Florida's Snowbirds: Spectacle, Mobility, and Community since 1945

Every year when the temperature drops below freezing, countless people do as the thermometers do - head south. Since the end of the Second World War, Florida has been one of the most desired vacation and retirement destinations for generations of "snowbirds." Florida's Snowbirds examines the effects of the seasonal migration, not only for travellers but also for local Floridians.Developing numerous themes, including leisure, state-promoted tourism, citizenship, and business investment, Godefroy Desrosiers-Lauzon considers advertisements, movies, policymakers, and the behaviour of snowbirds in Florida to provide the most thorough study of the vacation state to date. He also looks at the temporary communities of Canadians, Québecois, New Englanders, and Mid- Westerners that develop, showing how they blur the lines that usually divide national and regional identities, and youth and age.An insightful work full of amusing details, Florida's Snowbirds pieces together a complete cultural atlas of Florida Snowbirds that goes far beyond the familiar postcards they send home. Read more