Daytona Beach from the Air, Daytona Beach, Florida

January 18, 1947

#2

Dear Dad,

We still haven’t found a job or anything and may not stay here but I’ll let you know when we get an address for you to write to. 

Love, Herb

Mr. James A. Parker

482 Main St.

Groveland, Mass.


And we're back with more depressing news from Herb's job search.

I detailed the research on the elder Parker in the previous post on Herb's first desperate message to his dad, and Groveland, MA in other posts, so let's focus on what became of Herb Parker, who migrated to Florida after the second World War.

As of this writing, Florida has about a 9.9% unemployment rate, so there is a bit of comfort knowing that jobs were about as scarce in 1947 as they are today.  We continue the saga of Herb, the used car salesman, who now may not stay in Daytona Beach.  The only evidence he may have stayed is from a 1976 Daytona Beach News-Journal article that lists a Herb Parker (perhaps a Junior?) as part of the city's landscape department and another article commemorating a heroic rescue of a four-year old girl in 1986 from a swimming pool.  I'd like to think that the elder Herb Parker prospered alongside the World's Most Famous Beach and had a son who also stayed.  A quick search of the Volusia County Property Appraiser's website corroborates this theory as two deeds are recorded for a Herbert Parker (Jr.) in Daytona Beach and a Herbert Parker III in South Daytona.  I guess he finally got an address for Dad to send letters.

Band Shell and Ocean Front, Daytona Beach, Florida

January 18, 1947

Dear Dad,

It took longer than we expected to get here but we made it O.K. only to find the bottom dropped out of the used car market and now you can’t even give one away.

Love, Herb

Mr. James A. Parker

482 Main St.

Groveland, Massachusetts

I admit that it gave me a little comfort to know that the story of being unemployed in Florida has been experienced by many people, and as far back as 1947.

This postcard is the first of two from Herb (Parker) to his Dad, James A. Parker.  I'll go over the research on what may have become of the despondent Herb in a later post, but let's focus on the elder Parker in this one.

First, the house at 482 Main Street still stands, and the earliest online record of the property from the Essex County Reigstry of Deeds shows an easement granted from James A. Parker in 1973.  James A. Parker is also listed in a 1950 book by a Sarah Parker as a World War I veteran, and the family may have been (according to Wikipedia...) descendants of a Benjamin Parker who was the second postmaster of Groveland, having relocated the post office to his store.  An 1884 atlas shows many Parkers in residence along the same area of Main Street where this card was sent.  As to what became of the store, the Parker-Hannifin Company  boasts a division in nearby Haverhill, MA amongst its worldwide locations.  It is conceivable that many Parker family members are still thriving in Groveland, and hopefully passed on that survivability to poor Herb looking for work in post-war Florida.

Ocean Front Park with the Casino in the Background Daytona Beach, Fla.

May 20, 1952

Dear Ray,

It’s hot here today.  It is a nice beach here an the way down you would ride for 30 miles on the road and see no one in Georgia and after you leave Jacksonville.

Love,

Dad

Raymond Parker

482 Main St.

Groveland, Mass


Please say hello to the Parker Family.  We're going to get to know them over the next few cards.

Ocean Front Park has changed dramatically in the past few years, as a new hotel and development surrounds most of the area between the bandshell and park.  The clock tower and pier still exist as reminders of Daytona Beach's heritage as the "world's most famous beach."

According to the almanac, the high in Daytona Beach on May 20, 1952 was 90 degrees.  I suppose that is hot if you are an older person used to the New England winters.  Raymond Parker, part of the prominent Groveland family is attached to a Parker Fence Company on Main St., but given the date of this card, the business owner must be a descendent.  

The World Famous Daytona Beach, Florida

February 23, 1950

Dear Elsie:-

Congratulations about you and Mr. Farr!  Is he the army man I once met?  We moved here Jan. 11 and like so much.  Fine beach & nice trailer park we are in now.

Love, Mildred W. Cousins

Box 428, Holly Hill, Fla.

Weller’s Trailer Park

Mrs. Elsie Farnesworth

21 Pearl St.

Leominster, Mass


Leominster, MA was founded in 1915, and had a significant role in the development of the plastics industry, as well as being the birthplace of the Foster Grant Company.  Ironically, the city is the birthplace of the ubiquitous pink flamingo lawn ornament that dotted so many Florida yards in the 1950's and 1960's.

Holly Hill, FL is across the Halifax River from Daytona Beach, settled in the late 19th century.  The city and surrounding area is riddled with motels and trailer parks from the first half of the 20th century.
Worthpoint.com has an archived auction for a postcard advertising Weller's Suniland Trailer Park, but the park itself no longer exists.  Mildred Cousins was most likely a winter resident or tourist as there are no vital records or deeds listed for her in Holly HIll or Daytona Beach, although she specifically states that she "moved there on January 11."

Google Maps lists a business near the home in Leominster, which could be either a group home or a hotel including the house at 21 Pearl St.  The Worcester County Deeds office does not list any recent records attached to that address, nor is there a website for the aforementioned business.  There are plenty of Farr's and Farnesworth's in the area of Leominster, so we may never know about the "army man" that Mildred was congratulating Elsie on landing.