From the 1890s to the 1970s, the thriving area of Birmingham between Eighteenth and Twenty-first Streets along First, Second, and Third Avenues was the bustling heart of this quickly growing city. Before the age of the shopping mall, the downtown was the center of retail and entertainment in Birmingham. Along these streets, entrepreneurial immigrants built department stores―including Pizitz and Loveman, Joseph, and Loeb―while the marquees of the Alabama, Ritz, and Lyric theaters, among others, shined over the busy downtown sidewalks.

Birmingham's Theater and Retail District (Images of America)

Hollis, Tim

Humor & Entertainment

Arcadia Publishing

Birmingham, Alabama, has enjoyed a long and distinguished broadcasting history. The city’s first radio station aired in 1922, and television arrived in 1949. Both media produced personalities who became household names in the city. Audiences came to know Joe Rumore, Tommy Charles, Country Boy Eddy, Cousin Cliff Holman, Rosemary, Pat Gray, Tom York, and many others as if they were members of their own families. Even the commercials became as memorable as the news, entertainment, talk, and children’s shows they interrupted.

Birmingham Broadcasting (AL) (Images of America)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

When Six Flags Over Georgia opened in June 1967, it became the first theme park in the Southeast. Although the park is best known today for its high-speed roller coasters, this book recaptures its earlier years when it was devoted to the various periods of Georgia’s history. Six Flags Over Georgia revisits such classic rides and attractions as the Log Jamboree, Tales of the Okefenokee, Jean Ribaut’s Adventure, the Krofft Puppet Theater, the Happy Motoring Freeway, and many others. It also explores how the park’s focus changed and expanded over the decades and takes a look at some of its classic advertising and souvenirs.

Six Flags Over Georgia (Images of America)

Most people do not stop to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards, and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers to buy products or patronize businesses, many such signs remained in place for so long that they became beloved landmarks in their own right. For Images of America: Vintage Birmingham Signs, Tim Hollis has scoured the archives of Birmingham’s former sign companies, as well as other private collections, to compile some of the best remembered or most obscure signs that dotted the urban and suburban landscape. Here readers will again see the Buffalo Rock bottle pouring its ginger ale into a glass, the Golden Flake clown smiling down at passersby, the Barber’s milk clock at the Five Points South intersection, and many more. Through these vintage photographs, readers can once again visit such once-thriving destinations as Eastwood Mall, Burger in a Hurry, and the Kiddieland amusement park.

Vintage Birmingham Signs (Images of America: Alabama)

For centuries, explorers and pioneers told of a place in Georgia where there was a gigantic mountain of solid granite resembling "a great gray egg lying half-buried on a vast plain." In time, Stone Mountain, 15 miles east of Atlanta, became a local landmark. In 1915, it was decided that the mountain's sheer north face would be a good spot to carve a lasting memorial to the lost cause of the Confederacy. This proved to be easier said than done. Before the project was completed, one of Georgia's top tourist attractions was established around Stone Mountain's base.

Stone Mountain Park (Images of America)

The Great Smoky Mountains and Sevier County, in particular, have been major tourist destinations since the 1920s. Since then, many attractions, motels, restaurants, and other businesses have come and gone, including Jolly Golf, Magic World, Archie Campbell’s Hee Haw Village, the Rebel Railroad, Goldrush Junction, and dozens more. This book collects and preserves the memories of these “lost attractions” that formed the foundation of today’s Sevier County tourism economy.

Lost Attractions of Sevier County (Images of America)

Soward, Mitzi

"What a joy! Live your favorite Christmases over again with this sugar-sprinkled guidebook of magic memories." --Karal Ann Marling, Author of Merry Christmas
<li>A nostalgic look at Christmas in the mid-twentieth century</li>
<li>Memorable color illustrationsFrom plastic nativity scenes to aluminum trees, Christmas became a major marketing extravaganza in America in the mid-twentieth century. This book recalls the holiday between 1940 and 1970, courtesy of department stores, five and tens, toy manufacturers, publishing houses, and record companies. Boomers and Gen-Xers will relive memories of special holiday toys and treats, Christmas children's books by Little Golden and Wonder, holiday music released by Peter Pan and Disneyland records, and merchandising characters such as Frosty the Snowman and Montgomery Ward's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Liberally illustrated with vintage ads, book covers, record sleeves, and photographs.
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Christmas Wishes: A Catalog of Vintage Holiday Treats & Treasures

History

Stackpole Books

Glass bottom boats, mermaids, underwater performances, petting zoos--Florida's tourist industry began with the attractions that developed around the state's natural springs. This quintessential roadside book tells the story of how Florida's natural wonders were first developed as tourist attractions, leading to the booming theme-park era of today.

Glass Bottom Boats & Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs

Americas

A celebration of fun and sun through tourists' eyes "Wow! The most beautiful and captivating manuscript I have ever read. Hollis's book is a journey to a long-vanished Florida before Disney, a Florida filled with roadside attractions, pink flamingos, and alligator farms. The beautiful and full-color vintage advertising makes this book one of the best Florida souvenirs of all time."--Brian R. Rucker, author of Arcadia and Floridale "This colorful book takes the reader back to the golden age of tourism, to Florida before the mouse. Vivid postcards and brochures revisit lost attractions and remind the reader that once upon a time Florida offered more than one brand of family fantasy."--Tracy J. Revels, author of Watery Eden For more than a century, Florida has thrived on its image as an exotic playground. Selling the Sunshine State offers a scrapbook of bygone brochures, postcards, souvenirs, and photos, all designed to lure northerners (and fellow southerners) into the peninsula. Tim Hollis's personal collection of Florida memorabilia and mementos lies at the heart of the nearly 500 color images herein. Lovingly assembled, the book is arranged according to the state’s traditional tourism department regions, including the Miracle Strip, the Big Bend, and the Gold Coast which allows readers to discover the lost attractions and sometimes shocking appeals in promotional material created from the 1920s through the 1970s. An introductory essay on the history of Florida advertising methods and themes, along with additional commentary for each region, places the images in context. Hollis writes as a tourist,and his captions to the copious, eye-catching color illustrations transport the reader back to another era of Florida history. Nostalgic tourists, Florida natives, and anyone interested in the history of advertising will enjoy this lighthearted volume. Tim Hollis is the author of numerous books celebrating southern popular culture and history, including Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Run and Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast.

Selling the Sunshine State: A Celebration of Florida Tourism Advertising

Business & Money

Industries

University Press of Florida

The golden age of Florida kitsch “The hotels, motels, and restaurants that catered to Florida’s tourists before Disney have been lovingly explored, unearthed, highlighted, and celebrated in a lavishly illustrated ‘souvenir’ of a forgotten period in Florida history.”—Brian Rucker, author of Arcadia and Image and Reality For most of the state’s existence, Florida’s economy has been driven by tourism and tourists. And after a carefree day on the beach, they need a place to sleep and eat.           Wish You Were Here is a nostalgic look back at the days when a clever slogan (“Sleep to the Song of the Surf”), a pink-and-aqua paint job, a swimming pool, and air-conditioned rooms—combined with aggressive advertising through postcards, brochures, magazines, billboards, placemats, and neon signs—were the keys to capturing the tourists’ dollars.            Tim Hollis began collecting this memorabilia in the 1960s, when he travelled with his parents on vacation in Florida. Arranged like a scrapbook, his lighthearted review of the most interesting and unusual hotel, motel, and restaurant advertising will make you remember childhood vacations fondly—or wonder why anyone would have ever eaten or slept there.            ?The nearly five hundred color images are accompanied by humorous captions. They depict unique mom-and-pop motels, early advertising from hotel chains, and countless pirate-themed seafood restaurants. The book is organized around the traditional tourism regions of the state, from the Gulf Coast’s Miracle Strip to the Keys’ Paradise Islands. So sit back, enjoy the trip, and please don’t kick the back of the driver’s seat! Tim Hollis is the author of numerous books celebrating southern history and popular culture, including See Rock City, Florida’s Miracle Strip, Dixie before Disney, and Selling the Sunshine State. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Wish You Were Here: Classic Florida Motel and Restaurant Advertising

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Books by Hollis, Tim