This flower covered San Francisco trolley car won first place in the retail division for Steve Pease. Steve Pease owned Steve's Gay '90s, a South Tacoma landmark and popular nightspot of the fifties and sixties. This trolley was an actual San Francisco street car that Pease bought at auction in San Francisco, outfitted for street driving and drove back to Tacoma. It became a centerpiece at his restaurant and served as the inspiration for his Cable Car Room.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Steve's Gay '90s (Tacoma);
The winner in the Fraternal Organization division of the 1955 Daffodil Parade was sponsored by the Tacoma Elks Lodge # 174. A fountain at the front of the float spouts floral spray, followed by the flags of many countries leading to a floral depiction of the globe. Young women in evening gowns ride on the float. The one in front laughs with the crowd as she covers her head against the misty rain that plagued the parade this year. Despite the rough weather conditions, a record crowd turned out to cheer the parade on.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Tacoma Lodge No. 174 (Tacoma);
The winning float in the 1955 Industrial Division of the Daffodil Parade was sponsored by Carstens Hygrade. A floral basket holding young girls in white dresses with wrist length white gloves is being pulled by ribbons held in the beaks of floral birds. All float entries were judged according to artistic design and originality, with appearance, originality, conformity to theme, artistic features and detail being scored. No floats were permitted in the parade unless they were at least 75 % covered with flowers or other floral materials.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Carstens Packing Co. (Tacoma);
A smiling, waving young woman rolls down the street in a huge bright yellow daffodil ballgown with matching hat. The dress hides the means of conveyance of this float. This entry was sponsored by the Lions Club.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Lions Club (Tacoma);
The winner of the 1955 Daffodil Parade Festival Award for the float most closely adhering to the festival theme of "Golden Future" was sponsored by the Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot. Its theme was "We weave the golden future." It featured a revolving spinning wheel that wound out skeins of golden thread to eight spools, with labels like shipbuilding and aircraft, most probably referring to the industries that would fuel the Northwest economy in the future. The float used over 60,000 daffodils. A large basket in the front held the daffodil "wool." TPL-8301
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot (Tacoma);
The first place winner in the Education and Youth Division of the 1955 Daffodil Parade was this floral beauty sponsored by Pacific Lutheran College. A flower bedecked representation of the world is topped by a cross. A bridge or a rainbow leads from the globe to the front of the float. The 1955 parade also had a touch of Hollywood glamour as the honorary Grand Marshall was Marjie Millar, Tacoma native and the star of television and movies. This was the first time that a woman had served as Grand Marshall.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Pacific Lutheran College (Parkland)--1950-1960;
Pepsi Cola sponsored this salute to Tacoma's Rainbow Girls in the 1955 Daffodil Parade. The side of the float refers to Pepsi as "the light refreshment." No doubt the girls riding on the float in the abbreviated swimsuits were goose bumped as the day was both rainy and cool, however both girls smile at the crowd. The other girls are dressed in sleeveless evening gowns. Membership in the Order of the Rainbow is open to girls 13-20 who are related to members of the Masonic Lodge or the Eastern Star. The order was founded in 1922 in Oklahoma. Their ritual is based on the 9th chapter of Genesis and the virtues of faith, hope and charity. The seven colors of the rainbow symbolize life, religion, nature, immortality, fidelity, patriotism and virtue.
The float entered by the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Co. won third place in the Industrial Division. Two twin globes flank the front of the float, while the Statue of Liberty stands guard before a depiction of an atom at the rear of the float. A young boy representing Uncle Sam had gotten tired and is sitting on the base of the Statue. A south of the border vaquero and a safari hunter also ride at the rear of the float next to a palm tree.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
Students from the Marymount Military Academy, marching in precision with rifles, drill past the intersection of Pacific Ave. and 11th St. in the 22nd annual Daffodil Parade. They are dressed in uniforms and led by platoon officers with swords and banners. Founded in 1923, Marymount was the only military school in the state of Washington. It was run by the Dominican sisters and located south of Tacoma in Spanaway on the grounds of the Shields "Shangarry" estate. Students came from around the world to attend this boarding school.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1955 : Tacoma); Festivals--Tacoma; Marymount Military Academy (Spanaway); Private schools--Spanaway; Military education--Spanaway;
1978 Daffodil Festival Parade. The Judges Trophy for originality was awarded to the Orting Community's entry in the 1978 Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival Parade. It was one of the 33 floats entered in the parade. Orting had selected the theme "Lighter than Air" which was aptly displayed by the use of three flowered hot-air balloons floating on large white clouds. Several young ladies in pastels and white, possibly seniors at Orting High School, graced the float. The float measured 42-feet long, 11-feet wide and 13-feet high with some 35,000 white daffodils. The News Tribune noted in its front page parade article that it was a "crowd favorite." (TNT 4-9-78, A-1)
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1978 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1970-1980; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1970-1980;
1978 Daffodil Festival Parade. The 30-member drill team from Gov. John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup march proudly down Pacific Avenue during the April, 1978, Daffodil Festival Parade. The school's 90-piece marching band follows. The Rogers High School entry was one of 12 marching units and drill teams participating in the parade.
Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1978 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1970-1980; Marching bands; Drill teams;
Billye Fairchild, Frankie Cowan and Betty Brumbaugh pose in flowered spring gowns and picture hats in a field of yellow daffodils advertising the first Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival in March of 1934. The brainchild of Tacoman Lee Merrill, the first Festival had a tight budget of $600 and not many supporters. The parade, then called the procession, took place on March 17,1934. It began at Union Station and wound its way through downtown Tacoma, followed by Puyallup, Sumner & Orting. Area businesses and clubs, still recovering from the Great Depression, contributed decorated horses, bicycles, busses, autos and a few floats plus marching bands and drill units. The Queen, Elizabeth Lee Wooten, was selected a few days prior to the Festival as she walked down a city street in Puyallup. TPL-3148
Betty Brumbaugh poses with the air of a model for this promotional photograph for the first annual Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival in March of 1934. Betty is most probably Elizabeth Brumbaugh, listed in the 1934 City Directory as a saleswoman at the Peoples Store and residing at 424 No. Yakima. Elizabeth was the daughter of Rev. Roy T. Brumbaugh, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. She later married Norman Donaghue and moved out of the state.
A child rode in the large wicker basket atop a flower bedecked automobile in the first Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival parade in March of 1934. The early Daffodil Festival parades were held in late March at a time when the golden daffodils were blooming profusely. This float was sponsored by Mannings Inc., a tea and coffee dealer. Few entries in that first parade were as lavish as this one. Awards were given in eight categories in 1934: best pony, best horse, best bicycle, best Valley Exhibit Car, best Garden Club float, best service club float and best commercial division float. Mannings took the best commercial float honors for their beautifully decorated entry. (T.Times 3-19-34, p. 1-article; p. 5-alternate photograph)
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)
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)
Soldiers from the 148th Field Artillery, Fort Lewis on horseback in the 1931 Tacoma 4th of July Parade. The parade is heading south on Pacific Ave. Stores and shops on the west side of Pacific in the 1100 block can be seen in the background. TPL-7091
The Federated Improvement Clubs were "United for a Bigger and Better Tacoma" according to their entry in the 1925 Fourth of July parade. These clubs sought to not only improve their own neighborhoods but to boost the city as a whole. Clubs included the Union & 6th Ave. Club, Clement Ave. Club, Portland Ave. Club, and others throughout the city. Their vehicle, accompanied by a large wheel listing 32 clubs, was parked outside the Tacoma Hotel Annex.
1919 Labor Day parade. Five uniformed motorcycle policemen lead the 1919 Labor Day parade down Pacific Avenue before waiting crowds. Grand marshal of the parade, Charles Richmond, secretary of the Building Trades Council, rode on horseback. Bands and marching units follow. Streetcars move along adjacent to the parade activity. Businesses along this stretch of Pacific were thickly bundled together including banks, hotels, dentists, and drugstores. G38.1-019
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1910-1920; Business districts--Tacoma--1910-1920; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1910-1920;
More than 6,000 Tacoma union men took part in the Labor Day Parade down Pacific Ave. in September of 1919. The parade of Tacoma organized labor through downtown began at the City Hall, 625 Commerce, and proceeded south on Pacific Ave. Charles Richmond, a labor leader, led the parade as marshall mounted on a horse; he was followed by the Railway Brotherhood, policemen and firemen. Next came this float from the Teamsters, an old-time coach mounted on a horse drawn wagon. It was decorated with a banner reading, "Does the man who delivers your goods belong to the Teamsters Chauffeurs Union #313." Union 313 consisted of Tacoma drivers from many industries. Many union members followed the float carrying American flags. One of the goals of the Labor Day celebration was to reach the $30,000 goal set for the Labor Temple building fund. Labor Temple buttons were being sold to raise the funds. (T. Times 9/1/1919, pg. 1) G38.1-018 TPL-10094
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1910-1920; Labor unions; International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 313 (Tacoma); Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1910-1920;
