1941 Daffodil Queen. Posing with a large bouquet of daffodils and wearing a headpiece composed of the flowers is 18-year-old Pauline Martin of Sumner who was the 1941 Daffodil Festival Queen. "Queen Pauline I" was crowned on March 22, 1941, in Puyallup by J. Arthur Thompson, president of that year's festival. Governor Arthur Langlie was in attendance as well as Tacoma Mayor Harry P. Cain, who served as toastmaster. Queen Pauline and her two attendants, Maxene Maddex of Lincoln High School and Doris Simonsen of Puyallup, would ride in the March 29th Daffodil Festival Parade. (TNT 3-21-41, p. 1)
Two young girls with bouquets of daffodils ride atop the Rotary Club of Tacoma's float in the 1940 Daffodil Parade. The focus point of the Rotary Club float is the gigantic globe, with the continents marked out with daffodils. The floats are lined up in a staging area prior to the parade. See Series D9587 image 19 for a Richards Studio photograph taken at almost the same exact time. TPL-2941
Sumner's entry in the 1940 Daffodil Parade was this floral cross section of a daffodil. Each daffodil petal is occupied by a girl. The girls wear white dresses. The float appears to be lined up in a staging area. One can only wonder if there were also five girls on the other side of the float, or if this float could only be fully appreciated from one side. The Tacoma Times calls the float a giant paddle wheel, a-la a Mississippi riverboat, with a girl in each paddle. See D9587 image 4 for another view of the float. (T. Times 3/30/1940, pg. 1)
Signal Oil broadcast. Carnival of Fun held at the Jason Lee (now Middle) School in September of 1939. Actor Jack Carson (far left) playfully tilts the chin of a woman believed to be Kay St. Germain, a featured singer on the radio program, as they wait behind the curtains. She would become Mrs. Jack Carson in September of 1940. BOWEN 01-347
ca. 1938. This float was entered by the city of Sumner in a mid to late 1930's Daffodil Parade. The driver's head can be seen at the center of the float. In the back, two girls in Dutch costumes ride in chairs.
ca. 1936. This float was entered by the city of Puyallup in the Daffodil Parade in the mid to late 1930s. Daffodils and crepe paper streamers cover the truck where uniformed Girl Scouts ride on the bed. The girls hold an American flag and a second flag, possibly the Washington state flag.
On this float in the 1936 Daffodil Parade, the flower vase has tipped over, sending the daffodils and the smiling girls they hold to the ground. Peeking around the edge of her flower is Mary Frances Cavanaugh, left, and in the other blossom is Weda Claire Dykeman. Mary Frances is the daughter of Cecil Cavanaugh, of Cavanaugh Lumber Co., and Weda Claire is the daughter of Doug Dykeman. (T. Times 4/20/1936, pg. 3)
The 1936 Daffodil court is getting out of their vehicle at the base of the reviewing stand on So. 10th Street & Pacific, a 35-feet-high, four-tiered structure covered with 200,000 daffodils. They will ascend to the first daffodil covered platform to view the parade as it passes by. The pylon was the photo opportunity of the third annual Daffodil Festival. The old bank building at 10th and Pacific, overhead streetcar wires, and the ruins of The Tacoma Hotel punctuate the background. (T. Times 4/20/1936, pg. 3)
This float in the 1936 Daffodil parade carries the K Street emblem mounted on an axis and describing the K Street business sector as the "Hub of Activity." The float is offered by the K Street Business Mens' Association The floral tribute is built on the bed of a large truck. (T. Times 4/20/1936, pg. 3)
This Standard Oil truck is all decked out in flowers for a drive in the 1936 Daffodil Parade. It has even sprouted two giant daffodils on top like horns. The large fuel truck is covered with flowers and draped grasses.
Float sponsored by the City of Tacoma in the 1936 Daffodil Parade, symbolizing the city's dominance in public utilities. In the forefront are three rearing horses pulling a large wheel. A large dynamo is in the back, an emblem of the power of the hydroelectric plants. (TDL 4/19/1936, pg. 1)
Daffodil Parade float entry by KMO radio, a floral representation of a microphone with the call letters KMO. The float was probably an entry in the 1936 parade. Several patches of daffodils in the outer ring of the microphone are missing showing the chicken wire base.
1936 Daffodil Queen Helen Edgerton of Puyallup. In the early years, the queen alternated year to year between Puyallup and Sumner residents. The first queen from Tacoma was in 1956 and from Orting in 1962.
The Young Mens' Business Club entry in the 1936 Daffodil Parade was this flower covered replica of the bastions at the restored Fort Nisqually at Point Defiance. The restored Fort had opened in 1934. A sign on the float advertises the "Beaver Centennial" 1836-1936, a celebration to be held July 4, 1936.
The Rotary Club, a perennial entrant in the Daffodil Parade, entered this flower bedecked emblem of Rotary International in the 1936 parade. The word "Service" is emblazoned on the side of the float.
Weda Claire Dykeman smiles from inside a daffodil during the 1936 Daffodil Parade. Weda Claire is the daughter of Doug Dykeman. (T. Times 4/20/1936, pg. 3)
ca. 1935. The Rotary Club, almost always represented in the Daffodil Parade, entered this flower covered car in one of the early parades, most likely 1935. The automobile has so many flowers that even the wheels are covered with their own bouquets.
ca. 1935. This float was entered in one of the very early Daffodil Festival parades, most likely 1935. A grass covered car is topped by a daffodil basket in which sit two charming cherubs. The two children are dressed formally, he in top hat and tails and she in a white bonnet. The floats at this time period were very simple; usually flower covered cars or mounted on the flat beds of small trucks.
Mess tents pitched on the old Central School playgrounds across from the Armory as cooks prepare to feed the men of the second battalion of the Washington National Guard 161st Infantry called out to control the violence associated with the 1935 Lumber workers' strike. In June of 1935, the mills in Tacoma and surrounded areas attempted to reopen with workers willing to return to work. Violence erupted between the returning workers and the strikers. Governor Clarence Martin ordered the Guard in on June 23rd, 1935 after reports that local authorities were unable to handle the situation. It was the second time the Guard was ordered out since the World War, the other two times being in 1919 and 1933. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Soldiers from the 161st Infantry of the Washington National Guard patrol the Tideflats during the Lumber worker's strike of 1935. In June of 1935, the mills of Tacoma and surrounding areas were attempting to reopen after petitions circulated stating that over 60 % of the work force was willing to return. Governor Clarence Martin promised protection to the mills and workers and called in the Guard to patrol the Tideflats and guard the entrances into the industrial area. They also accompanied returning workers on the main thoroughfares into the area. The troops totalled over 500 by June 25th and came from Yakima, Prosser, Pullman and Walla Walla. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Members of the 2nd battalion of the Washington National Guard 161st Infantry lounge on the ground, or stand in line with their mess kits, preparing to eat at the temporary mess tents set up on the old Central School playground. The Guard was called into Tacoma by Governor Clarence Martin on June 23rd, 1935 to control the violence associated with the lumber workers' strike. The soldiers were stationed at the Armory and their mess tents set up in this nearby playground. The lumber and sawmill workers' strike started on May 6th and was settled August 2nd, 1935. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
When the attempts in June of 1935 of workers to return to the striking mills erupted in violence, Governor Clarence Martin ordered in the Washington National Guard late Sunday night, June 23, 1935. The guards were whisked from Camp Murray to Tacoma in 16 trucks. Their job was to protect the returning workers and the mills. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
A young boy poses by the chain link fence of the old Central School playgrounds where mess tents have been erected to feed the more than 500 members of the 2nd battalion of the 161st Infantry of the Washington National Guard called out to Tacoma to restore peace during the 1935 Lumber workers' strike. The Guard was stationed at the nearby Armory. The troops had been in training at Camp A.H. Hankins at Camp Murray for the past two weeks when they were deployed to Tacoma. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Chief of Police Harold Bird poses with an officer of the Washington National Guard, deployed to Tacoma by Governor Clarence Martin to restore the peace during the 1935 lumber workers' strike. In June of 1935, as some workers prepared to return to the reopened mills, their efforts were met with violence. Returning workers were threatened, beaten, their homes and vehicles bombed and vandalized. Local authorities were unable to stop the violence. The Guard was called in to protect the workers and the mills. The strikers and sympathizers were joined in their protests by those who resented the armed troops in their midst. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Mill workers, accompanied by Washington National Guardsmen, stand at the side of the road preparing to cross the Eleventh Street Bridge into the Tideflats to report to work. A second group of men appears to be standing just ahead, possibly strikers gathering to heckle the workers. In June of 1935, workers attempting to return to work at the reopening mills were subjected to extreme violence and threats. Governor Clarence Martin ordered the second battalion of the Washington National Guard 161st Infantry to Tacoma on June 23, 1935 to protect the returning workers and the mills. The guardsmen were armed with smoke, tear and nausea gas bombs, rifles, bayonets and ammunition. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Members of the Washington National Guard are loaded up in trucks and preparing to return to downtown Tacoma from the industrial Tideflats across the Eleventh Street Bridge. The second battalion of the Guards' 161st Infantry was mobilized to Tacoma by Governor Clarence Martin when workers attempting to return to work during the Lumber workers' strike met with violence. Their job was to protect the workers and the mills. They were stationed at the Armory and patrolled the Tideflats and all bridges and roads into the area. The Eleventh Street bridge has roadblocks on all but one lane, so that vehicles could be searched. (TNT 6/24/1935, pg. 1 & 2)
Margaret Thomas, crowned Queen Margaret I of the 1935 Greater Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival, smiles serenely over her bouquet of daffodils. The twenty three year old from Sumner was the first Queen chosen in an actual contest. Queen Margaret was selected from a field of ten candidates. The very first Festival Queen, Mrs. Elizabeth Lee Wooten, was selected by a committee without a contest. Until the mid-1950s, the Queen was always from Sumner or Puyallup, the birthplaces of the daffodil industry.
Queen Margaret I, Margaret Thomas of Sumner, and her four attendants pose on their Daffodil Parade float on March 23, 1935. The attendants are, left to right, Irma Jane Janig, Sumner; Billie Barto, Puyallup; Olive Chervenka, Sumner; and Evelyn Mellinger of Tacoma. The 1935 parade was the second annual.
Governor Clarence D. Martin rides in an open car for the Labor Day parade in 1934. Gov. Martin sits on the left side of the rear seat of the automobile, beside him sits Mayor George Smitley's wife dressed in white; the man on the right is unidentified. Tacoma Mayor Smitley rides next to the driver in the front seat. The group rides past the Bostwick Building, 755-71 Saint Helens Ave., at this time occupied by William Whetstone, the Credit Dentist. In the background, streetcars are parked to accomodate the passing of the parade. Later the same group would oversee the dedication of the relocated and reconstructed Fort Nisqually at Point Defiance.
Tacoma loves a good parade and Labor Day of 1934 was no exception. The Chamber of Commerce float bears Miss Tacoma, Queen of the Labor Day festivities and the Seattle Potlatch, Roberta Cohoon, down the parade route. She is attended by Margie Christen, left, and Eleanor Layton. The parade preceded the dedication ceremony for the relocated and restored Fort Nisqually. (TDL 9/4/1934, pg. 1)
