Before Walt Disney built his mammoth theme park, there were the Fairyland Caverns of Rock City Gardens, the glass-bottomed boats of Silver Springs, and Stuckey's Restaurants around each bend. From the Smoky Mountains to the Ozarks, from the Florida coast to the Mississippi gulf, the Southern roadside was a string of attractions--some based on history, some on pure imagination. Dixie Before Disney chronicles the wonderful and wacky history of these tourist spots. Tourism rose in Dixie just after the Civil War, when Northern millionaires discovered the joys of spending the winter months in balmy Florida. Locales such as St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, and Miami Beach became snowbird playgrounds. Soon the roadsides were alive with eateries like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Horne's, and motels with names like Big Bear Cottages and the Sea Dip Motel. Later, jungle parks, nature sites, and Wild West towns began drawing funseekers. Then, in 1971, Walt Disney World in Orlando eclipsed them all. For three decades Tim Hollis gathered family memorabilia and met with collectors nationwide. Lavishly illustrated with his findings--vintage photographs, brochures, advertisements, and postcards-- Dixie Before Disney will bring back a torrent of memories for anyone who grew up traveling the South. A certain melancholy strikes halfway through this book when you realize that the majority of the roadside attractions it describes are no longer operating. Fortunately, these gator farms, candy stores, and motor courts have been preserved in postcard collections and treasured brochures, scattered liberally throughout this book. Hollis (Cousin Cliff: Forty Magical Years in Television, Campbells Pub., 1991) writes in a casual yet thorough style that makes him a fine tour guide for the trip. While there is a fair amount of information on the rise of tourism in the South, the majority of the book is concerned with the attractions lining the postwar roadways. There is a great deal to be learned about ourselves by looking at our idea of fun. While the cloth edition seems a bit expensive, this is a good source for anyone planning a trip down memory lane. Recommended for public or academic libraries.Thomas OConnell, Murray State Univ., KY Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. A certain melancholy strikes halfway through this book when you realize that the majority of the roadside attractions it describes are no longer operating. Fortunately, these gator farms, candy stores, and motor courts have been preserved in postcard collections and treasured brochures, scattered liberally throughout this book. Hollis ( Cousin Cliff: Forty Magical Years in Television , Campbell's Publishing, 1991) writes in a casual yet thorough style that makes him a fine tour guide for the trip. While there is a fair amount of information on the rise of tourism in the South, the majority of the book is concerned with the attractions lining the postwar roadways. There is a great deal to be learned about ourselves by looking at our idea of fun. This is a good source for anyone planning a trip down memory lane. (Thomas O’Connell, Murray State University Library Journal ) A nostalgic look at southern tourism, with 235 illustrations of favorite stop-off fun spots A nostalgic look at Southern tourism, with 235 illustrations of favorite stop-off fun spots Tim Hollis has published twenty-four books on pop culture history. For more than thirty years he has maintained a museum of cartoon-related merchandise in Dora, Alabama. He is the author of Dixie before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun ; Florida's Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast ; Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs ; Ain't That a Knee-Slapper: Rural Comedy in the Twentieth Century ; Toons in Toyland: The Story of Cartoon Character Merchandise ; and, with Greg Ehrbar, Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records , all published by University Press of Mississippi.