Does anyone remember this??

[hMh]

In my childhood I went somewhere with my Mom. It was a pick a pearl type of location, but there were divers in a tank diving to pick the oyster for you. You could stand at a wooden deck and watch them dive.

I could swear it was in FL, I thought Disney (maybe EPCOT). Possibly Sea World??? I asked my cousin from Tampa if she remembers it but she doesn't. My mom passed away, so I can ask her. I asked my Dad (before he passed) but he had no idea, and I honestly don't remember him being with us.

My Mom and I did a Disney trip when I was around 15 (1980s).

Does this experience ring a bell with anyone else on the board??

Thanks in advance.

I was also searching the Internet for somebody who could remember which Florida attraction had this between 1974 and 76... I know it wasn't Disney or sea world at that time -- we visited Florida every year in March break - mostly went to Cypress Gardens and Weeki Wachee( for the mermaids) ! It was a small area of free divers which I thought were women in bathing suits ( and I remember wearing fancy scarves on their heads).... you would pick your oyster and took a chance on what kind/size of pearl u would get-- of course all the oysters had been pre-loaded with an inexpensive cultured Pearl (and then there was a gift shop with Settings as mentioned by another member )... I remember they made a big fuss because mine was a black pearl and they said it was the most rare... anything they tell you when you're 10 years old is a big deal Lol. I'm wondering which attraction this would've been?
I also recall being in a glass bottom boat and thought it was the same place which might be Cypress Gardens? I'm wondering if this small attraction was even available at Weeki Wachee ?...as we did visit there a lot, and I'd really appreciate any Florida natives or people who also visited in the mid-70s that have better knowledge of the attractions....
( I don't think we visited Seaworld until later in the decade when my little sister would've been a bit older...) is it possible to even find out what attractions were happening 40 years ago and the events they ran?

In my childhood I went somewhere with my Mom. It was a pick a pearl type of location, but there were divers in a tank diving to pick the oyster for you. You could stand at a wooden deck and watch them dive.

I could swear it was in FL, I thought Disney (maybe EPCOT). Possibly Sea World??? I asked my cousin from Tampa if she remembers it but she doesn't. My mom passed away, so I can ask her. I asked my Dad (before he passed) but he had no idea, and I honestly don't remember him being with us.

My Mom and I did a Disney trip when I was around 15 (1980s).

Does this experience ring a bell with anyone else on the board??

Thanks in advance.

 

[hMh]

I went there as a kid as well, a long long time ago. Cypress Gardens may have had one as well (but I don't know this for a fact).

There are a few places inside disney that you can get them, but none of them are dive tanks. In the Japanese pavillion, it's a long water tank that sits on the counter. You can pick it out yourself, and they open it. Every where I've been, they all have their little ceremony/presentation with opening an oyster.

@pansmermaidzlagoon ...I am also wondering if my pearl is from Weeki Wachee ! ? we went a lot in the mid-70s( I'm also old ha ha ).... is there any way to find out what kind of attractions Weeki Wachee was putting on 40 years ago? ....we also visited Cypress Gardens and I remember being in a glass bottom boat ...did they do the free diving for oysters thing at Cyprus -does anyone know? I would love to know where my black pearl is from-- 40 years later I'm finally ready to put it in a setting ...Thanks everyone for sharing.

 

[ImDMous]

They definitely had this at Sea World San Diego in the 80's. A family friend was a diver there.
They still have the pick-a-pearl booth but now they are just in a display case in ice like the Costco seafood roadshow.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I remember it being in SeaWorld San Diego.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sea World
http://oldfloridapostcards.com/products/226765.html

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I remember it being in SeaWorld San Diego.

I grew up in Southern California. During the 70s I actually got a pearl from the Japanese pearl diver at Sea World San Diego. At that time you could watch the divers from the wood decking above the pool or you could go into a tunnel and watch them underwater via a big window in the side of the pool.

When I was in college (Summer 86), I worked in the Sea World San Diego Japanese Village jewelry store selling settings and mounting the pearls in them for all the folks who got pearls from the divers. I was the tall blonde wearing a kimono while the rest of the employees were Asian. I must have heard a thousand times a day from guests, “But you don’t look Japanese.” Ha! By this time, the tunnel with the underwater viewing window had been closed.

My mom loved the Japanese Village section because she taught school on an Air Force base in Japan before she was married. She always commented on how authentic it was, especially the pearl divers’ white bathing costumes with the head coverings and masks (just like the postcard posted earlier).