One of my mom’s friends gave her this book to give to me so I could read it on our vacation. It’s the two year diary of a young couple who moved from Ft Lauderdale to Elliott Key in the Florida Keys from 1934 to 1935. The back of the book says it’s a “spell-binding” account. I found it rather slow moving and rather boring until the end when they describe the hurricane they lived through in Sept, 1935 (more on that later). I think the description in the foreword is more accurate for my style. Here is a quote from the foreword: “She details their life as a housewife might, and therefore it includes the routine things that both focus history into human scale and slow it’s telling. The story moves at an island pace with home-made style and delivers a valuable account of a special place and time.”
The Florida Keys have always been a wonder to me and I think this book went a long way toward my understanding what people mean when they use the term “keysey”… not sure of the spelling though. Reading this book and remembering the little place we stayed at in Key Largo a few years ago (with NO PHONES nor internet and TINY TINY little houses to stay in on the beach) helped me imagine what it might have been like to be Charlotte back in the mid 1930’s.
The book starts out with her husband, Russ, having two job offers. One that would take him away from home for months at a time and the other being unlimited free rent in exchange for clearing two lime groves. They would be allowed to sell the limes which were bringing a good price at that time as well as any fish they were able to catch. They decided to take the island “job.” Seems it was too good of an offer to pass up during the depression. It was sad that they chose it even though it meant leaving their 2 yo daughter with her grandparents for the two years they lived on the island.
As the foreword says, the story tells how Charlotte and Russ lived day in and day out on a primitive and nearly private island. They preserved their rain water, swept their floor with saltwater and sand to keep in clean, fixed home made remedies for everything, made parts for their boat motor… including a new bearing, and “shopped” on the beach for everything they needed. If it wasn’t washed ashore they didn’t need it. They met some unique people who happened by their island for one reason or another. They made friends with the border patrol, rum runners, and “borrowers.” The island people who didn’t get much news of any kind were able to tell a war was coming by the number of fisherman who came along fishing for sponges. Evidently, armies stocked up on sponges just before a war because they were used for treated the wounded. They endured rats in their house, snakes in the mangroves, mosquitoes that made it unbearable to go outside and caused them to have to sleep under nets, fire ants, poison wood, and more… including how they survived the BIG FREEZE when they were barely able to stay warm.
The most interesting part of the entire story for me was their account of the hurricane they lived through in September of 1935. I found it especially interesting having read Isaac’s Storm and the Children’s Blizzard a few years ago. From those two stories I’ve learned a little bit about the history of weather forecasting and the many people who died while political games were being played when known weather events were not forecast. This hurricane was no different and that was as recent as 1935. A day or so before the hurricane there was an airplane which flew over their island, circled several times, and dropped a message in a bottle. The message stated there was a hurricane coming and if they wanted off the island they should signal the airplane the next time it flew over. They decided to stay on the island and their diary of it is in this book. After the hurricane two different people came through inquiring how they had survived the hurricane, asking if they had received a warning and then offered to pay upwards of $100 for the “souvenier.” They decided to move back to the mainland after the hurricane. There, they read about the controversy regarding the storm warning. The Weather Bureau was denying it had any advance warning, however they had proof that there WAS advance warning if the Coast Guard knew about it and was able to deliver the message. There is no way to know how many lives could have been spared if a formal warning had gone out throughout all of the Keys because the warning time was very short, but still if there was a warning they should have at least given it. There were over 600 lives lost in that hurricane and the Weather Bureau was trying to clear itself of any wrongdoing. Charlotte and Russ’ message in a bottle was turned over to the press and disproved the supposed lack of knowledge on the part of the Weather Bureau. Agian, I found these two chapters to be the most interesting mostly because I already had an interest in the whole Weather Bureau problem from reading the other 2 books mentioned above.
After moving back to the mainland, they reunited with their daughter, found jobs, and settled down. They met many people who knew somebody who knew these “island people” who were friends to all and didn’t tell anyone else’s business. On one occasion someone on a bus, after visiting with Charlotte awhile, said “you’re THOSE people, aren’t you.” He informed her to let the “big boys know” because they would take care of them and they could almost have the entire town (Miami) for being known to mind their own business. If you read the book, you’ll understand why………
Overall, I enjoyed the new perspective of the early days of the Florida Keys when the Flagler railroad started to connect them and most travel was done by boat. I think I’ll try to find some more books to read about the Florida Keys and some day I hope to spend more time there. We only got to visit Key West for a few hours on this trip, but kayaking through the Mangroves gave me a good chance to imagine what life would have been like for Charlotte!
