Ever-Ever Land
Attractions and Amusements

"Miami in the 1930s was a hothouse of tourist attractions inspired by the unique natural elements of the area. Such curiosities were worth the sometimes-arduous side trips required to find them. Among the most popular were Parrot Jungle, where trained macaws performed tricks; Monkey Jungle, where visitors were caged and the monkeys ran free; Orchid Jungle; and the Serpentarium, with its twenty-foot-high plaster cobra out front, where visitors could watch cobras being milked for their venom.

And, of course, there were the wonderful pool shows at the Biltmore Hotel, where Johnny Weismuller gave swimming lessons for a time and the loose-limbed Ray Bolger (the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) entertained. Here, on Sunday afternoons before World War II, aquacades featuring water ballet and diving clowns preceded the grand climax at the end of the afternoon, when a thrashing alligator was thrown into the deep end of the 'largest pool in America' for a wrestling demonstration."