The tides of conventions and tourists have increased since publication of Margaret Mitchell's historical novel, Gone With the Wind, in 1936. Owing to phenomenal popularity of the book, international interest has been aroused in the history of the city that rose so rapidly from the ruins of Sherman's making.One of the greatest celebrations to be held here in the twentieth century was the festival attending the premiere of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's vivid picturization of the book in December 1939. Hundreds of visitors streamed up and down Peachtree Street, a few of them searching, in all seriousness, for the site of "Aunt Pittypat's" house, others conjecturing as to the spot Scarlett O'Hara would have chosen for the erection of her "chalet" with the scrollwork trim. Thousands lined the streets for two hours in a cold, gusty wind awaiting the arrival of the stars, only to catch a kaleido- scopic view of furs, red roses, and bared masculine heads as the delayed parade streaked past. Crowds blocked the streets around the Georgian Terrace Hotel to see the actors and hear brief speeches of welcome from the mayor, the governor, and other prominent men. A public ball, at which men and women danced in costumes of the 1860's, was given at the auditorium that night and featured entertainment typical of the Old South.
The night of the premiere crowds packed the streets around the theater, on the fagade of which a concrete, large-columned portico with Greek pediment had been superimposed. Giant magnolias flanked the pillars, and multicolored flowers bloomed in the garden that extended into the street. Spotlights played over the theater front, the people thronging the streets, dotting surrounding roof-tops, and peering out of near-by office windows. In the theater, approximately three blocks from the site of the State Square park that served as an outdoor hos- pital in 1864, Atlantans saw the picture. They compared the primitiveness of the pictured Peachtree Street and Five Points with their present appearance and were proud.