Bibliotheca Herpetologica 20(4)

Dodd, C. K. Jr. 2026. Postcards from the Edge: A Tourist’s View of the Key West, Florida, Sea Turtle Fishery. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 20(4):42–52.

Key West has long been a center for the Green Turtle fishery in the Caribbean, but it was difficult to visit for most tourists, as it was located at the end of the island chain known as the Florida Keys. An overwater rail line completed in 1912 brought affluent tourists, but it wasn’t until 1938 that an Overseas Highway was constructed, built along the route of the Overseas Railroad that was destroyed by a highly destructive hurricane in 1935. The road’s construction greatly facilitated easy access by less-affluent tourists seeking the sun and relaxed atmosphere of the islands, especially immediately after World War II and in the decades following the war. Tourism boomed from the 1950s to the 1960s as access and affluence increased, and visitors were eager to record their visits through colorful postcards sent to friends back home.

In this article Ken Dodd presents a large series of postcards that he has assembled after about 35 years of searching through antique stores and on the internet. Initially, postcards depicted turtle fishing as an unusual industry conducted by people living on the Caribbean Edge, an exotic occupation to most non-Caribbean people. In the 1950s to 1960s, however, the emphasis shifted to providing souvenirs for casual visitors. Looking at them now with the smiling tourists, busy workers, and helpless turtles, biologists and historians are provided with a snapshot of how people of that era saw these vulnerable creatures not as sentient animals, but as “things” of commerce, amusement, and entertainment in a world without limits. Fortunately, today’s sea turtle postcards primarily focus on the beauty and grace of the animal rather than exploitation. This shift occurred rapidly on the heels of a conservation movement that was instrumental in reshaping exploitive concepts of resource use. The postcards and other tourist-related ephemera mirror the change in the public view, from Green Turtles as limitless resources and the gifts of divine providence to recognizing ecosystems, species, and even individual animals as vulnerable and deserving protection. Fortunately, Green Turtles have made a remarkable recovery in Florida from the early 1980s to the late 2010s and are once again thriving in the waters off Key West.