When radio came to Boca Grande: Gasparilla Island in the Roaring Twenties

BY JAMES J. BLAHA, DIRECTOR
BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTER

The Roaring Twenties and The Jazz Age are just a few of the labels that historians have applied to this unique period of U.S. history. Although there was a depression in 1920-1921, the U.S. economy experienced significant growth during the twenties. The average income in the U.S. in 1920 was $3,269.40 per year (approximately $50,000 today when adjusted for inflation). By 1929, the average yearly income had risen to $6,132. After the 1929 stock market crash, the average yearly income dropped to $4,887. Anyone earning $10,000 or more would be considered rich. The 1920s also experienced a shift in wealth and income toward the wealthy. 

In the 1920s, Florida had a land boom which helped to attract tourists and residents. According to the 14th U.S. Census, the population of Florida in 1920 was 968,470. The population of Lee County in 1920 was 9,540 and increased to 14,890 by 1930. The population of Boca Grande in 1920 was 490. Unfortunately, current population and detailed income data for Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande in the 1920s are difficult to find among old census records. Most of the available data regarding population and income statistics for Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande during the 1920s focus upon the “millionaires.” Statistics for the fishing communities and the pioneer communities which existed on the island in the 1920s are difficult to find or are non-existent. Historical references to island communities, such as Gasparilla Village in the Charlotte County portion of the island, do identify that 16 homes were built. However, income and other demographic data are scarce. Additional statistical research is needed.  

The March 12, 1925 Tampa Times reported that the “winter colony here (Boca Grande), would probably show that the per capita wealth was the greatest of any Florida resort. By actual account there are 46 millionaires among the guests at the Gasparilla Inn. With the Inn practically filled now, the count shows that about one person in three is rated in the millionaire class. An additional fact, and one of significance, is that none of the millionaires here made the money in Florida real estate.”

The Fort Myers News Press (March 12, 1924) stated that “Boca Grande has a number of millionaires among the property owners among who are H.F. du Pont, F. Crowninshield, Peter Bradley, and F.H. Abbott. There are a number of wealthy residents at Boca Grande who remain throughout the year.” 

It should also be noted that the Florida Legislature in 1924 passed laws prohibiting income and inheritance taxes in order to convince wealthy visitors to make Florida their permanent residence. On Gasparilla Island, the Boca Grande Land Corporation in 1925 hired a famous illustrator from The Saturday Evening Post to complete various designs for houses, in an attempt to persuade wealthy visitors to create a winter home colony. The illustrator, James Preston, designed homes on Boca Grande that attempted to imitate the plantation and bayou houses of Louisiana, as opposed to Spanish or Venetian architecture. Preston’s designs were intended to maintain an old-village atmosphere. Many of these designs were included in a booklet published by the Boca Grande Corporation entitled “Book of Boca Grande.”

The 1920s also witnessed increased use of telephones, films, electrical appliances and radios. In 1921 there were five radio stations, but by the end of the 1920s there were at least 606 stations. Radio waves allowed music of all types to be introduced to homes across the U.S.

The Fort Myers News Press (January 22, 1923) stated that “G.H. Wickman conducts a studio and curio store (current Pink Pony location) and is the leading radio fan of Boca Grande.  Every night his studio is the gathering point for radio fans and all interested in the latest news by radio. He says they are getting many good concerts as well as other entertainments on the radio.” The Tampa Tribune (November 26, 1925) reported “Jerome Fugate has installed a radio at his drug store on the corner of Fourth Street and Railroad Avenue for the entertainment of his customers and the general public.” The Tampa Times on January 22, 1925, boasted in a headline that “Sportsmen Enjoy Radio Concerts at Boca Grande.” 

The article stated that “Radio keeps the home fires burning in Boca Grande. Broadcasting stations all over the United States, from the powerful station of the Tampa Times to the distant stations of the northern and western parts of the country, furnish the evening entertainment for most of the homes on Gasparilla Island. Gasparilla Inn is preparing to install an efficient receiving set for the guests, and its installation will round out the equipment of the island. Radio is a big asset to the native dwellers on Gasparilla Island. The Boca Grande Corporation, as a part of its policy of maintaining the colonial and quaintly picturesque atmosphere which envelops Boca Grande and the exclusive Gasparilla Inn, has frowned upon the modern movie Palace with its blatant lithographed front. The radio is consequently a chief source of amusement at night when sportsmen have hung up rods and reels and gathered at the historic Pelican Club to match wits and yarns.”

By 1928, Boca Grande also had telegraph service, local and long-distance telephone service and daily mail.

Regardless of the Inn’s negative view, two movie theaters existed in Boca Grande during the 1920s. The Airdome Theatre (1924) on Park Avenue and Fifth Street was open two nights per week, was reported to offer “good films” and attracted many patrons. The San Marco Movie Theatre (now Scarpa’s Restaurant) opened in 1928. A variety store called “The Mercantile” (current location of Post Office and Boca Grande Realty), offered customers the opportunity to purchase groceries, meats and clothing that had been shipped from eastern stores. The Bradley Restaurant and Pool Room offered residents and visitors meals and games and was reported to have a thriving business. Mr. McNamee owned the bicycle garage and pressing club which was located across from the old post office. In 1928, the records of the State Bank of Boca Grande offered proof of a significant volume of business and was reported to be as “steadfast as the Rock of Gibraltar,” and in 1924, the bank had a capital stock of $15,000.

Another example of progress on Gasparilla Island during the Roaring Twenties was the installation of telephone lines. The Tampa Tribune reported, “All existing records for telephone line construction in Florida were broken this week by the Peninsular Telephone Company engaged in linking Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island with the mainland. As a result, the opening of the first telephone line into Boca Grande from the outside world will be celebrated within a few days. Exactly 34 miles of line were constructed in 10 days, an average of more than three miles per day. Telephone officials declare that this establishes a new high mark for telephone building in Florida and probably anywhere in the entire South.” 

The Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railroad (part of the Seaboard Railway system by 1926) continued to expand its primary Gasparilla Island function of transporting passengers to stay in winter homes or at the exclusive Gasparilla Inn, in addition to shipping phosphate from mines in central Florida to be loaded on ships at Port Boca Grande (also called South Dock).    The Ft. Myers News Press (March 12, 1924) reported, “With the railroad offices full of officials as busy as a one-armed paper hanger with the hives, and the numerous other offices in the fine building housing the passenger station, Boca Grande has nothing to be ashamed of and many things of which to be proud.”

“Busy as a one-armed paper hanger with the hives,” i.e., Boca Grande during the Jazz Age.

The History Center is temporarily closed due to storm damage. Please view the website bocagrandesociety.com or join on Facebook. History Center staff also may be contacted by email. Questions? Email kim@bocagrandehistoricalsociety.com or Jim Blaha at archives@
bocagrandehistoricalsociety.com