A HOTEL GUIDE TO 1920s ORLANDO

Orlando, Florida: The City Beautiful [Promotional Tourist Brochure; ca. 1925]

Winter Park, Florida: The Rollins Press, Inc., [ca. 1925]. ORLANDO AS A WINTER RESORT.
A compact accordion-fold promotional brochure presenting Orlando as a growing Florida resort and commercial center. Twelve illustrated hotel advertisements are accompanied by a detailed overview of the city, describing its population, industries, transportation, schools, hospitals, climate, airport, radio station, shopping, fishing, and tourist facilities.

The advertisements form a particularly useful snapshot of Orlando's early hospitality industry, including the San Juan, Angebilt, Wyoming, Orange Court, Lucerne, Fort Gatlin, Empire, and other hotels, as well as the Flamingo dinner club.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: ORLANDO’S WINTER HOTEL SCENE.
The accordion-fold brochure presents twelve advertisements for Orlando hotels and related businesses, several illustrated with photographs or drawings of the properties. Together they document the city’s developing winter-resort economy, with room counts, rates, amenities, managers, restaurants, and seasonal appeals aimed at visitors.

Single accordion-fold sheet, approximately 3.25 by 6 inches closed, comprising six panels on each side. Additional panels provide a detailed promotional description of Orlando and an advertisement for The Rollins Press, Inc., Winter Park. Printed in black and white.

CONDITION: CAREFULLY HANDLED.
Light age-toning and handling. Front cover with moderate age-soiling and a vertical fold. Small rust-transfer marks near the center fold from contact with staples. Accordion joints remain sound.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: SELLING THE CITY BEAUTIFUL.
Capturing Orlando during its emergence as a substantial Florida tourist and commercial center, this brochure documents the city decades before its identity became associated with the large-scale attraction industry. Its promotional text presents a population of approximately 31,000, augmented by 25,000 to 30,000 winter visitors, emphasizing hotels, transportation, climate, recreation, shopping, and civic infrastructure.

GENRES
Florida ephemera, tourist brochures, hotel advertising, promotional literature
SUBJECTS
Orlando Florida, Florida tourism, Orlando hotels, winter resorts, Florida land boom, Lake Eola

Item #22450

Price: $35.00