While many know Hot Springs for its bathhouses, there were actually four other attractions that drew people to the area, or gave them something to do when they were not "taking the waters."
I will write about the other three in upcoming entries.
I discovered the Gator Farm and Marine Museum while hunting for postcards about Hot Springs. Alligators are native to southern Arkansas, so it is probably not so unusual. Started in 1902, it apparently brought alligators from the Florida Everglades to Arkansas. According to the postcard above, it was home to at least 1500 alligators!
I do think that having an alligator apparently climbing and then sliding down a very large slide a bit on the unusual side.
This display of a Merman could also be classified as somewhat unusual. In addition to the gators, the attraction also had a Marine Museum and this was one of its displays.
You can't really tell the size of Big Joe from the postcard photo, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't to be trifled with. Other cards have him in the alligator farm setting. This one appears to have taken him from that and made the background look very nice. An early example of what we now call Photoshopping. I've found many examples of it in early postcards.
I don't think that I would have enough nerve to feed gators like this!
I think that tall structure is a version of the slide from another photo. It would be interesting to know how the alligators were trained to climb the slide.
The alligator farm is still operating at the same address on Whittington Avenue in Hot Springs as the Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo.
All the postcards are from my personal collection. I hope you enjoy.
If you would like to learn more about it, you can visit their website.
This is the first of a three-part series on Hot Springs other attractions. Watch for the Ostrich Farm, I.Q. Zoo, and Happy Hollow.
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