Cypress Gardens In Florida - 1975 (The Go-Gos & Esther Williams, Too!)

Today, I have more slides of the Swanson Family's visit to Florida, from March of 1975.  We saw their Walt Disney World photos earlier this year, and we saw their Lion Country Safari (Florida) photos, back in 2017.  This time, they were visiting Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida.  (FYI, this park also happens to fall into the category of "Places I've Never Been.")

Cypress Gardens was a theme park, which originally opened as a botanical garden.  It was started by Dick and Julie Pope in 1936, and their family maintained ownership up until 1985.  In it's later years, it went through multiple expansions and multiple owners, but ultimately closed in 2009.  The botanical gardens section of the park has been preserved, and is now a part of "Legoland Florida," which opened on the property in 2011.

I believe this Canadian Outpost was located in the "Gardens of the World" section of the park.  Standing next to the totem poles, we see the the Swanson Family's mother on the left, and the father (Dale) on the right.

The park grounds included many water features, such as lagoons, canals, waterfalls, and fountains.

This next photo shows "mom and daughter," seated next to the Italian Fountain in the Gardens of the World section of the park.  The fountain featured 10,000 pieces of hand baked tiles, and was described by park publicity as being "reminiscent of Ville D' Este in Tivoli, Italy."

This vintage postcard shows an aerial view of the fountain.

The small sign in this next pic reads, "Lolly Pops Bush - Recently Brought To Us."  I looked up that name, and there is a plant called a lollipop plant (also known as "golden candle" or "golden shrimp"), which is native to Peru.  There are also a few garden gnomes hanging around in the planter!

Below, is the park's "Dutch Windmill."  Note the two giant Dutch clogs out on the lawn.  Guests were able to climb inside of these and pose for pictures.

I'm not sure exactly where in the park this next photo was taken, but the landscaping looks pretty lush and "jungle-y."

The water seen in these next two pics, is Lake Eloise.  Those trees with the gnarled trunks (near the edge of the lake) are "bald cypress" or "swamp cypress."  Some of the cypress trees on the property are estimated to be up to two thousand years old!

The park's "Southern Mansion" had originally been built on the neighboring property (in the 1940s), as a home for citrus magnate, John Snively.  In the 1970s, the owners of Cypress Gardens purchased the house and the surrounding land, so they could expand their park.  I'm not sure if guests could go inside the mansion at first, but a 1975 publicity release stated, "Cypress Gardens' newest attraction is the beautiful Southern Mansion.  Located on a hillside overlooking the new Gardens of the World section, it's Georgian architectural style makes it a perfect subject for photographers."

In 1977, the Florida Sports Hall Of Fame opened inside the mansion, but it moved out of Cypress Gardens altogether, in 1985.  On a 1996 park map, the building was listed as "Magnolia Mansion," with the description, "Ice cold beer and Pepsi products, chips & snacks."  This postcard view is from the 1970s.

The park had a "Scenic Electric Boat Ride" attraction, so I'm assuming these next three photos were all taken while floating through the botanical gardens.  I bet it was just like the "Jungle Cruise," but without animals or people.  However, there might be a Native (Floridian) or two, on the far left of this first pic.

These two publicity photos show the electric boats, traveling through what the park called, "The Magic Isles of Movieland."  That name was due to the fact that the garden's "palm-fringed backdrops and colorful scenery have been used on many television and motion picture productions, as well as in magazine stories and TV commercials."

 

The park was home to multiple species of birds.

An African spoonbill:

Two red macaws:

A pair of peacocks:

Cypress Gardens was also famous for it's water skiing shows.  The park had two large covered grandstands, for viewing the shows out on Lake Eloise.

The water skiing shows had a long history at the park (dating back to the early 1940s), and were even featured in a segment of the 1952 film, "This Is Cinerama."  Here are a few vintage postcards, featuring some of the park's water skiers.

The image above reminds me of the cover of the 1982 Go-Go's album, "Vacation."  That cover photo was actually shot at Cypress Gardens, and then the band members' faces were "pasted" onto the bodies of the professional water skiers.  The music video for the song also featured footage shot at Cypress Gardens, with band members "pretending" to ski in front of a rear projection of the film.

The album's back cover:

Back in the day, Disney News Magazine did a fair amount of promoting for Cypress Gardens.  Admission prices for Cypress Gardens were often listed in the back of the magazine, and a special discount was even offered to Magic Kingdom Club members (as seen in the Spring 1975 issue, below).

The following year, the Executive Director of the Magic Kingdom Club took a trip to Cypress Gardens, and wrote about the visit in the Spring 1976 issue of Disney News Magazine.

The Winter 1978-79 issue also featured an article about the park.

And the Summer 1980 issue had an article about Cypress Garden's recent 14-acre expansion.  At this point, the park was trying very hard to keep up with the competition from it's nearby neighbors, Walt Disney World and Sea World.

I'm guessing that the photo of what looks like the interior of a dilapidated mansion, is a part of the Legends of the South "multi-media historical presentation," described in the article.  It sounds pretty interesting, especially the part about the soldiers and pirates who "appear and disappear," and the secrets of "bayou trappers and Cajun voodoo queens" being revealed "in this mystifying mansion of illusion."

Here's a park map and show schedule, from 1982:

And here's a park brochure, also from 1982:

The park had just added new versions of their water ski shows, in addition to a new bird show, reptile show, and magic show.

Hey everybody.....it's Flop the Rabbit!  Remember him?  Okay, I don't either, but apparently he was one of the mascots of Cypress Gardens, along with "Timmy the Tiger" (not pictured).  The miniature car ride was called "Down-The-Pike."  And that miniature parachute drop attraction was called the "Fundangler."  It looks like it was about the same size as Disney's "Jumpin' Jellyfish" attractions, in both Anaheim and Tokyo.

The park's Living Forrest was also a new addition at this time.

"Attractive Southern belles also grace our gardens."  I wonder if that position entailed working an 8-hour shift?

Wow, free parking......just like it was for many decades, at Knott's Berry Farm in California!  Just out of curiosity, I checked the current parking prices (for Legoland Florida).  It now costs $35 to park a car, but it's $55 if you want "preferred parking."

Another attraction at Cypress Gardens, was the park's Florida-shaped swimming pool.

 

The pool was built for the 1953 MGM musical, "Easy To Love," starring Esther Williams.

Cypress Gardens even received special billing as the filming location.  I've never seen the movie, but I can't help but wonder if Van Johnson tells Esther Williams, "I'm sorry, lady, but you're talking nutsy-cuckoo!"

In 1960, Esther Williams returned to Cypress Gardens, to film the NBC television movie, "Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens."  The movie's plot revolved around Esther Williams (starring as herself), filming a fictional television special at the park.  Joey Bishop and Esther's future husband, Fernando Lamas, also starred in the movie.  That's Esther in the pink dress, waving to us from below.

The pool still exists today, and was "restored" by Legoland in 2014.

****Bonus****

For anyone who's interested, an eleven-minute clip from Esther Williams' 1960 television movie exists, and is available on YouTube:

Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens - 1960

Also.....I'm sharing a picture of Esther Williams, from my personal collection of autographed photos.

And, just for fun.....here's a link to the Go Go's music video for "Vacation," with footage shot at Cypress Gardens:

The Go-Go's - Vacation

I still have more of the Swanson Family's slides, so stay tuned for more from their 1975 Florida vacation!

Family Day at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard - July 1968 (& The Queen Mary!)

Back in July of 1968, "Family Day" was held at the Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, CA.  It was an event that was open to the public, and allowed visitors an up-close look at some U.S. military ships.  My dad shot all of the vintage color images in this post, except where otherwise noted.

This first ship is the U.S.S. New Jersey (BB-62), an Iowa-class battleship, which was launched on December 7, 1942 (on the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor).  The ship was decommissioned after World War II, but reactivated in 1968 and sent to Vietnam.

My dad took another photo of the ship, but I'm not sure why he aimed the camera so high.  I would have rather seen more of the ship and the people on the ground, and less of the sky.

Here's a family photo, with the U.S.S. New Jersey in the background.  I don't know the name or the type of boat that was docked in front of it (on the far right), but the boat on the far left is the R.M.S Queen Mary.

The R.M.S. Queen Mary had arrived at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard 7 months earlier, for it's conversion into a hotel and tourist attraction.  However, this was not to be it's permanent home.  After undergoing renovations for 4 years, the Queen Mary was then moved to it's current location, at Pier H.  This aerial view shows both the Queen Mary and the U.S.S. New Jersey, docked at the Naval Shipyard.

And this photo from Wikipedia, shows the U.S.S. New Jersey in it's current home of Camden, NJ.  In 2001, the ship was opened to the public as a museum.

Another ship that was on display during Family Day, was the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-12), an Essex-class aircraft carrier.  Again, I wish my dad had aimed a little bit lower, so we could see more of the ship!

The U.S.S. Hornet was put into service in the Pacific, during World War II (1943).  She later played a minor role in Vietnam, and she also recovered both the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts, upon their return from the moon.

The U.S.S. Hornet was decommissioned in 1970, just two years after these photos were taken.  The structure on the far right is a shipyard crane, and not a part of the ship (which is visible to the left of the crane).

Designated both a National Historic Landmark, and a California Historic Landmark, the U.S.S. Hornet opened as a museum in Alameda, CA, in 1998.

It appears that this was the designated parking lot for the "Family Day" event.  The Naval Shipyard would have been behind my dad when he took this photo of the Gerald Desmond Bridge.  The bridge had opened just one month earlier, at a cost of $13 million.  The new bridge created a connection between Long Beach and Terminal Island, and replaced a pontoon bridge that had existed since the 1940s.  The Gerald Desmond Bridge was recently demolished, after being replaced by the new Long Beach International Gateway, which opened in October of 2020.

In 1968, my family was living in Lomita, CA., so we were able to use this new bridge to get to Terminal Island, and then continue on towards home by also using the fairly new Vincent Thomas suspension bridge.

This shot was taken from the front seat of my grandparents' Lincoln Continental, as we approached the brand new Gerald Desmond Bridge:

And this shot shows us being just a little bit closer.  Gee, look at all of that brand new asphalt and concrete!

The last photo my dad took that day, was this elevated view, with the Queen Mary and U.S.S. New Jersey in the distance.  We can also see cars parked below, and people walking in the direction of the shipyard.  I don't know exactly where the car was at this point, but the railing in the foreground seems to match the railing seen above, alongside an offramp from the Gerald Desmond Bridge (on the far left).  I looked at current aerial views to try and locate this spot, but was unsuccessful.  Remember, the location of the Queen Mary in this shot, is not where the ship is located today.

Now, I had also mentioned the Vincent Thomas suspension bridge, earlier.  Traversing the two bridges (one after the other), would take drivers up and over the Port of Los Angeles, creating a short cut between Long Beach and San Pedro.  I found this next shot (taken five years earlier), in a separate batch of my dad's slides.  It shows the Vincent Thomas Bridge under construction in July of 1963 (just four months before it opened, in November of 1963).  This view was taken from the San Pedro side of the bridge, looking east toward Terminal Island, and Long Beach beyond that.  The building on the far right is the then-new Los Angeles World Cruise Center.  It was once home to the "Love Boat," and could be seen in most episodes of the classic TV show.

Would you like to see one more image of a ship in the Port of Los Angeles?  Well, my dad took this last photo in September of 1967 (ten months before the photos of the other military ships in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard).  This was taken on the San Pedro side of the port, and shows the U.S.S. Thomaston (LSD-28), sitting in the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's dry dock.  The ship was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship, launched in 1954, and scrapped in 2011.  I tried to find more information about this ship and what was being done to it here, but the information was conflicting.  It stated that the U.S.S. Thomaston was undergoing an extensive overhaul in San Diego, from June to December of 1967.  But this was taken in September of 1967, and this is the Port of Los Angeles, because we can see the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the background (on the far left).

****BONUS****

I was a little surprised to see that during the "Family Days" event at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, my dad didn't take any other photos of the Queen Mary.  That might have been because we had already driven to Long Beach to see it, just four months earlier.  I posted this pic back in June of 2018, but this is the first time I've shared the one below it, which includes my brother and me.

These were both taken in March of 1968, just three months after the Queen Mary had completed it's very last voyage, and arrived at it's new home of Long Beach.