Evening Shadows Fall in Florida

Cocoa, FL

April 1, 1951

Best of Wishes from Florida

The Dunbars

Mr. James Parker

Main St.

So. Groveland, Mass.

Parker’s Store


Cocoa, FL was first settled in the late 19th century and got its name in one of two apocryphal ways.  The first theory is that a resident would offer hot cocoa to the passing sailors, which became so popular that they would shout "Cocoa!  Cocoa!"  The second theory is that another resident was inspired to name the town from a box of Baker's Coca she was using.  You can't make this stuff up- check out the official city history.

I covered who James A. Parker may have been in an earlier post about the correspondence between father and son.  The Dunbar surname is too common even for Brevard County to get a definitive identity on the senders.  Even the research on James Parker turned up no mention of a Dunbar branch of the Parker family tree, or why the Dunbar's would send such an impersonal greeting from Florida as if it were a very belated Christmas Card.  

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.

Tropical Palm in Florida

Cocoa, FL

April 5, 1951

Still having good weather.  The cars are starting northward now.  They are travelling in large numbers. 

Best of wishes,

From,

The Dunbars

Miss Marion Parker

480 Main St.

So. Groveland, Mass.


Just over a month after the Dunbars sent this postcard to Marion Parker, Hurricane Able would brush the Florida coastline as one of the earliest hurricanes to strike the U.S. Obviously, even modern hurricane tracking cannot predict a storm moving more than a week before landfall, so the Dunbars must be observing the annual migration northward of what we in Florida call the "snowbirds."  It might be just me, but I sense an apocalyptic tone to this postcard, as if some horrible disaster had driven the winter residents away from the state in massive numbers.

That disaster is the sweltering summers here.

There are two places of interest for the identity of Marion Parker.  The first is a Marion Parker who is the chairman of the Greater Women's Club of Massachusetts Public Affairs, holding a publicity book fair.   The second, and more age-appropriate site shows a 1985 Lakeland Ledger obituary for Marion Parker, retired bookkeeper of Groveland, MA, survived by a nephew, Herbert Parker of Clermont, FL.  She is listed as a member of the Groveland Congregational Church, until moving to Lakeland in 1983.

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.  

Business Section, St. Cloud, Fla.

December 31, 1951

?

?

Dear Friends,

?

and I was ?

the most beautiful day I ever saw

?

James and Mason?

Parker Store

Groveland, Mass.


St. Cloud, FL was founded in 1911 as a retirement community for Civil War veterans, built on land from the Seminole Land Investment Company and a nearby sugar plantation.  Today, the St. Cloud Heritage museum is housed in the former Veterans Memorial Library, designed by Orlando architects Ida Annah Ryan and Isabel Roberts in the Prairie Style.


I truly wish that James and Mason(?)'s friend had not had such shaky handwriting.  My guess is that a recent stroke might have led to both her illegible writing style and the phrase "the most beautiful day I ever saw."  Was her beautiful day a sunrise over Lake Toho?  Shopping the post-Christmas sales in the business district?  Satifaction over her preparations for a wild New Year's Eve bash?