How The Other Half Bathes-1915

The same group of people seated in the foreground can also be seen here, posing amid the souvenirs at Gus' Baths. The adults are dressed in the same outfits while the two younger people have switched to bathing suits. Note that, for the young girl, proper swimming attire included a bulky cap and a heavy wool bathing dress. She's actually wearing MORE clothes than in the earlier picture!

At least four of the men in the photo are wearing identical suits so they are likely rentals (from Gus' Baths.)

The members of this party were staying at the Palm Beach Hotel which might explain why they weren't enjoying the facilities that Flagler's Breakers hotel provided a mile or so to the north.

Welcome to the The Hotel Palm Beach!

The Hotel Palm Beach stood on the spot where the Biltmore (originally the Alba Hotel ) stands today. The popular hostelry met its demise in 1925 when cinders from the Breakers fire set it alight and burned it to the ground. The first three pictures were taken in 1915. The last one was taken in 1900- shortly after it opened.

Looking north from an adjacent pier in front of the hotel. Note the flags flapping on the "Skylark." 

Turning the camera a few degrees to the northeast- bicycles and bicycle chairs line the lake trail in front of the hotel. 

Guests were provided with this card to help with planning their daily activities. At the time these pictures were taken the only wheeled vehicles allowed on Palm Beach were the trains, mule trolley, bicycle chairs and bicycles.    

A small building just out of view on the left hosted several shops including one that offered "Scientific Palmistry and Astrology." The three people gathered near the sign appear to be shop/hotel staff. The lady in the bicycle chair holds a cluster of coconuts.

The hotel, ca 1900. At the time most of the houses and hotels were situated on the more desirable lake side. The Breakers, on the ocean (and hence its name) served only to accommodate the overflow from the lakeside hotels.

Mystery Shirt and The Boys of Winter

In this photo, taken in 1915, the bicycle chair operator is wearing a hotel uniform complete with cap badge.

What's intriguing about the picture are the letters on his shirt

There appears to be the letters "R, P (or R,) E and an A" affixed to the front.

 Is it an athletic jersey?  Do the letters denote a team?

During the season, both the Royal Poinciana and Breakers Hotel fielded teams as entertainment for the guests. The diamond was located in between the hotels where the golf course is now. Players, most of whom played in the Negro League held other jobs inside the hotels. The team photo, taken in 1906 comes from the NLBPA website.

This picture, from an online auction, was taken a year after the mystery photo, a player, front row- second from the left, wears the RP uniform. Some players are wearing undershirts (the games were played in the Winter, after all!)

The Breakers team in 1915. All of these guys played in the Negro League during the regular season. More info and identity information here.

I want to believe that our guy is in one of these team photos. Unfortunately, they are too lo-res to zoom in and study.

One last tidbit from the Historical society of Palm Beach County:
During the 1920s and ‘30s, The Breakers hotel and the Royal Poinciana (until it closed) continued their tradition of hiring baseball players from the Negro Leagues to entertain their guests. The players also worked in the hotels as waiters and busboys. Several times a week, the two teams would play well-attended games on the diamond at County Road and what is now Royal Poinciana Way. 

Big Fish

The pier originally served as a port where ships unloaded cargo onto railcars. The tracks spanned the island to West Palm Beach. The tracks were used as the trolley line after the bridge was moved from the north side of Whitehall to its current location on Royal Poinciana Way.

The Hotel Royal Poinciana looms in the distance (center.) The pier was destroyed in the 1925 hurricane. Remnants are still visible on a clear day.

Guest Photo

A rare view of the hotel taken by a guest in 1899 or 1900. The picture was taken with a Brownie style camera from the first bridge linking West Palm Beach to Palm Beach. The bridge stood between the hotel and the site of Henry Flagler's future home -Whitehall. When Whitehall was completed a few years after this picture was taken, Mrs. Flagler asked that the noisy railroad bridge (note the tracks on the left of the pedestrian walk) be moved. It was- to the spot where the north bridge stands today.

At the time, this rail line dropped guests off right at the hotel and could continue on to the pier next to the Breakers hotel. The line was also used for the Palm Beach Trolley.

Here's the trolley, taken by the same photographer, carrying guests west to the Poinciana from the Breakers hotel. The hotel burned to the ground a few years later in the summer of 1903 and was quickly rebuilt . The hotel was once again destroyed in a devastating fire in 1925.

The Casino and Pool

The Casino saltwater pool viewed from the inside, west end looking east. Note the spectators sitting on the east end top deck.

The Casino seen from the southeast looking northwest. Same spectators on the top deck. Click to enlarge. Note the signs above the doors reading Mens Tickets Only and Womens Tickets Only. Hotel guests could change into rented bathing suits here. To the right (north) of the Casino are the two wings of the Breakers hotel. North of the hotel are the "cottages" available to guests who required more spacious accommodations.The guest cottages were torn down and replaced by condominiums. One cottage "Seagull" was spared and moved across the island next to Flagler's Whitehall. It recently underwent a complete restoration.

From the Breakers to the Hotel Royal Poinciana

A stunning triptych taken by a Detroit Publishing photographer in 1900. This scene was taken from a perch on the Breakers casino looking west towards the Royal Poinciana Hotel. Click to enlarge!

 

The track, originally a rail line from the pier, (bottom picture) served as a trolley line for the popular mule-drawn trolley car. Guests could choose to walk along the Australian Pines (south side of the track) or among the palms (north side.) Click to enlarge!

(Library of Congress)