You've Got To See Florida (1953)

[Music] it's a bird it's a man [Music] it's a lovely girl [Music] no it's florida land of strange contrasts land of mysterious everglades and bright beaches land of glamorous gaiety and land of peaceful serenity [Music] land of tropical sunsets that provide golden halos [Music] land of clear blue mornings where the seabirds glide silently overhead on a whisper smooth offshore breeze [Music] land of nature's magic where porpoises are fed by hand [Music] and young pelicans dig deep into that famous beak that holds food enough for a week florida where you get school credit for learning to water ski since 1513 when florida's first tourist ponce de leon dropped some gossip about the fountain of youth countless other tourists have been searching for it youth that is [Music] although papaya juice may not brighten the eye and quicken the step for all time it is good and good for you small wonder that so many ex-tourists now live the year-round and very permanent-looking wigwams and continue the search for youth from truly gracious surroundings florida is so many things few of us really get to know her she is for instance an agricultural career girl well on her way to blooming booming success crisp green salads by the acre not only help make florida a healthful place to live but form an important bulwark to her ever-expanding economy these salads are for the northern winter market much of florida is lavishly lush and fertile sugarcane grows higher than an elephant's eye and modern harvesting devices and the famous sunshine are combining to build the sugarcane industry into big business the whole everglades region of florida is topped with 10 feet or more of rich rich top soil called muckland the catch is much of the top soil is topped with water so huge drainage ditches are cut across the florida everglades reclaiming thousands of acres of fertile muck land at a time once reclaimed this land is so lush and fertile that as the saying goes you plant then stand back out of the way grasses originally imported from india help reclaim the land it's grass with a will to live something like that crabgrass that gives you trouble in your front lawn here's an odd system of planting roots and tops and all are spread over the reclaimed land [Music] rollers merely push the green grass close to the earth and nature does the rest roots spring out searching for the fertile soil at the nodes the joints of the grass and soon one stalk becomes many in three to six months zoom there's a cattle boom more cattle more tons of luscious beef steak to the acre than mighty texas ever managed fine new breeds and crossbreeds of cattle grazing and growing on the man-made pampers that a few short years ago was swamped that's lusty up-and-coming young miss florida she's good to know and she's the backbone of florida's newfound prosperity on the other hand there's the dignified dowager princess florida you'll need her when you visit the state capitol in tallahassee the only dixie capital the yanks failed to capture in the war between the states this miss florida is a bit austere and loaded with tradition you meet her when you visit st augustine and knock on the door of the oldest house in america enter and stroll through the centuries-old but still lovely gardens since the 16th century 14 families have lived here and each altered and enlarged the structure the oldest house is a living part of history where visitors can search and find marks of american progress you are with the austere lady florida when you wander through the moulding ruins of old forts this one castillo de san marcos was designed by a french architect but at various times both the english and the spanish manned the gunports if you happen to be a small boy here's the place to fire up your imagination and look out to sea and fire an ancient five pounder at an imaginary pirate but of all the floridas there are the warm mother florida is perhaps best to know she's a sea bird a rosie at turn sheltering her baby from the sun and clocking sounds of cheer for a newcomer to a strange bright world these are called turns why do you suppose they are called turds this fellow looks like a diplomat all decked out in white tie and tails do you suppose it's because mama and papa turn take turns guarding and warming and turning the single egg each pair hatches no no no it's because these birds belong to the subfamily stern eyes right who are you i'm a naturalist a naturalist oh what do you do well i visit the bird sanctuaries sort of watch over wildlife and count the birds and if hi you must be a very busy man [Music] these are naughty turns a certain mr audubon who knew a great deal about bird said that these were called naughty because they used to land on the art arms of old sailing vessels and sleep there during the night nodding another naturalist named watson says they're called naughty because they nod or bow as part of the courtship ceremony oh what's this ceremony is this is this a family conference about the career of the youngster by the way where are we we're on bird island now well how did we get here well we gassed up and drove 100 miles over the overseas highway to key west [Music] we paused just long enough for a good look at a beautiful landmark then we flew to fort jefferson florida's newest national park fort jefferson but i thought you said it was bird island that's right bird island it's over there just beyond the battlements see it we do get around don't we oh my yes anything's possible in florida watch how quickly we can whisk halfway up the coast to the marine studios where the porpoises will play catch with you if you like the attendants ran underwater dinner bell at dinner time and the porpoises demonstrate a really first class boarding house reach one thing is sure you don't have to travel far to see interesting things in florida just hop in the car and travel to something new and something strange [Music] less than 20 minutes from these modern hotels i could show you of course we go by boat part of the way i could show you some of the most interesting now be quiet and just watch what goes on [Music] this is the purple gallinule one of florida's friendliest birds the lily pads or her supermarket [Music] lily pads make dandy stepping stones if you have the feet for it the mother is teaching her youngster that life is complex even for gallany they must learn how to eat and not be eaten [Music] say that's an alligator sure he's out shopping for dinner too [Music] this is a typical everglades drama let's just watch it play out [Music] boy i'm glad they're safe [Music] under mother's wing is a symbol of safety but life in the everglades isn't all drama there's peace and serenity and beauty of a very special sort for once take the time take plenty of time to really look at a water lily and you'll see what i mean [Music] an epidemic orchid a wild iris and the swamp pink orchid [Music] say that dragonfly looks like a helicopter he can fly just like one but butterflies even the common false monarchs have to eat if you take time to really look at butterflies you'll see that their tongues are tubes to sip the nectar from the blossoms of the pickerel weed [Music] the eat or be eaten drama is ever present these trumpets digest insects and the evil eye of the alligator and the ominous bellow of the alligator i get the idea [Music] [Music] even the beautiful birds are hunters the white ibis isn't posing for a picture he's looking for a crayfish the little blue heron is a hunter too the coots are winter visitors tourists and so is the soraa rail this snowy egret isn't merely admiring his reflection he's puddling for fish to eat [Music] and the little green heron moves as stealthily as a cat as he creeps quietly up for the kill the seminole natives of florida's everglades have learned the fish spearing skill of the birds [Music] the gaudy headdress and gay apparel of florida's first residence outdoor in riotous color the plumage of the birds during the last century life for the seminoles was a series of battles so the women had little bit scraps to sew with but they made the best of things and evolved a gaudy patchwork style of dress living close to nature in wallace homes called chickees there's a natural temple of life just hinted at by the wooden pestles that grind the corn and the rhythmic flip-flop of a tortilla taking shape [Music] it's an easy tempo that makes you think it would be kind of nice to swing and sway the seminal way modern florida swings to another tempo a 30-ton bucket on the largest dragged line in the world that's how florida gets at her plentiful phosphates huge hoses are used to dissolve mountains of the valuable natural chemical so it can be piped to up to the minute processing plants but it's purified by the most modern methods there's nothing primitive about the phosphate industry florida phosphates help make florida citrus fruits the best in the world did you know that in the huge modern plants like this part of the work they do is purifying out sharks teeth and fossils and sea shells if it's sea shells you want don't go to a phosphate plant visit sanibel island there a family can stroll by the surf and pick up more and more interesting and actually rarer shells than most any place on earth oh yes gastropoda and bivalves ah juno's volute to me it's a spotted sea shell but it sure is pretty like i say florida is all things to all people hermit crabs make houses out of seashells when they outgrow one they just crawl into another they're practical [Music] florida is practical here for instance is the practical way to pick oranges [Music] there's a glamour way to pick them too because florida is both glamorous and practical but in the end the golden health-laden fruit is harvested packed and shipped to grace all america's breakfast tables with plenty of vitamin c [Music] then there's the orange ball football game a classic competition and a festival full of dash and dazzling color dash and color you haven't seen anything yet florida's the game fisherman's paradise you haven't lived unless you've at least tried for a sailfish pardon me but uh who are you i'm ray scott let's go after a sailfish of course we'll take anything that shows fight a marlin a snook or a snapper or even a wahoo the big thing is to get out on the blue water and let the clear clear ocean air fill your lungs wash away the city smoke and put that sparkle in your eyes big game fishing is a man's sport but boy what fun for a boy and plenty of female deep sea nimrods get a bang out of that surging tug on the line a fighting strike of the fabulous blue marlin [Music] too bad but never mind we're after a sailfish he struck [Music] he's hooked [Music] boy is he a whopper watch it there locating luring and landing a sailfish takes some doing [Music] so the lucky crew of a victorious craft always flies a flag that proudly shouts we caught a sailfish but you don't have to go to sea for fish in florida no siree bob underneath the deceptive calm of inland waters there are plenty of frisky fighting fish taking a landlocked tarpon is enough sport for most and landing one takes all haven't begun to see the real florida yet the natural beauties of the sun setting behind palm trees the royal poinsiana or flame trees so beautiful there's an annual festival in their honor and the poinsettia the christmas flower and the white-tailed deer that wraith-like wander across the hammocks of the everglades and the limp can cross the hammocks of the everglades and the limpkins as graceful as the name limpkin and the anhinga or snake birds that swim like a snake and have to put themselves out to dry before they can fly again the florida sunshine dries the wings so fast you can see them change color [Music] and crystal pools so bright and clear that common bluegills look like jewels i know i know and the parrot jungles for any visitor can pose with a garland of friendly flower-like birds where some of the birds look like pirates [Music] the gorgeous gay old rascals like pirates sometimes sail off on rainbow wings to raid the neighbors fruit trees [Music] and we haven't even visited miami university this campus extends far beyond the buildings some classes are even held under water what a place to go to school and study with a sea breeze rippling the pages of the textbooks [Music] nor have we visited the famous box singing tower or heard the carillon but as i say miss florida is all things to all people [Music] she's young and sprightly and she's dignified and beautiful you have to see her and meet her in person she'll welcome you but even when you see her and meet her [Music] you may not believe what you see [Music] you