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The Johnson Brothers Dairy on West Broadway in 1936.

You can support our historical programs by purchasing Robbinsdale history books and postcards. Order online or stop in and buy one at the museum. Chances are you’ll learn something interesting from the past that you didn’t know before!

 

Images of America Breezy Point

9781467114882
$21.99
In stock
1
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In 1919, Wilford Hamilton Fawcett, better known as "Captain Billy," published the first issue of Captain Billy's Whiz Bang. Filled with jokes and cartoons, the little magazine made a fortune for Fawcett. In 1921, he purchased 80 acres on the shore of Big Pelican Lake near Brainerd, Minnesota, and built a bluff-top village of cabins. The following year, as Fawcett Publications brought out True Confessions magazine, construction began on the Breezy Point Lodge. This magnificent log structure featured a ballroom, casino, billiard room, and bowling alley. After Fawcett's untimely death in 1940, the resort was closed until the end of World War II. When Breezy Point reopened, Minnesota families returned in droves. After a fire destroyed the main lodge in 1959, Breezy Point was rebuilt and reimagined by Hollywood entertainer Ginny Simms. The legendary resort has grown and changed over the years, but Fawcett's vision and adventurous spirit are still soaring above Big Pelican Lake and the piney woods of Breezy Point.

Author Pete Richie grew up memorizing jokes from Captain Billy's Whiz Bang. His previous book, Images of America: Robbinsdale, showcased Whiz Bang's hometown. This volume draws on the photographic collection of Captain Billy's historic Breezy Point Resort, the City of Breezy Point, and the Crow Wing County Historical Society.

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