Photographer, and
Promoter
John Pulling
"We don't want this place to
ever stagnate."
"Tell me, my boy" the Captain asked softly and gently, "does your father often serve drinks of whiskey at your house." The unsuspecting lad gladly provided the information that cocktail parties were held frequently at the Pulling menage, and he also informed his host that, indeed, all the residents of Naples had a plentiful supply of liquid refreshment.
Blithely, the youngster returned home with his catch, ebullient about his unexpected adventure. When he casually mentioned the cutter's visit to his father, he also included a mention of the Captain's interest in the family's drinking habits. Chaos followed as William Pulling went about burying his bountiful reserve of John Barleycorn. While his household help was making funeral arrangements for the stash, Pulling rushed forth like a modern Paul Revere, informing other unsuspecting residents that "the revenooers are coming."
William Pulling, John's father, first came to Naples in 1911 with John Hachmeister. They were both engaged in horse racing; Hachmeister had designed the Mariano Race Track in Havana and later managed it. Pulling was from Canada, and the men were both members of the St. Clair Flats Club in Windsor, Ontario. They were enthusiastic sportsmen who came to Naples for the hunting and fishing, often living aboard boats for months at a time.
John Pulling's first visit to Naples was in January 1915, when he was four months old. By then, the Pulling family had a winter home on the beach at Broad Avenue South and spent every winter here.
Each winter, John would join his elders on hunting and fishing expeditions. Hunting parties would go into the woods transported by horses and buggies. The game-filled wilderness was out in East Naples, and hunting became as much a necessity as a sport. The game brought back provided food for a town that had little refrigeration (ice was brought down by boat from Fort Myers) and few other provisions. Every year when the Pullings prepared to come to Naples, William and Lucy Pulling journeyed to New York to buy supplies for their Naples sojourn. Canned fruits, vegetables, hams and other basic necessities were shipped southward.
All manner of game was killed, eaten and shared with neighbors. Such species as manatees and porpoises also were consumed. John Pulling recalls that curlew also were eaten. Young curlews were brown in color, and as they matured, their feathers turned white. The young, tender curlews were preferred and made good eating. Even pelicans did not escape those hungry enough to consume this ungainly bird.
During those early days in Naples there were no palm trees. The limited number of streets and avenues were barren except for a native trees. In 1912, William Pulling and John Hachmeister organized a party of men and .journeyed down to Cape Sable. Here, they dug up hundreds of coconut palms and hauled them back to Naples where they were transplanted. Eventually, some 3,000 coconut palms were brought from Cape Sable and other islands surrounding the area.
The palm trees that proliferate in Naples are not the only legacy left by Pulling and Hachmeister. Many of the photographs that provide a graphic look at those early beginnings were taken by the pair. They used a special camera that allowed those taking the pictures to write on the negatives, thus providing invaluable data as well as photographs.
In 1935, while John Pulling was attending college, he became desperately ill with arthritis. His family brought him to Naples in a wheelchair, and he began his recovery. He has remained in Naples ever since and has become an important civic leader and entrepreneur.
In 1938, John had recovered enough to engage in an enterprise that may have had its beginnings on that morning in 1927 when the Coast Guard attempted to manipulate him. He purchased a cocktail lounge from Bill Clarke, who was then mayor. Clarke was becoming uncomfortable with the criticism from various religious groups that felt it unbecoming that the mayor be engaged in such activity.
The Esquire Cocktail Lounge seemed to offer fun and challenge to everyone except John Pulling, who found neither in the enterprise. His first harrowing experience came when Esquire magazine sued him for using their name. John settled the affair by changing the name to the Royal Palm Cocktail Lounge, but his troubles were far from over. Unruly customers, bureaucratic regulations, long hours and undependable employees made life less than idyllic. One day, a man walked in and asked if Pulling might consider selling. Within minutes, the deal was done, and John walked out a free man!
Since then, John Pulling has met numerous other career challenges. He got his real estate license in 1946 and founded Naples Real Estate Exchange with Bob Benson. He and Bill Clark organized the Naples Board of Realtors in 1948. All the while, he bought up large tracts of Naples land. He has bought and sold land in East Naples, Pine Ridge, Keewaydin and Coconut Islands, North Naples and every section of Naples proper.
In spite of urging on the part of his friends, John never ran for public office. However, over his protests, he was elected Justice of the Peace. There were no candidates, so a group of townspeople campaigned to have John's name written on the ballot.
"I refused to serve," recalls Pulling. "Once, the police chief' asked me to certify the death of a guest at the Naples Hotel. I left town rather than do that gruesome job."
Although he has never served politically, John has contributed much to the growth and progress of Naples. Through his far-sighted efforts, he has lobbied for better roads throughout the county. Using his own money, he built the first Pine Ridge Road and continues to work closely with the city and county in planning for the area's future.
His greatest love has been the family-owned Temple Groves in North Naples, where he continues to challenge life with enthusiasm and wit. He and his wife, Carol, whom he married in 1952, have two children of their marriage and three youngsters brought into their union by Carol. They live on 40 acres just off Goodlette Road, a sanctuary-like, sprawling house directly on the river. Turning off the congested highway, one is transported back to a time when curlews were consumed, hunting was by horse and buggy and life was simpler, but not necessarily more comfortable.
John Pulling is the consummate realist when it comes to
Naples' past. "Make no mistake," says he, "Naples was no paradise on earth
during those early years. Not only were there great clouds of mosquitoes, but ravenous
horseflies that attacked you. During the war, Naples was a living hell and deadly dull. I
like it better now, and I hope we keep growing! We don't want this place to ever
stagnate."
