Topical Guide 392
Mark Dorset
Schemes and Dreams: Florida Development
Salesmanship
The Bagnell-built house that Herb and Lorna chose was a significant one in the history of Punta Cachazuda. It was the first one built beyond the limit of the plan that Humboldt Bagnell himself had drawn on a roll of shelf paper and pinned to the wall of his garage. It was the first house in a new territory, a new beginning in a literal as well as a figurative sense, since the sons and daughters of Humboldt and Bitsy, unable to agree on a layout for the extension of the town, had resorted to tracing the original and taping it to the shelf paper at a point where they could effect an easy anastomosis of the streets, sidewalks, and canals of the old with the replica streets, sidewalks, and canals of the new.
Herb ’n’ Lorna, Chapter 19
From the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s there was a land boom in Florida driven by what were known as Installment Land Sales, which offered lots in Florida for as little as $10 down and $10 a month. These Installment Land Sale schemes laid the foundations for cities like Cape Coral, Port Charlotte, Lehigh Acres, Golden Gate, Marco Island, and Port St. Lucie.
They were aimed at retirees, and the lots sometimes turned out to be completely unusable, or at least not very desirable properties that regardless have left a mark on the sunshine state to this very day.
This is Florida, folks—singing, dancing, and entertainments. After the entertainment, there will be sandwiches, but remember if there are no lots sold there’ll be no sandwiches. Florida, folks—sunshine, sunshine, perpetual sunshine all the year round. Let’s get the auction started before we get a tornado. Right this way. Step forward, everybody. Friends, you are now in Cocoanut Manor, one of the finest cities in Florida. Of course, we still need a few finishing touches, but who doesn’t? This is the heart of the residential district. Every lot is a stone’s throw form the station. As soon as they throw enough stones they’re gonna build a station. Eight hundred wonderful residences will be built right here. Why, they’re as good as up. Better! You can have any kind of a home you want, and you can even get stucco. Oh, how you can get stuck-o. Now is the time to buy while the new boom is on. Remember that old saying, “A new boom sweeps clean.” And don’t forget the guarantee, my personal guarantee: If these lots don’t double in value in a year, I don’t know what you can do about it.
Groucho Marx as Mr. Hammer in The Cocoanuts, screenplay by Morrie Ryskind, adapted from George S. Kaufman’s musical play
See also: Schemes and Dreams; Follies TG 41; Salesmanship TG 75; Salesmanship; Persuasion, The Art of: Appeal to Ego or Pride TG 77
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