The John Ringling Mansion - Sarasota, Florida

Built in the 1920s by John Ringling, of the Ringling Brothers Circus, and his wife, Mable, the Venetian-style mansion (named Cà d'Zan, meaning "House of John" in Venetian dialect), dominates 20 acres of Sarasota waterfront, accompanied by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Recently restored to its original glory, the Ringling mansion was once left a wreck with a leaky roof.

Despite his great outward success, poor investments coupled with the general downturn of the Depression, left Ringling near penniless at the time of his 1936 death. Some news reports had his bank accounts totaling a mere $311. In an effort to save his beloved home, Ringling willed the property to the state of Florida.

By the late 1990s, the house and grounds were in a state of utter neglect.

Its depressing appearance seems to have inspired some action on the part of Florida, which transferred the property to Florida State University and provided more than $40M toward new building, renovations, and an endowment for the property. In 2002, a six-year renovation commenced, eventually costing upwards of $15M.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

A couple of linen postcards from Sarasota, Florida - The winter quarters for "The Greatest Show on Earth"

The cards are "Genuine CurtTeich-Chicago" and were postmarked 1949.

Hotel George Washington

Owned by the same folks who brought us the The New Hotel Mayflower...and I thought the ship floating outside that hotel was weird!

The hotel was closed in 1971 and torn down in 1973. Currently, the site is occupied by the new federal court building in downtown Jacksonville.

The New Hotel Mayflower

First and foremost, I love the "Mayflower" ship hovering around it's namesake hotel! Probably has trouble finding a parking space though! As usual, I like to look for some background info on postcards. While I did find out that the Mayflower was originally the Mason and that the hotel was demolished in 1978 (all together now: Awwww), I couldn't find much else, but I did find this obituary:

“Irene Ann Byram, 99, passed away January 16th, 2012. Irene, known as Nonie by her close family and friends, was born on May 22, 1912 in Detroit MI. Irene moved to Jacksonville with her husband and children in 1935 from Wauchula Fl. She was employed by the Mayflower hotel for over 30 years. In 1944 she was sworn in as the first female bartender in the state of Florida by Governor Spessard Holland”

"World's Most Unusual Drugstore"

"The famous talking Mermaids, one of the most different and outstanding of the many attractions at the World's Most Unusual Drug Store--Daily bring fun and merriment to thousands of visitors to Webb's City in St. Petersburg, Florida - DON'T MISS THIS UNUSUAL FEATURE"

...unusual indeed! The mermaid thing might not have caught on, but James Earl "Doc" Webb's idea of an Express Line for "10 items or less" did!