Dear Winter Park History Museum Friend,
It's 1940, the year the Colony Theatre opens on Park Avenue featuring a new "air cooled" system to the delight of Winter Park's 4,715 residents.
Admission is 35 cents for the box office hits "The Philadelphia Story"starring Katharine Hepburn and Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca."
By the following year, life changes dramatically for Winter Park and every town in America. World War II is spreading across Europe and families gather around the radio listening to the overseas reports. As 1941 is winding to a close, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and the United States enters WWII.
Immediately, war permeates every aspect of daily life. All Winter Park citizens are expected to sacrifice. Children collect rubber and scrap metal for war production. Families send money, prayers and their young men to the front lines.
These shared sacrifices are at the heart of the Winter Park History Museum's current exhibit: Winter Park the War Years 1941-1945, Home Front Life in an American Small Town.
By war's end, Winter Park High School alone has lost 13 recent graduates. Army Air Corps Flight Officer Orville 'Bo' Shiver (shown here by his plane) is one of them. This exhibition is the personal story of Winter Park during the war, but it is also the universal story of every town across the country.
Saving history depends on community-wide support. Would you be willing to make a donation to help preserve our shared heritage?
The Winter Park History Museum is located at the Farmer's Market, 200W. New England Avenue, open Tuesday-Friday 10-4, Saturday 9-2. Open without charge to the public.
Stop by and see how your donation brings history to life.
Thank you for your support.
Wishing you and your family a joyous New Year!
Warm regards,
Susan Skolfield
Executive Director
Recreated 1940s rooms tell the story of WWII.
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