Weeki Wachee Mermaids Located an hour north of Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast, Weeki Wachee Springs hosts its famous mermaid show in the natural springs there. In 1946, Newton Perry, a former U.S. Navy man who trained seals to swim underwater in World War II, scouted out Weeki Wachee as a good site for a new business. The spring was full of old rusted refrigerators and abandoned cars. The junk was cleared out and Newt experimented with underwater breathing hoses and invented a method of breathing underwater from a free-flowing air hose supplying oxygen from an air compressor, rather than from a tank strapped onto the back. With the air hose, humans could give the appearance of thriving twenty feet underwater with no breathing apparatus. An 18-seat theater was built into the limestone, submerged six feet below the surface of the spring, so viewers could look right into the water. Newt scouted out pretty girls and trained them to swim with air hoses and smile at the same time. He taught them to drink Grapette, a non-carbonated beverage, eat bananas underwater and do aquatic ballets. He put a sign out on U.S. 19: WEEKI WACHEE. The first show at the Weeki Wachee Springs underwater theater opened on October 13, 1947. The mermaids performed synchronized ballet moves underwater while breathing through the air hoses hidden in the scenery.%DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% By the 1950s, Weeki Wachee had become one of the nation's most popular tourist stops. The attraction received worldwide acclaim. Weeki Wachee's heyday began in 1959, when the spring was purchased by the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC) and was heavily promoted. ABC built the current theater, which seats 500 and is embedded in the side of the spring 16 feet below the surface. ABC also developed themes for the underwater shows, with elaborate props, lifts, music, and story lines such as Underwater Circus, the Mermaids and the Pirates, and Underwater Follies. The mermaids performed Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and Peter Pan. In the 1960s, girls came from as far away as Tokyo to try out for the privilege of becoming a mermaid. The glamorous mermaids performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds — as many as half a million people a year came to see the Weeki Wachee mermaids. Weeki Wachee Springs employed 35 mermaids, who took turns swimming in the shows and captivating the crowds by playing football and having picnics underwater. Some of the mermaids lived in cottages behind the attraction. In 1997, the popular Former Mermaid shows began, bringing former mermaids back to Weeki Wachee Springs to swim in the Mermaids of Yesteryear shows, which play to standing room only crowds. In 2008, Weeki Wachee Springs was incorporated into the State of Florida Park URL
Weeki Wachee Mermaids Located an hour north of Tampa on Florida's Gulf Coast, Weeki Wachee Springs has hosted a mermaid show since 1947. Swimmers, trained by Newton Perry, %DIFDELCMD < %DIFDELCMD < %%% performed synchronised ballet in the natural springs at the site. The resort was purchased and promoted by the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC) in 1959. In 2008, Weeki Wachee Springs was incorporated into the State of Florida Park system.
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hosts its famous mermaid show in the natural springs there. In 1946,
has hosted a mermaid show since 1947. Swimmers, trained by
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a former U.S. Navy man who trained seals to swim underwater in World War II, scouted out Weeki Wachee as a good site for a new business. The spring was full of old rusted refrigerators and abandoned cars. The junk was cleared out and Newt experimented with underwater breathing hoses and invented a method of breathing underwater from a free-flowing air hose supplying oxygen from an air compressor, rather than from a tank strapped onto the back. With the air hose, humans could give the appearance of thriving twenty feet underwater with no breathing apparatus. An 18-seat theater was built into the limestone, submerged six feet below the surface of the spring, so viewers could look right into the water.
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Newt scouted out pretty girls and trained them to swim with air hoses and smile at the same time. He taught them to drink Grapette, a non-carbonated beverage, eat bananas underwater and do aquatic ballets. He put a sign out on U.S. 19: WEEKI WACHEE. The first show at the Weeki Wachee Springs underwater theater opened on October 13, 1947. The mermaids performed synchronized ballet moves underwater while breathing through the air hoses hidden in the scenery.
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By the 1950s, Weeki Wachee had become one of the nation's most popular tourist stops. The attraction received worldwide acclaim. Weeki Wachee's heyday began in 1959, when the spring was purchased
performed synchronised ballet in the natural springs at the site. The resort was purchased and promoted
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and was heavily promoted. ABC built the current theater, which seats 500 and is embedded in the side of the spring 16 feet below the surface. ABC also developed themes for the underwater shows, with elaborate props, lifts, music, and story lines such as Underwater Circus, the Mermaids and the Pirates, and Underwater Follies. The mermaids performed Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and Peter Pan.
in 1959.
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the 1960s, girls came from as far away as Tokyo to try out for the privilege of becoming a mermaid. The glamorous mermaids performed eight shows a day to sold out crowds — as many as half a million people a year came to see the Weeki Wachee mermaids. Weeki Wachee Springs employed 35 mermaids, who took turns swimming in the shows and captivating the crowds by playing football and having picnics underwater. Some of the mermaids lived in cottages behind the attraction. In 1997, the popular Former Mermaid shows began, bringing former mermaids back to Weeki Wachee Springs to swim in the Mermaids of Yesteryear shows, which play to standing room only crowds.
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system.