Rattlesnake was king, and antivenin was near, in 1930s Tampa

On May 22, 1931, canned rattlesnake meat first went on sale in Florida. I first ate rattlesnake at Ft Stewart in 1980. I must admit, it was quite good. I still prefer gator tail though.

"George K. End, who was born in Wisconsin and educated in New York in the craft of journalism, became instead Florida's king of the rattlesnakes.

He loved everything about those Eastern diamondbacks, from their beauty to their danger. But more than anything, he was fond of their potential to grab headlines and add money to his bank account.

Catching them by the thousands, he sold their venom, hides, rattles and even their meat in a neighborhood he founded on the Tampa side of the Gandy Bridge in 1937. He called it Rattlesnake, Fla."