https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/642a89a5-7415-4292-a5dc-6905a4e1db1d Entitled A SEMINOLE LOVE STORY, this 1947 Florida Tourism film offers young love and alligator wrestling as a demonstration of Seminole culture. Very much a product of its times, with Indian Madonna shots and sentimentalist representations of Seminole life in the Everglades, this film depicts two major themes: love and alligator wrestling. It also attempts to document Seminole culture and life in a much romanticized style. Native activities shown: Men cooking alligator, alligator wrestling at Tropical Hobbyland, courting (man rowing woman in canoe), marriage preparation activities (i.e., chopping wood, sewing a skirt). Incidentally the Tropical Hobbyland shown was apparently located at N. W. 27th Avenue at 15th Street, Miami. The pit at Tropical Hobbyland typically contained fifty alligators and a dozen crocodiles. Individuals included are: Henry Nelson, world champion alligator wrestler, Jackie Willie, alligator wrestler. Noteworthy elements: Jackie Willie and Henry Nelson were brothers and pro alligator wrestlers at the Tropical Hobbyland tourist attraction in Miami Florida. Ruth Brigham was a writer who, upon visiting Florida’s Tropical Hobbyland came to befriend Seminole alligator wrestler Jackie Willie. Brigham was invited by Jackie Willie to attend his marriage ceremony with a Seminole woman named Letoya. It was shared that in order to prove his worthiness and manhood to his bride, Jackie Willie needed to perform various tasks before he could be joined with her. Among the various tasked filmed were of Willie chopping wood in front of his bride and hunting a boar (which was not filmed). And among the tasks the bride must perform is the making of a skirt, for herself, to wear for her soon-to-be husband on the day of their ceremonial union. The bride also had to demonstrate her knowledge of managing a household and displayed her duties in cleaning. Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Wqg7wiVho Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:37:53 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/642a89a5-7415-4292-a5dc-6905a4e1db1d All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.