by H. Bishop Holliman 2011
The Summer of 1934 continued...
"Vena and Robert Daly did all the cooking, cleaning and whatever else had to be done. Looking back now from this distance, you have to wonder how they could have endured such a life style, even just for two weeks. Imagine, sharing the bath with a non relative, cooking for all of us all the time, hot humid weather and no attractions other than the beach and the fishing pier! I don't know how they did it but they did!
Above, Fort Waldon Beach, Florida in the late 1930s or early 1940s when a boardwalk and pier were the attractions, plus of course a beautiful beach and the Gulf of Mexico.
As far as I know, we all got along fine. Virginia and I did as we were told, and I never heard a cross word between Vena, Robert and Mr. Button. We had a nice little cabin (in the terminology of the times). I don't recall the number of bedrooms or other amenities and I have no idea how much it cost - very little, I am sure by today's standards. After our first night's rest, Mary said she slept on a log. We thought that was funny and I wrote home and told them about it!
The luxury cabin of the Daly's and Hollimans in the middle 1930s!
Most of our time at Fort Walton was spent in fishing, and I guess we went in the surf everyday also. The bridge across the bay to the beach was our fishing perch, and we caught more fish than I thought were in the ocean. Fish of all kinds - one afternoon Robert reeled in a stingray, something we had never heard of and we learned it was very poisonous. All of us were captivated by our catch each day, and Robert arranged to 'pickle' some of them in formaldehyde in jars and bring them back home to show off his piscatorial ability. He drove over to Pensacola to get the pickle juice and bottles. For many years after, his pickled fish were stored in his garage up on the Irondale hill. They were still there when I went into the Navy in November 1941.
Such was our first trip to Florida - 1934. We arrived home on a Saturday afternoon, having been gone about 13 days. I remember being startled by how much the grass and the garden had grown during our absence. I am sure we all went to church the next day because we would have wanted to tell everyone we had been to Florida, how many fish we caught, and to show off our tans! We made several pictures - that are still in existence of our beach escapade of 1934. One of Robert fishing in the surf I thought was so good I sent it to the Birmingham News, but they never saw fit to print it."
A fine day's worth of Florida fishing - Robert Daly and Stewart Button
Another Golden Summer in the next post....
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