This silent home movie shows a trip to Miami, Florida in the 1950s. The film starts at the Roney Plaza Hotel, which was demolished in 1968. You’ll see the hotel’s pool area. At 1:00, two brothers wearing identical “Texas” cowboy t-shirts parade in front of the camera. At 1:44 they pose with mom. At 4;23 children pose in costumes, apparently as part of a special food awareness day. Others pose with protest signs reading “Be Happy Be Healthy” and “Drink Milk”. At 5:30 a child poses in a Fred Flintstone type caveman outfit. At 5:45 the brothers, wearing cowboy outfits, visit a petting zoo called the “Chimpanzee Farm”. This facility was established in the early 1940’s, and imported primates to be sold for medical research. At 6:46 the brothers pose on the rear of the family car. At 7:12 the kids take a pony ride somewhere near the Mayfair theater in Miami. At 8:35 kids are shown playing baseball and tennis.

The Roney Plaza Hotel was Miami’s first grand beachfront resort. It was the Fontainebleau before the Fontainebleau existed. Built by N.B.T. Roney, a New Jersey lawyer who decided to become a Miami real-estate magnate instead, the resort attracted a who’s who that included Hollywood stars and even the Duke and Dutchess of Windsor. The hotel’s Bamboo Room & Restaurant was the place to be seen on the Beach for decades.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com