Florida Orange Bird

In a state ruled by developers that have given more and more free reign to do as they please, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised when a beloved roadside icon or a bit of precious natural habitat falls under the blade of a bulldozer. But as someone who believes that the offbeat and the quirkiness of Florida are what make living here interesting and ever-surprising, I'm deeply saddened to see it go. I won't be surprised to see a convenience store or strip mall on that site in the near future. So it goes in Florida.

Number 38 and proud of it

This interesting news was in the paper on Sunday; the Central Florida town of Winter Park was picked 38th in list of 106 historic places around the world by National Geographic Traveler Magazine. According to the article, the magazine "called attention to Winter Park's historic homes and its 'small downtown' with historic businesses and small businesses." There is plenty of material to blog about concerning Winter Park, especially in terms of fabulous architecture and great museums. Today, however, the focus is based on the references I currently have on hand in the Studio Hourglass library, that being mostly images of Winter Park's signs, past and present.

First, a couple vintages images from the in-law's photos. The Schmidts have been in Central Florida, mostly Winter Park, for four generations now. The Colony Theater on Park Avenue, now a Pottery Barn, is a special place in the family history because my father-in-law worked there and he would bring his deposits to the bank across the street and flirt with a particular teller who ended up being my mother-in-law. He passed away at an early age and I was not fortunate enough to have met him, but these images help me feel connected to him.


A couple of blocks away from the Colony Theater was where the Langford Hotel used to sit. The Del Prado Lounge at the Langford was my favorite watering hole and I miss the amazing atmosphere of this incredibly unique place. This photo is from the Kilby Photo archives, look for another, more in-depth blog when he lets lose of some more Langford images. Hint, hint.


This next image from Kilby Photo is of a business that has moved but left its signs behind. Holler Chevrolet has relocated to SR 436, but it signs still remain a fixture in Winter Park.




Right down the street from the former Holler location lies Winter Park Bowl, just on the other side of the famous Winter Park sinkhole, now called Lake Rose.


Further down the road, closer to I-4 lies a Central Florida institution, Skycraft. Wacky hardware, NASA surplus and gimmicky gadgets abound in this paradise of interesting stuff.


And finally I featured the giant citrus formerly of Lee Road yesterday, but one shot could not do it justice.

The Winter Park Art Show is going on this weekend, celebrating its 50th anniversary!

Coming soon, my special 100th blog!

Gone but not forgotten...

I joined Flick'r yesterday to participate in another online community of people who share similar passions, in this case, roadside architecture. I uploaded every shot I had on the subject, that is currently on my computer, excluding the good ones shot by my brother the photographer. Then I dug into the archives a little and found a CD from 2001 with my first roadside retro calendar. I launched my design business, Kilby Creative, in December 2000 and wanted to create a self promotion piece for myself, so I went through all my old photos and made a pocket-sized calendar. They were well received and I went on to make 3 more with my brother handling the photography duties. If you'd like me to send you the '03 or '05 version, let me know, I have plenty left.

Since then I've always been on the lookout for great vintage signs and other roadside icons. Part of the project became simply documenting these beauties from the mid 20th century because I quickly noticed they tended to be here one day then gone the next. The hope became to create awareness of the relevance of these monuments to Florida's past so that we might preserve some them before it is too late.

Today, I'm highlighting some that didn't make it into the the 21st century. This Great Dane that was on the Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando used to mark the location of a truck dealership. When the dealership went away so did the dog; who knows where?

The Pepto pink dinosaur used to guard little kids at a daycare center in Port Orange.

I love roadside citrus and produce stands in Florida, because the signage is often as colorful as the fruit they sell. This amazing produce stand in Leesburg mixed religious messages and product pricing in a unique way.

This sign used to mark a citrus stand in Maitland.

There was actually a nice little strip of vintage signs in Maitland that has since succumbed to development.

I've blogged about the great City of Cars sign that used to be on Highway 50. This is a Satellite Sign from that interesting used car dealership.

This Muffler Man used to have a fine home in Ocala.

Every Muffler Man's dream, this Uniroyal Girl, stood outside a boat business in Winter Garden. Maybe she and the Muffler Man ran away?

This monumental citrus stood alongside a giant orange and blue globe at a Lee Road motel complex in Winter Park.

Nancy's Guys and Dolls was perhaps one of the "diviest" bars I ever visited. The walls long ago white, were dark tan from years of nicotine exposure. However I still feel sad when I drive by it's old location near Orlando's executive airport and see where it used to be. Thank goodness we still have Wally's!

Our favorite time machine restaurant near Orlando's Ben White Raceway was knocked down and moved to a motel down the road. The original in DeLand is still open- go there with a healthy appetite!

This building on Bumby in Orlando is for rent, sans neon.

And finally Kane's Furniture on Highway 50 was one of Orlando's finer examples of mid-century commercial architecture. It's gone now, as have much of the remnants of that period in Orlando's past, and it has been replaced with a couple new buildings. A bank, a fast food Chinese restaurant and this brand spanking new, mid-century inspired McDonalds. I think it is incredibly ironic that they would tear down something from the 1950s or 60s to build something that looks like it was from the same period!