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Photo: Winter in Sarasota, 1940

Joseph Janney Steinmetz captures a classic "why-we-love-living-here" moment.

By Megan McDonald December 2, 2025 Published in the December 2025 issue of Sarasota Magazine

We dig our toes into the sand, not the snow.

Here’s a moment that will look familiar to most Floridians. As winter descends up north, Sarasotans are getting ready to enjoy the nicest time of year in Florida, when we dig our toes into the sand, not the snow. Photographer Joseph Janney Steinmetz, whose work has been called “an American social history,” captured this shot of a smiling woman reading a winter 1940 edition of the Daily News about ice storms up north while relaxing in the Sarasota sunshine. Note the green grass, blue Adirondack chair and her colorful bathing suit—which even matches her shoes. 

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