I Love Three Parades
I have a small batch of scans featuring various parades, and thought it might be fun to share some of them today.
This first one is from the 1950s (I believe), from Long Beach, California. A bathing beauty waves to an appreciative crowd, from a float pushed by a sailor (or two?). I wonder what occasion merited a parade? In the background we can see a restaurant called the "Dinner House"....
I found an old matchbook cover on eBay, which helped with an address. 701 E. Ocean Boulevard.
The area is unrecognizable today!
Next is a scan from April, 1963, from a parade in Indio, California. Two children appear to have been dubbed King and Queen for the day. If they hit you with their scepters, there's not a darn thing you can do about it.
And finally, here's another parade that I believe was in the 1950s. The float says "Hillsborough County", which is in the Tampa area of Florida. It looks like it was a beautiful day; patriotic bunting might mean the 4th of July, Memorial Day, or... well, it could be anything.
14 comments:
Major-
I'm thinking the first image is from the "Miss International Beauty Parade".
Scepters but no dates... Indio must be slipping-!
The float in the final parade is being pulled by a 1955 Chevrolet station wagon, [probably] in Neptune Green with a Seamist Green roof. Fancy.
Thanks, Major.
Most of the crowd is looking toward the next float in line behind the sailor-powered bathing beauty, who is Miss Korea. The banner hanging from the roof of the restaurant in the background says "Miss Universe Pageant". So I guess that's what's going on here.
In the King & Queen photo, the background is kind of blurry and grainy and a slightly different color palette, which makes it look like a rear projection on a screen behind the royal couple.
In the last photo, a lady on the right edge of the pic is wearing a 'coolie hat'. Apparently those were somewhat popular then, even outside of Disneyland. And in the lower left corner we can see a couple of young members of the Stripy Shirt Guild.
Nanook, is it "International" or "Universe"?
Thanks for the parades, Major. You gave us some front-row seats!
It looks like the bathing beauty in that first pic was maybe "sponsored" by The Captain's Inn. I looked that up and it was a waterfront restaurant in the Alamitos Bay section of Long Beach, CA. They opened in 1957 and closed in 2012.
I hate what they have done to Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach! They have torn down almost everything and replaced it with ugly modern towers. There are only 3 exceptions that I can think of. They ruin everything, I tell ya!
I wonder if the Indio parade did have something to do with their annual Date Festival, as Nanook hinted at? What else did Indio have going for it? (Sorry, Indio!)
Thanks for the parade pics, Major! Just like the Kids of the Kingdom, I Love A Parade!
The 1963 Date Festival in Indio took place February 15 - 24th, so maybe that pic was taken then, but the photographer waited a little over a month to develop the film. Again, why else would they have been in Indio? ;-)
Indio: capital of dates! I read somewhere that dates from the Coachella Valley are 90% of the US consumption....I LOVE the Medjool dates! Stuff them with bleu cheese, and wrap them in bacon and bake....you will thank me. They come out looking like giant bugs, but they are soooooooooo good. I agree with TM..."kind of".....I'm old enough to remember when "The Pike" was still open....and that part of Long Beach was VERY run down....and by very....I mean very....it was not a savory dish. So: bulldozers came in....some things (very few) were saved....in that segment of Ocean Blvd....and then things got kind of "normal" once you passed "The Villa"....which is an amazing building: I had a friend that lived there, and the apartments were gigantic with amazing views....so: I do agree of the TRE....and wish there was a more "holistic" and "preserved" Long Beach...but I can see why they slaughtered most everything....There was some "good" reconstruction north of this area: which became revitalized when I started working on the "Big Boat down the street"....and there was an offshoot of "Birdland"...which was kind of cool too. Didn't last that long, but the building is still there, and it's super cool. My dad was in Korea during the war, and bought a movie camera there....and shot a lot of movies...but mostly of scantily clad Korean ladies like this....on stage wiggling around....lot's of sequins....where are those movies now? It was the first thing I remembered when I saw this photo. Looks like perfect weather for the Miss Universe pageant. Hope she's wearing sun screen...in those days we just had baby oil on...so, probably not, right? I could go for some smoked fish right now...sooooo good....and for those who get squirmy over "fishy"....it's not fishy at all...smoky and flaky...I think Beauty Queens might be a "no no" now....but I still like them. Watching the Miss America pageant was such a big deal...do they even have that anymore? I'll end on my first kiss in Jr. High was with a future 1st Runner up Miss America....and that is soooo for another time....AND has a Disneyland connection....that is YouTube-able. Thanks Major for a few rabbit holes this morning.
Helloooooo, sailors!
I LOVE the name "Dinner House!" No muss, no fuss, does what it says on the tin! And even here in the wilds of New York I've heard of the Captain's Inn; it was the tiki bar where the Captain's Grog cocktail was invented.
I wonder what the Junior Monarchs have in their little gold basket? Candy (or dates?) to throw to the adoring masses? Clean hankies and barf bags, in case they get carsick? Vaseline to rub on their teeth, for that extra-wide smile? Only The Shadow knows!
Bu, one of my college friends was Miss Cheektowaga, NY. Not quite so glamorous as Miss America, but she did have amazing posture. I always tried to emulate it.
I am not a huge parade fan but Mrs Zach LOVES them which always leads to bum busting curb sitting (gotta be a band name in there somewhere). The fun in these is searching the background for interesting stuff or lamenting the passing of said stuff. The before and after says it all.
Thank you, Major
Zach
@ JB-
"... is it "International" or "Universe"?"
Based on the banner, as you point out it's probably Miss. Universe; but there certainly is great similarity between the two 'pageants', and a lovely story to go along with it for those who actually care.
I wonder how those sailors scored that gig? “You have to push this cart through the whole parade, but you get to meet the girls…”
We went to the Indio Date Festival once, might even have been in 1963. I barely remember it beyond the date milkshake.
The last pic looks like a scene from every hometown in America.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, ah, I didn’t look at that distant banner. It might even say “Miss Universe Pageant”? “No dates… Indio must be slipping”. Ba-DUM! “Seamist Green”, love it.
JB, yes, I think it does say “Miss Universe Pageant”, kind of cool, I wish I had more from this parade. I was thinking that the “king” looks kind of older than a kid, I wonder if he was a “little person”? I saw the coolie hat in the third photo, I suppose US troops had already been to Japan and other Asian countries by the 50s, with more to come (sadly).
TokyoMagic!, I did notice that the float in the first photo was sponsored by the Captain’s Inn, but didn’t look that one up. I agree, Ocean Blvd. looks pretty soulless and generic now, but I suppose somebody thought it needed “improvement”. I think it’s a safe bet that the Indio parade had something to do with the Date Festival.
TokyoMagic!, I’m sure they had to do a parade in Indio in February, otherwise it would be unbearably hot!
Bu, I like Medjool dates, but I just eat them as is. Like candy. I’m way too lazy to stuff them with bleu cheese and wrap them with bacon, but it does sound delicious. Having read about the decline of The Pike, I’m not surprised that much of Long Beach was suffering from blight. Such a shame, being right on a beautiful shoreline. I have a friend who lives in Long Beach, and we can walk to Ocean Blvd. from her place. It’s nice to have restaurants and the aquarium so close by, but it feels a bit like a cut-rate Vegas. Speaking of Vegas, many years ago I went with a friend, my only visit to Sin City. While I slathered myself with SPF 100 sunscreen, he used “tanning oil” that had NO SPF number, it was just like popcorn oil. I thought he was crazy. I’ve never watched a beauty pageant - who doesn’t like pretty girls? But those things are corny, and I hate the concept of “losers” among those women.
Melissa, it’s true, “Dinner House” tells you all you need to know. “Are you open for lunch?”. “Are you dim? Can’t you read?? This is DINNER HOUSE!”. The golden basket held cigarettes that the kids could throw to the crowd. So smooth, so mild! Vaseline on the teeth, that’s a much better idea than mayonnaise.
zach, there are definitely “parade people”, you see them lining up at Disneyland an hour before the event. Meanwhile I am trying to strategize on how to best avoid the parade and increase my ride total. But hey, it’s all good.
Nanook, I’m not sure I actually knew that there was a “Miss International Beauty Pageant”.
JG, I’m sure the parade had no problem finding volunteers to push that float (and, presumably, other floats with other beauties). I’ve only seen photos of old Date Festivals, it looks like fun, especially if you live way out there - it’s the BIG EVENT.
I remember loving parades growing up, both in and out of Disneyland. Nowadays I might make an effort to see the town Christmas parade every third year, and I avoid them at the Parks like I avoid Yoko Ono’s music.
As a kid, the reigning Mrs Illinois lived next door to the 1st Runner Up for the reigning Miss Illinois. The Miss was one of my babysitters and is just a super person. She married her middle brother’s best friend, and her youngest brother was my best friend. He officiated at my Air Force retirement ceremony.
We attended the local pageant she won, and I remember her practicing “Linus and Lucy,” which she played during the competition flawlessly, for hours and hours on end. That helped me really appreciate what those girls go through. They aren’t generally airheaded floozies. Respect, ma’am…respect.
Thanks, Major!
Major-
"... I’m not sure I actually knew that there was a “Miss International Beauty Pageant”".
Nor was I until this lovely post...
"From 1952 to 1959, the civic pride and joy of the city of Long Beach was the Miss Universe Pageant. The city, through the Long Beach Beauty Pageant, Inc., co-sponsored the pageant along with a subsidiary (the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant, Inc.) of the Catalina Swimsuit Corporation. Each year, Long Beach’s community leaders swelled with pride as the Miss Universe Pageant grew larger and more famous.
However, the partnership between the city of Long Beach and the Catalina Swimsuit Corporation began to fray. By 1958, it was clear that Long Beach’s civic vision of the pageant was at odds with Catalina’s commercial vision of the pageant. Long Beach wanted to keep the pageant a non-profit, community-based project. Catalina had other things in mind for Miss Universe, wanting the pageant to become an entirely commercial, profit-making enterprise.
And so in 1959, the city of Long Beach and the Catalina Swimsuit Corporation agreed to disagree. Catalina kept the rights to the Miss Universe title and moved to Miami Beach, Florida. Long Beach kept Oscar Meinhardt (the man who developed the Miss Universe idea and who had directed the pageant since the beginning) and established the International Beauty Congress (IBC)".
Every summer, the podunk town I grew up in had a corn festival (which seemed weird to me, since I'm pretty sure our primary crops were apples and cabbage, but whatever) and the neighboring podunk town had an onion festival ("New York onions are known for their bold flavor due to our glacial muck soils" - I had to repeat that SO many times when I worked in ag ed it's automatic now). Meeting each other in the wild, us kids would always tease each other about whose podunk vegetable festival was lamer. (I flashed back to those days the first time I saw The Last Jedi, when Luke the Space Hick said, "Nobody's from nowhere," found out Rey was from Jakku, and said OK, that really was nowhere. There's no diss like a hick diss.)
@ Melissa-
"There's no diss like a hick diss".
"Sticks Nix Hick Pix".
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