Palm Springs Parade, 1950s
Happy 2022, everybody! It's a new year, and that means that everything's going to be great. I BELIEVE.
I didn't really have any New Year's Day photos, though I have sold off dozens and dozens of Pasadena Rose Parade slides over the years. Still, I found myself in a "parade" state of mind, and decided to scan some slides from a parade in Palm Springs, from sometime in the '50s. For those of you who live in colder climates, maybe the sunshine, blue skies, and palm trees will do you some good.
First up, a genuine covered wagon pulled by a team of four horses comes toward us. Palm Springs embraces the theme of the old west, with cowboys and livestock aplenty.
This fellow seems to be some sort of rodeo clown, which makes sense, because other photos in this batch show a big rodeo, with hundreds of spectators. It must have been a big deal!
Of course you have to have the local high school marching band, along with some cheerleaders.
This lady probably belonged to a prominent local family - her costume (and the horse's costume) appears to be absolutely covered in real silver. Think how much it weighed! I'll bet she was in the Rose Parade as well.
Desert communities often embraced an "Arabian" aesthetic as well. You know, desert sands, palm trees, etc. You'd find that at the Indio Date Festival too.
I don't know who these red-shirted folks are, but I like their style. The yellow flag in the background says something about "Mexico", but that's all I can decipher.
And finally, these men must belong to the local law enforcement. The flag bearer is going to have a tired right arm by the end of the route. Palm Springs looks like it was a wonderful place to be (if you don't mind the heat) 70-ish years ago. Maybe it still is!
Happy New Year to each and every Junior Gorilla!
11 comments:
Major-
Parades and New Year's - they just go hand-in-hand. As far as cars go however, they're a little hard to clearly see. But I'm calling that brownish-bronze car a 1950 or 1951 Hudson. The bluish-gray car is a 1949 or 1950 Oldsmobile. The gray car is a 1950-1952 Plymouth. The whitish car is a 1951 or 1952 Chevrolet. And the greenish car w/white top is a 1950 or 1951 Oldsmobile.
And as far as all that "silver" is concerned - merely 'chrome-plated plastic' as a facsimile for the real thing. Less risk and so much easier on the horse, too.
Welcome to 2022, Major.
Horses, palm trees, beautiful weather. What’s not to love about this parade! I’d sure like to stop in Sophie August’s furniture store and pick up something fun...like maybe a glazed ceramic slinking black panther statue??
Major, your daily devotion of time, to this blog and your readers, puts you above the rest. Am thankful you’re continuing to take us into another year of GDB fun!
Happy New Year, everyone!
It's 2022! Happy, happy, joy, joy! (I hope... I've got my zombie-killing pike at the ready, just in case.)
That's a striking image with those four matched horses pulling the stagecoach/covered wagon. (which is it?)
The group of spectators on the left seem to like the rodeo clown. The group on the right, not so much.
It looks like the barber (in the white smock) from the barbershop came out to watch the parade.
In the marching band photo, I have no idea what make or model those cars are (Edit: I see Nanook just did his car thing), but they all look a lot alike; 'round'. I guess that trend existed back then as well.
Wow, that is a lot of silver! Even the reins are wrapped in silver. I wonder if all that really is silver or just quilted silver lamé fabric? (Edit #2: Nanook says plastic. Was that a practice back then?)
Sue, we have one of those black panther ceramics.
Thanks for the sunny parade, Major.
JB, you have good taste. My parents had a 50s lamp with a panther molded into the base, and the base also had an opening for plants(?) - but I hid little toys in it. I wish my mom hadn’t gotten rid of it.
Palm Canyon Drive is certainly a different place today- very quaint back then. This must be the Rodeo Parade given the amount of horsies present. I looked it up and it seems that it took place at the end of February- which is a lovely time of year in the desert. I have many memories of Palm Springs and that entire area of So. Cal. "Where the Elite Meet". I'm not sure how Elite I was, but I called it "Sip" "Dip" "Evaporate". I"m sure that Palm Springs helped pay for my dermotologists mortgage or fancy car- Too much evaporating, and too much sipping! I see that a old hang out of mine from 40 years ago is still there: Las Casuelas Terraza. The Terraza was the best place to sit...and sip. A decade later, the nearby Desert Hot Springs became my hideout- it was also Al Capones hideout too. When the TV shooting season ended in LA, there seemed to be a mass migration of "show folk" to soak in the mineral springs. Later I found out that there was a very high concentration of Lithium in the water...so makes sense. The very odd thing is, that you could soak in those pools for hours and never get wrinkled. I never figured that one out. Thanks for posting the Indio link. I did a show out there with Sue Sally Hale on her Polo Ranch. She was the first woman Polo player in the US, and had to disguise herself for decades as a man to play. Very interesting story- look it up. Loads of dates and loads of horses. I thought it was odd to have horses in such heat, it was slightly unbearable, but I guess they liked it. Loads of memories this morning, I had forgotten most of this until now. Happy New Year all!
I can tell youna couple of things about these pictures. 1. There were light winds that day. 2. These were taken fairly close together. 3. The first picture probably was actually last (or close to it) How can I tell? The cloud at the end of the street.
Being from Texas, I've seen tons of horses in parades and I can distinctively hear the chorus of "clop clops" as they pass by! Very pleasant!
Happy New Year everybody!
I went to Palm Springs once. Didn't like it. Too hot. Still these old photos are nice. Especially for the parked cars on the street. Thanks, Major.
Happy New Year to all!
Nanook, considering how we can’t see the cars super well, you did a fine job! As usual. I’m assuming that you are joking about the chrome-plated plastic…
Lou and Sue, yes, imagine what sort of wonderful mid-century modern furniture was in Sophie August’s shop! I do love me a nice glazed ceramic panther to class up the joint. Thanks for the kind words, Sue!
JB, it looks like a Stagecoach to me, but hey, I’m no expert. People love clowns, I don’t understand it. The last time I went to a circus (which was a LONG time ago) I silently prayed that the clowns would stay away. It does look like a barber came out to watch the parade, I picture his half-shaved customer sitting in a chair inside. And I really do think that Nanook is joking about the silver! Parade commentators always love to tell viewers about how much silver is in those crazy outfits.
Lou and Sue, my grandparents had several ceramic female heads, they looked very 1940s. I wish we still had those!
Bu, yes, I mentioned the rodeo photos that were also a part of this batch. I’ll scan those at a future date. If I ever go to Palm Springs, I hope it’s in January or February, and not in July (or most of the rest of the year). Cool that you spied a place that you actually went to. I’ve never heard of water that didn’t make skin pruny, maybe they should sell it as a miracle cure for aging.
Stu29573, I didn’t attempt to post these in any sort of order, though I could have looked at the slide number that is usually stamped in the corner. Maybe I should have?
K. Martinez, there are people who just don’t seem to mind the heat, though I really don’t care for it. My younger brother went to Palm Springs to visit a wealthy friend, and he said they were all going to enjoy sitting on the porch when the sun went down, but the insects were too aggressive!
Perfect views for New Years Day, Major.
I haven’t been big on parades, but there’s something familiar about this one.
For several years in the mid-60’s, Dad would take us to Palm Springs during the Presidents Day break in February. It was always warm and sunny swimming weather when it was nasty cold fog at home. The street and shops shown here look really familiar and I wonder if we watched a later edition of this parade. I always liked the street lights on Palm Canyon Blvd, they are lights on the palm trees.
I went back a couple of times about 15 years ago for business conferences, and consulted on the big new Rowan hotel recently. I like PS but no one else in the family does, so I probably won’t go back soon.
Looking forward to a better year in ‘22, here at the virtual Market House with you and all my friends.
JG
No worries, Major, I was just trying to do a little detective work ;-).
JG, I feel like small-town parades are different, they have a charm and home town pride that bigger parades lack. I have no history with Palm Springs, but my grandparents liked to go there sometime after “the war”, my grandma talked about the date shakes that were so delicious. I’ve seen photos of some beautiful mid-century architecture in PS, that stuff is still so appealing 50 or 60 years later.
Stu29573, the funny thing is, sometimes I make a real effort to post slides in order. Other times, “who cares”!
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