I contacted the chef and Laura (Reiley) re. the article which needs correction. I have a nursery catalog in my collection that listed Florida Favorite as late as 1948 (attached to this message) so the watermelon hasn't been lost for over 100 years. I don't have evidence for post-1948.
In addition, it is an impossible task to reverse-breed an open-pollinated variety even if you start with the same F1 line (Bradford X Georgia Rattlesnake).
The watermelon that the farmer-breeder has been working on is not even stable, yet. This is a great effort of breeding a new watermelon but the fruits are definitely not of Florida Favorite.
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