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History of the Tiger Too, Crescent Beach Section, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

 

 

History of the Tiger Too

 

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In 1941, my father, Dr. John Dorsey Thomas, Sr. of Loris, SC, bought this property. In 1952, my brother, Price (Thomas), bought a Detroiter trailer because he needed a place to stay while he was stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia. After leaving there, he moved the trailer to Loris, and it was placed on my father's property where Price lived until he bought his first home. Then it was rented out until Buddy (N. S. Platt) and I (Carolyn Thomas) got married in 1953, and we moved the trailer to Columbia, SC, where we lived until we bought our first home. At that time, the trailer was moved from Columbia to what is now 2002 Ocean Blvd. My brother lived in the trailer for a couple of summers, and then Dad swapped his boat for Price's trailer.

 

Happy the Tiger represented Esso during the 1960s.

Buddy spent his vacation building a porch on the trailer. Dad then decided to get rid of his beach property, and he made me a deal so that the property would stay in the family. When we decided to give the house a name, our son, Stuart (Platt), said, "It looks like Happy's cage at the Constan Car Wash." Happy was the tiger that had been bought for Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. Happy was also a part of the Esso slogan of "Happy Motoring." Buddy worked for Esso (now ExxonMobil), and he and Stuart had represented the company by wearing Tiger costumes in a Christmas parade.

 

A few years later, Buddy converted the screened porch into a living/dining room and a bathroom. Each year, other renovations were made, as finances would allow. The screened porch and the side porch were the last big additions. Dad (Dr. Thomas) always enjoyed coming to see what Buddy had done to change The Tiger Cage.

 

When school was out each summer, our children and I headed for the beach. They helped with the cleaning and repairs the first week, and the second week was playtime. They used the trees for horses with beach towels as saddles and fell out of a tree after climbing too high. Our three children have many wonderful memories of The Tiger Cage.

 

It stood through many major hurricanes and was rented to families from SC, NC, OH and VA. They considered it their home and left many items to make it more personal. Some have rented from us for 17 years, and their children have grown from youngsters to adults at The Tiger Cage. I recently met one of the couples, and their granddaughter told me that she learned to walk between the two beds in the living room. When I asked her if she would like to look around once more, she showed me which bed was hers. They had put a tiger picture on the wall and each year had written the year on it. I asked if they would like to have it as a keepsake, and they took it with them. They have now bought their own place nearby, but still have fond memories of their vacations at The Tiger Cage. Every summer, I found nice notes behind my business license and received Christmas cards from many of them.

 

In September 1997, a chair leg went through the floor, so we closed up The Tiger Cage. Our first thought was to repair any damage no matter the cost, because we could not stand the thought of not having our house. After putting figures down on paper and realizing that there was probably even more damage underneath that we could not see, it was decided to look into modular homes. We wanted something to hold up during hurricanes and to be able to be put up in time for the rental season. It was a hard decision for us to make, since there was so much sentiment. Most furnishings were castoffs of many people from our past.

 

After looking into modular homes, we felt the most sensible decision would be to put one to the front of the property. I would not allow the trees to be cut, so this put restrictions on the size and placement of the house. We visited many modular home companies. It started out with one home, but an even more sensible decision was to add two units to the property, and that is how Tiger Too evolved. There could never be another Tiger Cage.

 

We consider Tiger Too our home, and we hope you will treat it as you would want your guests to treat your home. This house was designed with you in mind--the entrance through the utility room gives you access to the washbasin for your bathing suits, and a direct way of getting to the bathrooms. We hope you enjoy your stay and return each year, just as many people did with The Tiger Cage.

Carolyn Thomas Platt

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