All things tropical are hot in decorating right now — just like they were in midcentury America. For some vintage inspiration, how about these old Florida postcards. The colors are what we call high-chroma, meaning, wow, the colors! Color is good! Above: Pink + Red + Aqua + Mossy Green colors combined in “Flamingos and nests.” All postcards from from the State Archives of Florida.
Orange + Green + White in “Florida orange blossom time”; State Archives of Florida.
Tropical rainbow in “Parrot Jungle”; State Archives of Florida.
Grass green + sky blue + white in “Tower View Tourist Court”; State Archives of Florida.
Primary colors. Air view of Sarasota Lido; State Archives of Florida.
Deco + old signs. Ocklawaha Ave. in Ocala; State Archives of Florida.
Periwinkle, almost, here. Florida Cypress Gardens– America’s Tropical Wonderland; State Archives of Florida
Beautiful azaleas – Florida Cypress Gardens; State Archives of Florida
The Chinese Red is important in this one. Oriental Gardens – Jacksonville; State Archives of Florida.
Blue and more blue. Guests using the swimming pool at the Saxony Motel, Miami Beach; State Archives of Florida.
Hazy. Dolphins being fed at the “Theater of the Sea”; State Archives of Florida.
Oh my, so calming. Swimming pool at the Thomas A. Edison winter home in Fort Myers; State Archives of Florida.
This summer, I’m feeling a hazy 1940s coral paired with chartreuse — how about you?
MaryAnne Spradlin says
Thanks Pam. Periwinkle forever!!!
tammyCA says
I’ve been collecting the old linen tropical & Florida vacation postcards for a couple years. I love them, especially with written greetings..one says, “saw these pink birds today”. 🙂
If I ever win the lottery I want a tropical bungalow that looks like it came right out of a 1940s-50s movie with tons of vintage barkcloth..oh yeah, chartreuse I adore thee.
Speaking of movie sets did you see the NYTimes yesterday with the recreated “Casablanca” restaurant by a former diplomat? She dreamed & she did it.
Jennie Williams says
Do you mean Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca, Morocco? My husband and I had the pleasure of eating there a few times, the food is great, and its popular with the locals.
te says
FYI the American flamingos are making a comeback!! They used to be an icon for Florida til they were hunted and habit loss. I saw a wild live flamboyance of flamingos (proper term for a group of them) recently and have read they are reclaiming some of their territories. So beautiful, colorful, and welcome. Sorry for the nature lesson, but who doesn’t love them (and the colors!!).
tammyCA says
Oh, cool! I’m still waiting for a flamingo emoji.
Karen says
Do you know any places to see flamingos in FL that don’t cost an arm and a leg to get in to? Many thanks
carolyn says
I could imagine one of those “scene” walls made from one of these…
Pam Kueber says
Yes, wouldn’t that be great!!!
Laurie says
Our living room in the 60s was totally vintage Florida. – tropical bird print sofa, chairs, pictures and mirrors. I never questioned why we had such a tropical living room in the middle of suburban Cincinnati, especially since the closest we even got to the ocean was the Ohio River. I found out a few years ago all the furnishings were hand me downs from an aunt who lived in Florida for a few years in the 50s. I live by the ocean now, and have been trying to recreate that look, wish we had kept some of it!
Rosemary Cosgrove says
Just got back from Hawaii and now I’m looking for the hot tropical colors – real yellows and reds. I’ve started to hoard rattan and wicker things thinking of the tropical guest bedroom we will have when my son moves out.
MARTHA says
I collect vintage “vacation” and city post cards. I have quite a few Hawaii and Cypress gardens, Galveston, etc. i love the way they make me feel. i plan to Mod Podge them at some point, either to a piece of furniture or to a vintage Amelia Earhardt suitcase, attach hair pin legs and create an end table for the sun room. So many ideas, so little time, haha.
Mary Elizabeth says
Never thought of making a collage of the old postcards. Great idea! I will have to dig out mine and think how I can make that happen.
Geronimom says
I was the fortunate recipient of a TON of those old postcards which I inherited from my mom and grandparents, who never threw anything sentimental away. I didn’t know what to do with them – hated the idea of just keeping them in a box as there were so many great ones. Then, when I was redoing my bathroom – which you actually featured here back in 2014 as a design delimma, “A Lilly Pulitzer Palate…” (and coincidentally finally ended up in those same chartreuse-y green and coral pink colors you mentioned loving!) I decided to use some of those cool inherited postcards to enhance the kitschy, vintage Florida vibe I had going on. I first actually considered the possibility of using them as wallpaper (yes, I actually have THAT many of them????) but after realizing that it would be way too busy with my already textured bathroom tile, an idea came to me. Why not try to incorporate those vintage postcards into a framed modpodged collage? So I did! I love how it turned out and it’s always one of the first things guests to my pink “vintage Florida” bathroom mention after using the facilities!
Melinda says
Old time Florida junk is my favorite kind of junk! Love these so much! Would love to have some of these to frame up for my ladies lounge.