Wonderful Color Photographs From the 1959 A.A.U Swimming and Diving Championships in Palm Beach, Florida

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It claims to have over 670,000 participants and over 100,000 volunteers.

The AAU was founded in 1888 by William Buckingham Curtis to establish standards and uniformity in amateur sport. During its early years the AAU served as a leader in international sport representing the United States in the international sports federations. The AAU worked closely with the Olympic movement to prepare athletes for the Olympic Games.

After the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 broke up the AAU's responsibility as the national Olympic sports governing body, the AAU focused on providing sports programs for all participants of all ages beginning at the local and regional levels. The philosophy of the AAU is "Sports for All, Forever." The AAU is divided into 56 distinct district associations, which annually sanction 34 sports programs, 250 national championships, and over 30,000 age division events. The AAU events have over 500,000 participants and over 50,000 volunteers.

These wonderful color photographs were taken by Peter Stackpole at the 1959 swimming and diving championships of the Amateur Athletic Union, which were held in Palm Beach, Florida.

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Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink: 30 Amazing Photographs of the Roller Skaters in Florida in the 1970s

It was September 1972 when Bill Yates, then in his final year at the University of South Florida, had just purchased a medium format camera and, as usual, he was out riding around looking for something to shoot. He happened upon an old wooden structure built in the 1930s in what was then the outskirts of Tampa, Florida. The sign on the building read "Sweetheart Roller Skating."

Yates stopped immediately, met the owner, and easily got permission to photograph the skating action that night. As it was a neighborhood gathering place, with not many other nearby places to socialize, it must have been a bit odd for Yates, a stranger, to suddenly show up to take pictures of them skating.

“When I shot it, I was 26. I wasn't thinking about documentation. I was just seeing something that looked interesting and somewhat out of the ordinary,” Yates said.

In order to ingratiate himself to the community, Yates processed film immediately after leaving that first night, returning the following night with proof sheets to display for the patrons. In 1972, it was far from the norm to be able to see a picture the day after it had been taken, and seeing their own pictures enthralled the skaters.

“It's like they'd never seen themselves in a mirror before. After that, it was like I was their newest best friend,” he said.

Thus began the project that Yates continued through Spring 1973, photographing almost every single weekend until he graduated from college.

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Daytona Beach: Relive the '70s and Early '80s of 'The World's Most Famous Beach'

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It lies about 51 miles (82.1 km) northeast of Orlando, 86 miles (138.4 km) southeast of Jacksonville, and 242 miles (389.5 km) northwest of Miami.

Daytona Beach where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach in restricted areas. This hard-packed sand made Daytona Beach a mecca for motorsports, and the old Daytona Beach Road Course hosted races for over 50 years.

American photographer Tom Reavis took amazing photos of wild motorcycle races, cool vintage cars, and the bikini styles of the time, from between the 1970s and early 1980s on the beaches of Daytona.

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Three Ladies, Two Cups: Fun and Candid Snapshots of Some Middle-Aged Women Having Fun on Their Vacation in Florida, 1954

If you missed your morning cup of coffee, here you go. Some Illinois ladies on a little vacation in the Sunshine State- Short and oh so sweet.

WARNING these are slightly risque so if you're easily offended please don't look...

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May It Please The Court – The Story Behind a 1983 Pinellas County Courtroom Photo Ended Up in Playboy

In 1983, judge David Demers in Pinellas County was presiding over a trial of three exotic dancers charged with violating Pinellas' anti-nudity ordinance.

During the trial, a dancer bent over in front of the bench to show the judge that her outfit did not expose anything too anatomical. The photo of the scene was republished around the country, including Playboy's "The Year in Sex."

We now have the story behind the photo, straight from Tampa Bay Times staff photographer Jim Damaske: "I was shooting freelance for the Clearwater Sun and UPI when the Sun got a tip what was going to happen. I got the call. Exotic dancers said that their shorts were too big to show what the undercover officers said they saw. The judge agreed with the dancers after they bent over. The photo went out on the UPI wire, which is how it got picked up everywhere."

Jim also reports that, in addition to appearing in Playboy, the photo was featured in ‘Best of Photojournalism, 9: Newspaper and Magazine Pictures of the Year' by the National Press Photographers Association. Ken Kobre used it in his book ‘Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach' for many years. The German weekly news magazine Der Stern ran it as a double-page spread.

(via Tampa Bay Times)

14 Amazing Color Photographs of Miami Beach in the 1930s

Thinking about the Great Depression usually summons bleak images of breadlines and a mournful refrain of “Brother, can you spare a dime?” But not in Miami Beach, where the party was just getting started. Much of the city’s current identity—from its architecturally striking Art Deco hotels to its role as a getaway for the vacationing wealthy—has its roots in the seemingly dour 1930s. How to explain this odd dichotomy? “As with everything, Miami Beach is not really America,” says Nicolae Harsanyi, associate librarian at The Wolfsonian-Florida International University.

Harsanyi points to the 2008 Great Recession as an example—the rest of the country may have been plunged into doom and gloom, but South Beach’s VIP rooms hardly emptied out. “There were still rich people who had money, and they spent it when they came down here,” he explains. Likewise, the Wall Street crash of 1929 still left a number of wealthy survivors. Moreover, “By the late 1930s, the Depression wasn’t so harsh anymore. Even upper-middle-class people could board a train and come down for some fun time in Miami Beach.”

Below is a small collection of 14 color vintage photographs shows Miami Beach's daily life in the 1930s.

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Color Photos Document Beautiful Life of Florida in the 1950s

These wonderful photos from ElectroSpark documented everyday life of Florida in the 1950s. Cities include Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg, Winter Haven, Daytona Beach...

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American Women During WWII: Everyday Pictures of Beautiful Girls in Tyndall Field, Florida in the Early 1940s

Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 12 miles (19 km) east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall.

These photos are from Southeast Air Forces Training Center that document everyday life of girls in Tyndall Field, Florida during WWII.

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25 Vintage Photographs Show Drive-in Church in St. Petersburg, Florida circa 1947

These photographs of a drive-in church in St. Petersburg, Florida circa 1947 were taken by photographer Sam Shere for a feature in LIFE magazine that never got published. The photographs give us a peek into a very different era.

St. Petersburg still has a drive-in church today, but without the impressive line-up of classic cars.

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44 Beautiful Color Photos Documented Everyday Life at Florida Beaches in the 1980s

Native of Chicago, but grew up in Florida and spent early adulthood there. American photographer Steven Martin lived in Fort Worth, Texas, but now back in Florida. He has been photographing since taking a photography class in college with a Pentax K1000 until several years ago, before switch to use a digital camera.

These beautiful photos he shot when he was young, they documented everyday life at Florida beaches, mostly on the southeast coast in the 1980s.

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Kissing Goodbye at the Train Depot in Tallahassee, Florida, 1960

33 Interesting Black and White Photos Capture Everyday Life of Teenagers in Florida During the 1950s

Florida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba. Florida is the 22nd most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 8th most densely populated of the U.S. states.

Florida is called the Sunshine State because of its subtropical to tropical climate and annual average of 230 days with sunshine. It is famous for its natural beauty with beautiful beaches, and it's the main reason for thriving tourism industry.

People of Florida are also close and friendly, they look as fresh as the face of the city, especially for young people. These vintage photos below will show us how teenagers of this city looked like in the 1950s.

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