Tampa’s 1958 Snow Show
A Christmas calamity ensued when Tampan Howard Hilton and downtown businesses decided to create the Tampa Snow Show on Franklin Street in 1958. What seemed like a good idea turned into an abject failure. Photo: Gandy Collection, Courtesy of the USF Library Digital Collection
1958 Tampa Christmas Calamity
Tampa now has Winter Village in Curtis Hixon Park for ice skating around the holidays. But, in 1958, Tampa’s Christmas Snow Show took over five blocks of downtown, creating an event attended by 20,000 people on the first night. In his autobiography, promoter Howard Hilton tells how it was planned. The idea was for ice trucks that usually serviced the shrimp fleet to blow 2,000,000 pounds of “snow” four feet deep onto Franklin Street from Madison to Tyler Streets for three days and nights to prepare for the 8-day event. A five-story ski slope, an ice skating “rink,” the nation’s tallest Christmas tree, and even a rigged Snow Queen contest were all part of the plan. The contest was rigged because the owner of City Ice Co. allegedly agreed to provide all the ice for free if his daughter was named Snow Queen. They temporarily renamed E. Polk Street Santa Blvd. Performances by Kelly’s Ice Frolics, ski runs by Scandinavian champion Leif Svendsen, a dog demonstration by Gee-Gee and her Huskies, and snow sculpting by several civic club teams made for a great idea. The show was financed chiefly from contributions from downtown businesses. It was a Christmas train wreck.
As the tallest Christmas tree made its way to Tampa, it snapped in half when the train rounded a corner in Indiana. A replacement tree punched a hole in the city sewer line and sank into Franklin Street, causing sewerage to glop onto the sidewalk and stink up the area. As happens in Florida, temperatures were in the 80s for the entire week. It was impossible to keep the slope covered. Skier Svendsen took to the slope anyway, even though the underlying chicken wire was exposed. As he descended, the excited crowd screamed as he got to the bottom, snagged on something, and went flying and flipping skis, poles, and all. He was uninjured and undeterred. He went back for a second successful run.
Then some University of Tampa Students tried to toboggan and crashed (uninjured). However, two women were injured when their toboggan crashed, one with a possible broken back and one with a concussion. On the first night, a skater with Kelly’s Ice Frolics made a high kick dance move on the four-foot-high ice rink and slashed a woman’s forehead in the front row. One of the several hired Santas even made false promises to children, telling them they could pick out free gifts at the nearby Maas Brothers. He was fired that same day for drinking on the job.
WTVT Channel 13 broadcast the event. WFLA Radio built an 8-foot, 8 ½ ton block of ice, calling it the World’s Largest Ice Cube, and sponsored a contest for people to guess how long it would take to melt. Someone(s) who couldn’t wait dumped rock salt on it to expedite its demise. It took the shape of an inverted pyramid and, on the last day, toppled over its safety fence and pinned a 5-year-old girl to the ground. She was not seriously injured.
Six penguins scheduled for the show from Buena’s Aires never made it. Two seals loaned by the Lowry Park Zoo got sunburned due to their quarters being too small at the event. They recovered. One night after the show, Hilton says he was told a trailer on a side street was being used as a house of ill repute, and a performer from the show was performing “heinous acts.” He found a line of men outside the trailer, patiently waiting their turn.
In the aftermath, the woman who reportedly broke her back sued the show. The night before the trial, a man representing the show saw the woman dancing at a club, and after some conversation, the suit was dropped. Many other minor cases were settled and paid for by the Lloyd’s of London’s $1 million policy the organizers had taken out.
Howard Hilton never published his autobiography. Much of the information in this story was gathered through Tampa Tribune newspaper archives. These photos are from the Gandy Collection at the University of South Florida. Promoter Hilton & Gray Advertising hired Sandy Gandy to record the day. So, if you are having a bad Christmas, think of Hilton’s calamity and turmoil and share a laugh. It was, indeed, a comedy of errors. Merry Christmas!
Poltilove, Josh. “Comedy of Errors Filled Day When Tampa Was Snowed Over.” Tampa Tribune, 25 Dec. 2003, pp. 4b–5b.
©Chip Weiner. 2022. oldtampaphotos.com
City Ice Co. worker blows ice onto Franklin Street as onlookers watch in preparation for the Christmas Snow Show 1958. Photo: Gandy Collection, Courtesy of the USF Library Digital Collection
It took three days and nights to complete the task. Photo: Gandy Collection, Courtesy of the USF Library Digital Collection
Several civic club teams competed in snow sculpting on Franklin Street. Photo: Gandy Collection, Courtesy of the USF Library Digital Collection
Sleigh rides (on wheels) were part of the fun at the Tampa Snow Show. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Gee-Gee and her Huskies perform on Franklin Street during the Tampa Snow Show in 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Performers with Kelly’s Ice Frolics skate on the 4-foot high skating rink . 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Photo labeled accident shows a young woman being attended to. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Scandinavian ski champion Leif Svendsen falls on his first attempt to descend the slope with little snow. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Scandinavian ski champion Leif Svendsen after his decent. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Ribbon cutting at the Hilton Advertising Auto Show 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
As nighttime fell, crowds formed on Franklin Street. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Snow Queen contestants from an allegedly rigged contest. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Aerial of downtown Tampa with the ski slope and snow on Franklin Street. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Tampa Snow Show Snow Queen with Tampa Mayor Nick Nuccio in 1958. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection
Christmas decorations on Franklin Street, looking north from the southeast corner of Franklin and Polk Streets. 1958. Gandy collection. Courtesy of University of South Florida Digital Collection