Miami was for LIFE, like it was for many American vacationers, a place to return to again and again.
Sometimes LIFE photographers went to Miami because they were following the stars. It was a place to catch Frank Sinatra goofing around with this pals, or the Beatles on tour, or Muhammad Ali celebrating with Malcolm X after winning the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston.
In one case Miami was even a backdrop to history, when the U.S Army was using the famed beach as a training camp.
But more often LIFE photographers went to Miami to showcase Americans enjoying a certain kind of leisure—the kind with fancy hotels and swimsuits and glitzy shows.
Many of the images in this collection come from a 1940 shoot by legendary LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstadt that chronicled the beginning of boom times for Miami. Here’s what LIFE had to say in its March 4, 1940 issue about Miami becoming a magnet for the leisure class:
In 1912 Miami was a sleepy town of 7,500 people and Miami Beach, three and a half miles away across a tidal lagoon, was an untidy sand bar populated primarily by crabs and mosquitos. In that year an enterprising young Indiana automobile millionaire named Carl Fischer descended on the town and, with the assistance of two elephants, Nero and Rosie, began turning it into a winter resort. Miami and Miami Beach have been booming ever since. Currently Miami has a population of about 140,000 and Miami Beach of 20,000. The two are easily the No. 1 playground of the world’s most playful nation.
Of course Miami and Miami Beach had even more growth ahead, as captured in the photos LIFE took in succeeding years. Today the populations for Miami and Miami Beach have ballooned to around 439,000 and 80,000. And that mirrors the growth of Florida as a whole. In 1940 Florida was only the 27th most populous state in America, coming in right behind West Virginia and South Carolina. Today Florida ranks 3rd in the country in population, trailing only Florida and Texas.
Many forces contributed to that population growth, including immigration, but the promise of the kind of life that Eisenstaedt captured in his photos was surely was a psychological magnet to the retirees who came to Miami and to the rest of the state to spend their retirement years among the palm trees.
Miami Beach, Florida, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
A doorman and a row of bellhops at the entrance of Surf Club in Miami, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Miami resort, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach fashions, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Kayakers in a resort pool, Miami Beach, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
People sightseeing in Miami Beach, Florida, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach, Florida, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach, Florida, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach fashions, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami juice stand, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach during a cold spell, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami Beach during a cold spell, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Jai alai, Miami, 1940.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Recruits trained for war in Miami Beach, 1942.
Myron Davis/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
Soliders in training took an ocean swim, Miami Beach, 1942.
William C. Shrout/The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation
Miami, 1944.
Eliot Elisofon/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on vacation in Miami Beach, 1955.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, on vacation in Miami Beach, 1955.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Miami nightclub, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Miami nightclub, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Miami nightlub dancer in her off time, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A Miami nightclub dancer at home, 1959.
Robert W. Kelley/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Miami, 1959.
Hank Walker/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A windjamming tour from Miami, 1961.
Michael Rougier/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Muhammad Ali (right) posed at a soda fountain for Malcolm X (left, with camera) in Miami after winning the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, 1964.
(c) Bob Gomel / Courtesy of Bob Gomel
The Beatles running on the beach in Miami, February 1964.
©Bob Gomel
Tony Bennett was out with Frank Sinatra after a performance in Miami, 1965.
John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
