Before the days of the New Jersey State Aquarium, and before the era of marine mammal conservation and environmental awareness, there was Aquarama.

Billing itself as “The Theater of the Sea”, Aquarama opened its doors in 1962 on South Broad Street, across from where Veterans Stadium would stand a decade later. Aquarama was in some ways like an aquarium, and in other ways like a circus. Fish of every size, shape and color would swim endlessly around its giant circular glass tank, trained seals would honk out “How Dry I Am” on a set of bulb horns, and – several times a day – dolphins would rescue a loud, obnoxious clown after he lost his balance and belly-flopped into Aquarama’s murky indoor pool.

Following the show, patrons could wander out into the concession area and spend their spare change on souvenirs, or on watching helpless chickens, ducks and small animals perform humiliating tricks in tiny coin-operated booths.

Local TV personality Ed Hurst hosted a popular teen dance show there every Saturday afternoon. But the biggest star to come out of Aquarama was its announcer and assistant PR director, a bright, engaging young man by the name of Gene Hart – who would of course go on to become Philadelphia’s legendary “Voice of the Flyers” for three decades and earn a rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

By the late 1960s, however, Philadelphians began to tire of horn-honking seals, obnoxious belly-flopping clowns and coin-operated animal torture chambers. Aquarama was doomed. After only 7 years of existence, Philadelphia’s “Theater of the Sea” quietly disappeared into the drink in 1969.

	LIBERTY BELLE: “Good riddance, Aquarama! Charging people money to see nature’s beautiful creatures exploited for lowbrow entertainment is a disgrace. I’m glad places like that don’t exist anymore.”
	SON OF SWOOP: “They don’t? Have you been to Delilah’s Den lately?”

         

 

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