James H. McGraw Jr. was the son of James H. McGraw Sr., the original "McGraw" of the McGraw-Hill publishing company, one of the most prolific manufacturers of school textbooks. James Jr. served as the responsible chief executive at the company during the 1930s and 1940s, until his retirement in 1950. During that time, he published full-page ads promoting "free enterprise," and sometimes clashed with FDR and Truman.

The palms are from the genus Caryota - AKA fishtail palm - because of the shape of the leaflets. These are young plants.

I remember as a youngster that no trip to Florida was complete until we stopped at one of those roadside tourist-trap factories where this rattan furniture was made right on site. You could order there and have it shipped north.

I also note that there are outside shutters in addition to the roll down shades (yep, split rattan) to keep that pesky afternoon sun or rain out. That must mean that the whole wall is screens, not glass.

In my neck of the woods they glass them in, and call them three-seasons rooms. I think they only still call them Florida rooms in Florida.

[The windows here are glazed. The rollers shade the windows that don't have shutters. - Dave]