In November 1958, Tampa merchants attempted to create a winter wonderland in the Florida heat, with disastrous results. The idea was to attract holiday shoppers to downtown Tampa instead of the new suburban shopping centers. But what started with good intentions quickly descended into chaos.

According to Historian Rodney Kite-Powell of the Tampa Bay History Center, the month was already “one of the hottest Novembers on record.” Things went from bad to worse when the crew digging a hole for a massive 100-foot Christmas tree hit a sewer line, causing “raw sewage” to bubble up on Franklin Street.

The 5-story ski jump they built was soon scraped bare by university students riding sleds. Even a Norwegian ski champion they brought in hit a bare spot and “went splat in the Tampa snow.” Meanwhile, a performer’s ice skate slashed a woman, and another person was arrested for prostitution.

Despite the problems, the Tampa Snow Show did manage to draw large crowds downtown. “That was a problem too,” said Kite-Powell. “Too many people came down.” But the merchants publicly apologized, fixed the sewer line, and were able to light up the Christmas tree.

In the end, the 1958 Tampa Snow Show was a cautionary tale of good intentions gone wrong. As Kite-Powell put it, “What if the Christmas tree hadn’t broken through the sewer line? What if it wasn’t in the high 80s every day? What if…?” The show was the first and only of its kind in Tampa’s history.

(Photo credit: Tampa Bay History Center)