Spring Break in America: 1960s

The city of Ft. Lauderdale built the first pool of Olympic size (50m x 20m) in Florida. It became home to the nation's top competitive swimmers and attracted many northern university swim teams during the semester break. This annual migration of swim teams to Ft. Lauderdale that triggered the start of what we now call "SpringBreak".

However, it was the movies that popularized the annual event. The 1960 classic "Where the Boys Are" spread the myth throughout the nation of the epic journey of college-age men and women to the idyllic shores of Florida--Ft. Lauderdale, to be precise--to find fun, sun, and true love. With the balladic crooning of Connie Francis ringing in their ears, college students began finding their way to Florida in droves, seeking to escape the challenges of their studies in a place where romance and good times were always close at hand.

(Courtesy of springbreak.com)