Floridata: Making Miami

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Floridata.com LC
Copyright 2007

by Ray Allen
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Part 2 - The Hannah Sisters

Introduction - Remembering my Grandmother Allen, Her Sisters and Her Town.

Here we are, Me and my big sister, Jayne, at about the ages when we had our adventures in Milton with the Hannah Sisters. This is about 1948.

I was a small child when I met them, but as I grew up and they grew old, I learned more and more about this trio of old-style Southern belles.

When I was born, my family lived in modern, up-to-date Miami, but my father’s family was still where he came from—in a little town up in the Florida panhandle, almost in Alabama, called Milton. Of course to me when I was little, during the late forties and early fifties, it was another world. And now, I know that it actually was. The small town setting, the deep south atmosphere, the speech, even the trees and plants-- everything was different, and as we learned, everything was frozen in time—another, earlier time. Mostly, it was a nice time, though, and now we know that these trips were all wonderful adventures, almost time travel. My older sister and I now realize how dramatically our childhoods were enriched to enter this other world whenever we visited Milton.

Milton, Florida, we were taught, was a small town with a population of under 10,000. Each time my family and I drove the 700 miles to go there, we didn’t think about it, but we actually drove into another time. At home, we had our first TV and our hometown was booming. In Milton, TV and many other things we enjoyed were still unknown. During our earliest visits, the phones were the ones that hung on the wall and had cranks. To make a call, you had to talk to the operator, who, in Milton, was always someone you knew. Today, you can see those phones only in museums.

Chapter 1:The Trip up from Miami
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About the author...

Ray Allen is a third generation Miamian. He and his wife Chy are the founders of AmericanMeadows.com. With more than 26 years in the seed and horticultural business they invite you to visit their family run enterprise for the finest in wildflower seed, perennials and summer and fall-flowering Dutch bulbs. Click here to visit the Allens at AmericanMeadows.com.