History of the Brazilian Court Hotel

German seamen from the U - boats came ashore at night to buy cigarettes, etc. on Worth Ave. I have actually seen infra - red pictures of them which were taken by the F.B.I. ” They also came ashore in other areas of the coast and bought food - stuffs including bread. Bread wrappers floated ashore from their disposal system and the Holsum Bakery of South Miami was falsely accused of supplying bread to the Germans. The coast of South Florida, including Palm Beach, was in a strict blackout zone. Car headlights were all bandaged except for a small pin prick. Every home or building had to have lights out or windows proper- ly blackened. The Coast Guard patrolled the beaches at dusk and at dawn on horseback, searching for traces of landings from submarines before the ocean tides obliterated footprints or signs of rubber boats (crews were known to come ashore on occasion). Army tanks were brought in to the north end of Palm Beach. Ar- tillery pieces were also set in place. Civilians played vital roles on land, sea and in the air. After I went into service, many hotels were comman- deered as military hospitals and housing facilities. The Biltmore Hotel, P.B. was first a training station for the Women's Coast Guard Reservists known as SPARS and later a hospital. The Breakers, Palm Beach became Ream General Hospital, an Army fa- cility. The Boca Raton Hotel & Club housed Army Air Corps personnel. The Whitehall Hotel (now the Flagler Museum) and the Brazilian Court Hotel, both in P.B., were the only two hotels open and just for the winter season. I was released from service at 10 P.M. February 17, 1945 at Camp Blanding. Four of us rented a car and drove to Miami during the night. Next morning at 7 A.M. a call came from Elliott F. Bishop, G. Mgr. Brazilian Court begging me to come to the hotel as soon as possible. The hotel had guests lined up in every state on the way to Palm Beach waiting for accommodations. We had 120 rooms and our house count will never be equaled. Three and four in a family occupied one room and very happy to have a room. When the telephone call came to me I did not have a suit of clothes that I could wear (only my Army clothes). At 9 A.M. I was the first customer at a men's clothing store on Flagler Drive in Miami. They only had one suit that would fit me. It was a double breasted grey pin stripe suit. While I was in the store Al Capone and four of his body guards came in. He bought several outfits for himself

The BC Trio played Happy Birthday for a canary

ing bourbon bottle. He fumed and complained for weeks and one day even fell down the stairs drunk. Finally at check - out he asked for help getting a suit- case from the upper shelf in the closet and found his bottle unopened. One guest complained to Bright that her room wasn ’ t being cleaned properly. “ There has been a Coke bot- tle cap under the bed for several days, ” she said. Bright called in the housekeeper who began to laugh when told about the complaint. She told Bright that the guest had been eating crackers in the room and crumbs had attracted ants. After hearing about the ant problem the housekeeper had put a dab of ant poison in the Coke cap and placed it under the bed. Many returning guests wanted the same room each year and became attached to the furniture and décor of their room. One of the new owners of the hotel called in decorators to redo the rooms over the sum- mer. When guests returned the next winter there were numerous complaints about the décor and espe- cially about their favorite chairs missing. Housekeep- ers had quite a time finding the special chairs and returning them to the complaining guests. U - Boats and WWII Bright W. Johnson Prior to my entering service in the Army Air Corp. Air Transport Command, in November 1942 - while living in the Brazilian Court Hotel, Palm Beach. Ger- man U - boats lurked near the South Florida beaches. Seven ships were torpedoed within a week. (4 in a single 24 hr. period). All within 1 mile of the coast. Many of these ships were oil tankers & were turned into infernos. I was almost shaken out of my bed on two occasions, when torpedoes hit the ships.

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