deepblue
10-02-2013, 03:08 PM
They're not wearing tails, but it's a cool article from 2012.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-real-mermaids-of-san-marcos-texas/
There is a lot more to the article than what I'm quoting here, and a lot more photos.
The springs of the San Marcos River in central Texas have plenty of extraordinary traits: Each day, they release about 100 million gallons of water, forming the life source for one of the longest-inhabited places in North America. They’re also the primary habitat for several endangered species, including a blind salamander found nowhere else on earth. Yet the most magical thing about the San Marcos springs is actually no longer there—its unique submersible theater, or “Aquarena,” which once gave audiences a window into an underwater world of mermaids, clowns, and a swimming pig named Ralph.
My great-aunt, Sue Cregg, was a performer at Aquarena Springs in the 1960s, and its mermaid theater was a major highlight of my childhood in nearby Austin, Texas. As a kid, I was fascinated by the mermaids and their secret language of aquatic gestures, which I attempted to master on every trip to the public pool. Family lore has it that I once watched seven mermaid shows in a row.
“When we weren’t in a show, part of our job was to make balls of frozen dog food.”
But long before this mid-century spectacle was developed, the cold waters of Spring Lake had been a destination in their own right, thanks to their endless supply of fresh water. During the fight over Texas between Mexico and the United States, the land changed hands many times, but was finally purchased by General Edward Burleson in 1845. Burleson, who briefly served as the vice president of the Republic of Texas, dammed the headwaters to run a grist mill and built a two-room cabin overlooking the newly created Spring Lake. The resulting lake inadvertently preserved thousands of artifacts from earlier settlements along the banks, items that wouldn’t be found until an underwater dig began in 1978. These archaeological discoveries suggested that various groups had lived alongside the springs for over 12,000 years.
14951
The clowns, with names like Glurpo and Glurpette, would perform gimmicks like singing, smoking, and blowing perfect “smoke rings” or huge, ring-shaped bubbles from the lake bottom. In later years, the show focused on a Polynesian-themed tale of romance between a clown and an aquamaid, with a faux-volcano added to the above-water set in 1967. By the 1960s, the show also included “Ralph the Swimming Pig,” a piglet that was enticed to make his “swine dive” entry with a bottle of milk.
14950
See the rest at the link.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-real-mermaids-of-san-marcos-texas/
There is a lot more to the article than what I'm quoting here, and a lot more photos.
The springs of the San Marcos River in central Texas have plenty of extraordinary traits: Each day, they release about 100 million gallons of water, forming the life source for one of the longest-inhabited places in North America. They’re also the primary habitat for several endangered species, including a blind salamander found nowhere else on earth. Yet the most magical thing about the San Marcos springs is actually no longer there—its unique submersible theater, or “Aquarena,” which once gave audiences a window into an underwater world of mermaids, clowns, and a swimming pig named Ralph.
My great-aunt, Sue Cregg, was a performer at Aquarena Springs in the 1960s, and its mermaid theater was a major highlight of my childhood in nearby Austin, Texas. As a kid, I was fascinated by the mermaids and their secret language of aquatic gestures, which I attempted to master on every trip to the public pool. Family lore has it that I once watched seven mermaid shows in a row.
“When we weren’t in a show, part of our job was to make balls of frozen dog food.”
But long before this mid-century spectacle was developed, the cold waters of Spring Lake had been a destination in their own right, thanks to their endless supply of fresh water. During the fight over Texas between Mexico and the United States, the land changed hands many times, but was finally purchased by General Edward Burleson in 1845. Burleson, who briefly served as the vice president of the Republic of Texas, dammed the headwaters to run a grist mill and built a two-room cabin overlooking the newly created Spring Lake. The resulting lake inadvertently preserved thousands of artifacts from earlier settlements along the banks, items that wouldn’t be found until an underwater dig began in 1978. These archaeological discoveries suggested that various groups had lived alongside the springs for over 12,000 years.
14951
The clowns, with names like Glurpo and Glurpette, would perform gimmicks like singing, smoking, and blowing perfect “smoke rings” or huge, ring-shaped bubbles from the lake bottom. In later years, the show focused on a Polynesian-themed tale of romance between a clown and an aquamaid, with a faux-volcano added to the above-water set in 1967. By the 1960s, the show also included “Ralph the Swimming Pig,” a piglet that was enticed to make his “swine dive” entry with a bottle of milk.
14950
See the rest at the link.