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Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a well-known tourist destination whose very name evokes the image of a postcard. What is today one of Florida's largest cities was not always prized for its beautiful beaches and tropical climate. In the early 20th century, it was hailed as the "Gateway to the Everglades" and a "vegetable shipping capital." By the 1920s, Fort Lauderdale found itself at the very center of the phenomenal Florida land boom. Development and tourism became driving forces for the new economy-and there has been no looking back.
About the author
Fort Lauderdale in Vintage Postcards presents over 200 postcards from the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society's impressive collection in an educational and entertaining chronological survey, covering the 1900s through the 1960s. Author Susan Gillis is a curatorial consultant and local historian. She served for many years as the Curator of Collections at the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. In 1999, Gillis co-authored Images of America: Fort Lauderdale, a history volume based on the historical society's extensive photographic collections, with Daniel T. Hobby. A native Floridian, she has lived most of her life in South Florida.
