The way we were

Proof that Miami Beach was once a swamp.

The Fleetwood Hotel on West Avenue, Miami Beach advertised itself as "The Coolest Spot in Florida" and offered "Mosquito Proof" dining.

From the July 2, 1925 issue of the Miami Daily News.

View of the Fleetwood Hotel (left,) from Star Island. Image via University of Miami Digital Archive.

Corruption in Hialeah....50 years ago

Following up on yesterday's post that looked back at some old issues of the now-defunct Miami News, I decided to see what was going on in Miami 50 years ago, give or take week.

I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to find that there was corruption taking place the unlikeliest of places, Hialeah.

The News had been tipped that customers at a certain Hialeah service station were having no trouble getting inspection stickers for their cars.

In the April 8, 1960 issue of the paper, reporter Barnard Collier writes that he drove an old clunker up to a County-run auto-inspection station in Hialeah.

As the Collier tells it, the car had no emergency brake, a faulty rear brake, no brake lights, and one of the tag lights was out.

The reporter got the inspection sticker for the car by handing the inspector a business card from the service station and some money folded inside of the inspection form.

How much did Collier pay to have his car passed? One dollar.


So, depending on one's perspective, things have changed a lot in Dade County in the intervening 50 years. Or not much has changed.

However, one thing is fairly certain. It might cost more than a buck to pay someone off in Hialeah these days!

Miami Crime Wave - June 3, 1950

Back before the Internet and 24 hour cable news, there were newspapers. Real newspapers.

In 1950 Miami had two daily newspapers, the Miami Herald and a competitor, the much smaller Miami News.

(Erik Maza at Miami New Times reminded us of just how different the Miami New was from the Herald.)

And the Miami of 60 years ago bore no resemblance to the Miami of today; it was a winter tourist destination but in the summer it was a humid, mosquito-infested, sleepy backwater.

However, if things got too boring or sweaty, you could always hop a sleek 4-engine DC-6 and head down to Havana which was just an hour away!


The Herald had a huge reporting staff. The News had to make do with a staff about half the size of the Herald's.

The Herald came out in the morning and the News was an afternoon paper. The News catered to a reader who had probably seen the Herald that morning. The paper had to have a different look and editorial approach which it delivered that in more ways than one.

How?

The feisty and scrappy News grabbed the attention of its readers in ways the stodgy and staid Herald couldn't. The front page of the News used headlines that were bold and splashy.

And it printed crime stories. Lots of crime stories.

Consider the front page of the June 3, 1950 edition of the News.

There was the main story about a couple of teenage "boy bandits" who made their getaway on a "high-powered motorcycle."


Then there was the story about an off-duty cop who was attacked by three boys. The cop shot all three in a "gun-battle" that killed one of the boys, a 15 year-old Booker T. Washington high school student.

And if that wasn't enough crime to satisfy you, there was the story headlined: "His Wife Plotted To Murder Him, Ex-Beach Patrolman Wells Testifies."


The News finally folded in 1989, no longer able to compete with the Herald.

But the paper still lives on Google!

Who's in charge at the Herald? (Saturday edition)

Late night comedy...Bill Cosby makes chocolate cake for breakfast

A classic!

Lincoln Road Antique Market this Sunday

Check out the Antique Market on Lincoln Road this Sunday, March 28.

Weather should be spectacular!

After this Sunday, there are only three more Antique Markets until next season.