On April 18, 1936, Daffodil Queen Helen Edgerton poses in the doorway of the 35 foot daffodil "tower" that served as a reviewing stand for the Daffodil Parade. The pylon was covered with 200,000 daffodils and was located at the corner of 10th and Pacific. Members of her court stand in front. They are, left to right, Alice Margaret Woods of Tacoma, Helen Rockway of Sumner and Joy Lundrigan of Puyallup. (T. Times 4/20/1936 , pg. 3)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1930-1940; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1936 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Reviewing stands; Edgerton, Helen; Woods, Alice Margaret; Rockway, Helen; Lundrigan, Joy;
The 1946 Daffodil parade drew one of the largest crowds in parade history. Many Pierce County businesses, organizations and schools signed up to appear in the parade. View of Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company float covered in beautiful daffodils. Three unidentified telephone employees are holding telephones, large telephone on rear of float. TPL-8693 (TNT 3/31/1946, pg. 1)
Daffodils--Puyallup; Parades & processions--Puyallup; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1946 : Puyallup); Floats (Parades)--Puyallup;
The float entered by the Veterans of Foreign Wars glides down the parade route in Puyallup at the first post World War II Daffodil Parade, held March 30, 1946. It features a depiction of the globe and is manned by Lady Liberty and representatives of the various branches of the service. The parade was the first held in three years due to its termination during World War II. TPL-8695 (TNT 3/31/1946, pg. 1)
Daffodils--Puyallup; Parades & processions--Puyallup; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1946 : Puyallup); Floats (Parades)--Puyallup;
The 1946 Daffodil Parade almost didn't take place. The Planning Committee was not figuring on a parade, until the Puyallup Chamber of Commerce stepped forward to sponsor it. Plagued by a shortage of post war trucks and chassis, the parade was not only beautiful, but ingenious, and patriotic. Here, the Riverside 4H float is appropriately pulled by a tractor. It features young girls in a pen with baby animals and is followed by flag bearers. TPL-8696
Daffodils--Puyallup; Parades & processions--Puyallup; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1946 : Puyallup); Floats (Parades)--Puyallup;
The 1946 Daffodil parade was expecting one of the largest crowds in Puyallup history to gather to watch the festivities. In just a short amount of time many community businesses, organizations and schools gathered together and wanted to participate in the traditional procession. View of Puyallup Camp Fire Girls standing behind their daffodil covered float.
Daffodils--Puyallup; Parades & processions--Puyallup; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1946 : Puyallup); Floats (Parades)--Puyallup;
The 1946 Daffodil parade was expecting one of the largest crowds in Puyallup history to gather to watch the festivities. In just a short amount of time many community businesses and schools gathered together and wanted to participate in the traditional procession. View of Puyallup Lodge No. 32 Ancient Order of United Workmen parade float. Queen Gloria Dinwiddie, Caryn Chervenka and unidentified male attendant standing in front of float.
Daffodils--Puyallup; Parades & processions--Puyallup; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1946 : Puyallup); Floats (Parades)--Puyallup;
Daffodil Parade, Times. Queen Doreen Moody (a junior at Sumner High School) and Princesses Jerene Fly (from Puyallup High School) and Joy Lundgren (a senior at Stadium High School) are riding on a float specially prepared for them by City Light. Queen Doreen wearing a crown of daffodils and a dark robe sits next to the upward facing trumpet of the large daffodil whose petals form the seats for Princess Jerene and Princess Joy. A few members of one of the bands performing in the parade are seen in the background. (TNT, 4/3/1948, p.1)
Daffodil Parade, Times. The Afifi Shrine Circus float showed three members seated in thrones wearing turbans, long beards and decorated robes while two others are dressed as island natives under a palm tree with fans to cool the nobles. They are displaying their neon emblem on the side of their float. (TNT, 4/3/1948, p.1)
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1948 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1940-1950; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1940-1950; Afifi Shrine Circus (Tacoma); Electric signs--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fraternal organizations--Tacoma--1940-1950;
Five children, bundled up against the cold, sit on the curb to watch the 15th Annual Puyallup Valley Daffodil Parade. Held on April 3, 1948, thousands of Tacomans and out-of-town visitors lined Broadway and Pacific Avenues to watch the 100-unit parade. Ted Brown, the chairman of the festival, estimated that 1,000,000 daffodils were used to decorate the many floats. The Daffodil Queen, Doreen Moody, shared the attention of the crowd with Gretchen Fraser, who had just won a gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics. TPL-9606
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1948 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1940-1950; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1940-1950; Daffodils--Tacoma; Children--Tacoma--1940-1950; Children & adults--Tacoma; Coats; Hats--1940-1950; Neckties;
Daffodil Parade, Times. Tacoma's Women's Clubs sponsored a float for the Freedom Train that was making its way around the United States carrying copies of 127 great American documents important to the history of the United States for citizens to see. The Freedom Train, sponsored by the American Heritage Foundation, was to be in Tacoma April 8, 1948. A man stands in front of the float dressed as an engineer. (T.Times, 4/1/1948, p.1)
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1948 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1940-1950; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1940-1950; Daffodils--Tacoma; Freedom Train;
Exposure of Stadium High School majorettes, marching band and drill team during the 1952 Daffodil Parade turning from 9th onto Pacific Ave. The 19th annual Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival had a 15 mile long parade made up of 70 floats, 21 bands, 28 marching units and three mounted groups. The parade formed in Tacoma at 17th and Broadway for a 10 a.m. kick off time moving north on Broadway to 9th, down 9th to Pacific, and down Pacific to 19th Street. (TNT 4/5/1952, pg. 1)
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Parades & Processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Drill teams; Stadium High School (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Marching bands;
A floral ship pulled by leaping goldfish carries a evening gown clad woman and two young sailors in the 1952 Daffodil Parade. This float was the entry by the Tacoma Savings and Loan Association and won second place in the organization division. Tacomans were warned against plucking daffodils off the floats as they passed through town as all entries had to complete the entire three-city parade route to be eligible for awards and would need every flower to look their best for judges. (TNT 4-5-1952, pg. 1-2)
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Parades & Processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Savings & Loan Association (Tacoma);
Husky dogs "mush" up a floral mountain carrying a sledded bottle, in this 1952 Daffodil Parade float sponsored by Cammarano Brothers, bottlers of carbonated beverages. It is followed by the entry from Nora's Bridal Shop, a lovely spring bride in a wide hooped dress, wide enough to hide the car that moves the float.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Cammarano Bros. (Tacoma);
Young women in daffodil hats and a king ride atop this 1952 float sponsored by Tacoma Vocational and Technical School. This float is very royal in keeping with the 1952 theme of "Alfred in Wonderland," a reference to the King Alfred daffodil- Puyallup Valley's most famous export. Young boys perch on the second floor ledge of the Willis Tavern, 1504-06 Jefferson Ave., to view the parade. The taller building to the right with the boys seated next to the Willis Tavern sign was the Hotel Lewis, 1520-22 Pacific Ave.; it was later demolished. (TNT 4-6-1952, pg. 1)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Vocational School (Tacoma);
The man adding a uniform hat to the top of this small totem pole is wearing a Daffodil Festival pin on his lapel in this photograph from March of 1952. The hat would perch on the carved dome of a dark-haired figure. Three official badges, one of them a Tacoma Police Department Chief badge and another a Tacoma Fire Department Chief badge, are shown against the bottom of the totem pole. A small wooden box with an engraved message on top sits on the table and the unidentified man holds a square platter decorated with an image of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Events celebrating the 19th annual Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival were held on April 1-6, 1952.
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1952 : Tacoma); Totem poles; Hats--1950-1960; Badges;
A convertible has been decorated by Art's Glass & Upholstery for the 1951 Daffodil Parade. The crowd was estimated at 100,000 this year. There were 97 entries in the parade with 70 floats and nearly 30 bands and marching units. The parade celebrated the arrival of spring and the bulb industry in the county. Pierce County was the largest bulb producing county in the United States at this time. (TNT, 4/3/1951, p.1)
St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company sponsored the "Sweepstakes Winning" float in the 1951 Daffodil Parade. It featured two robins in front, two young ladies next to an arbor, and an enormous butterfly with an unidentified woman as the "body." It is seen here as it passed in front of Washington Hardware's retail facility with the Sports Shop next door.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Washington Hardware Co. (Tacoma);
Pauline Martin, 18, was selected on February 28, 1941 to reign over the 1941 Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival. Miss Martin, the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Martin of Sumner, was born in a log cabin on a Montana ranch 25 miles from Sidney. Her family moved to Sumner when she was two, and she graduated from Sumner High School. The photographers and other Daffodil Queen contestants in this photograph are not identified. (T. Times 3/1/1941 p.1)
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1941 : Sumner); Martin, Pauline; Photographers;
Two bathing beauties pose beside a 1950 Hudson decorated by Central Motors auto dealers, 714 Broadway, as their entry in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. The girls smile despite the cool and gloomy parade weather. The 1950 parade was celebrating its 17th year in existence and was the longest and best attended in the history of the parade.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Parades & Processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Bathing suits; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Central Motors (Tacoma);
An aerial view of the 1950 Daffodil Parade, looking north up Pacific Ave. from 13th Street to the City Hall, between Commerce and Pacific at 7th. The route of the 1950 parade began at the staging area at 17th and Jefferson, proceeded up Broadway to 9th, and then back on Pacific Ave. to 17th. The parade broke up at 17th and Pacific and reassembled in Puyallup for the march to Sumner. The two hour parade featured floats, marching band, drill teams, mounted posses and comic relief and was viewed by over 100,000 in Tacoma alone.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960;
This aerial view of the 1950 Daffodil Parade shows Pacific Avenue looking north from South 13th Street toward the Old City Hall building. The Clover Park Band and Drill Team are followed by the Young Men's Business Club float, which took first place in the Class 2 competition. Spectators lined the parade route up to 10 deep, climbing atop ladders, buildings, fire escapes and awnings for a better view. The cold and wet weather did not stop the crowds, and every available officer of the law was needed to direct traffic in and out of Tacoma. TPL-8494
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960;
This daffodil sailed boat was the entry of the Retail Trade Bureau in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. The float was a play on words proclaiming "Better 'sales' for a Greater Tacoma." The 17th annual parade was a huge affair attended by more than a 100,000, however the parade tradition began in the town of Sumner with $25 and a small parade of wagons and trucks decorated with discarded daffodil heads at the height of bloom season.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma);
Carstens Packing Co. sponsored this floral tribute to the pig, where two uniformed chefs cook giant bacon, in the 1950 Daffodil parade. Carstens were meat and poultry packers located at 1623 East J, on the Tideflats. The TC stands for Thomas Carstens, President of the company. Thousands of daffodils adorn the float, and two pigs guard the giant Carsten ham at the rear of the float. The window that the float driver sees through was clearly seen at the front of the float.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma);
An unidentified uniformed marching band makes the turn from Broadway to 9th St. during the 1950 Daffodil Parade. The band, one of 18 participating in the parade, is followed by a decorated car and the "Birthday cake" float of Troop 84, Boy & Cub Scouts from Midland. A costumed roller skater skates in the area beside the float and the following truck. The signs for the Hotel Winthrop and the Roxy Theatre are prominent in the foreground of the picture.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Marching bands; Band uniforms--Tacoma;
A unidentified young woman sits atop car #64 supplied by the American Automobile Association to the Country House restaurant, Pacific Ave. near 147th, for use in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. The young lady smiles brightly despite that fact that the Saturday of the parade was chilly with cold winds and scattered showers.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma);
The Wild West was represented in the 1950 Daffodil Parade by this daffodil covered horse drawn carriage from Krause & Swanson, Inc., real estate, insurance and investment brokers. The man at the back of the carriage played music on a lap held keyboard or dulcimer while Western garbed riders clapped in time. The float was followed by a mounted drill team. Krause & Swanson at 117 So. 11th was owned by Ernest R. Krause, President, and Allen C. Swanson, Vice President.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Daffodil court members smile and wave from this daffodil covered float pulled by two floral bees sponsored by Busch's Drive In, winner of the 2nd place award for commercial entries in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. Busch's Drive In was the "in" place for teens in the 1950's with ten-cent hamburgers, french fries, milk shakes, curb service, car hops and plenty of parking room to show off their cars. Busch's Drive In was owned by William M. (Bill) Busch and located at 3505 South Tacoma Way. TPL-9545
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Buschs Drive In (Tacoma);
Three members of the Daffodil Royal Court ride on the float sponsored by St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., winner of the first place commercial entry. In previous years, the Festival had been reigned over by a high school aged Queen and two princesses. For the first time in 1950, a royal court of 16 attendants were selected. Twelve of these came from Tacoma, Puyallup and Sumner, as did the Royalty, and the town of Orting was asked to select four court members. This was the first time that the agricultural area of Orting was officially recognized as part of the Festival core group.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
The Country House Restaurant, Pacific Ave. near 147th, sponsored this decorated car in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. A long legged American beauty rode as a hood ornament, while costumed tap dancers danced along the side as the floor show. For parade performers, the parade was an all day affair. There was an early line up in Tacoma where the parade route took approximately two hours to complete, then everyone was loaded in buses to go to Puyallup and Sumner and repeat the process again.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960;
