ca. 1952. Float sponsored by the Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot for an unidentified parade, possibly May Day or Armed Forces Day, circa 1952. The float is populated by people dressed in costumes of different countries. It features cutouts of tanks and mobile units rolling up to the top of a globe emblazoned with "Unity, Strength, Freedom." The float is hung with red, white & blue bunting. Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot was located approximately 13 miles south of Tacoma between Ft. Lewis, Madigan Army Hospital and McChord Air Force Base. MROD was established in 1942 as a motor base to supply motorized equipment to the Western Defense Command. In addition, it received and repaired all motorized equipment from the Orient and Alaska. It was comprised of 3 warehouses, each more that 1/4 of a mile long, housing 80,000 different items ready for immediate shipment, and two large buildings containing shops and headquarters. It employed approximately 1,600 civilians ( a number that doubled during wartime.) TPL-10389
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mount Rainier Ordnance Depot (Tacoma);
Military marching in formation during the May, 1951, Armed Forces Day parade. Spectators line the downtown streets to watch examples of America's military might pass by. In 1951, Armed Forces Day was only two years old, having been created in 1949 to honor Americans serving in the five military branches.
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Armed Forces Day;
The Armed Forces Day parade in downtown Tacoma occurred on May 19, 1951. Sailors with rifles march in formation followed by a group of Army or Air Force men.
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Sailors--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Armed Forces Day;
As shadows edge out into Pacific Avenue, they blend with the marching military units and vehicles during the 1951 Armed Forces Day parade. Everyone has paused, perhaps for the start of the parade. Honor guard is at front, followed by large groups of soldiers and other servicemen.
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Armed Forces Day; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Armed Forces Day parade marching down Pacific Avenue in May of 1951. Prominent buildings on the left include the Rust Building and (Old) City Hall. Puget Sound National Bank Building is on the right. The Seaforth Highlanders from Vancouver, B.C., (lower center) provide pipe and drum entertainment for the crowds. Besides the various marching military units, jeeps and other vehicles were present.
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Armed Forces Day; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching bands--Tacoma--1950-1960; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Rust Building (Tacoma); Puget Sound National Bank (Tacoma);
Armed Forces Day was created in 1949, a single day set aside for festivities thanking our men in uniform for their duty to our country. During this 1951 Armed Forces Day parade, three units are seen as they prepare to turn from 9th Street onto Pacific Avenue. The Seaforth Highlanders from Vancouver, B.C., Canada's championship pipe and drum band, turn the corner while two military units follow. Vern's Sandwich Shop is seen on the corner.
St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company's 1951 Daffodil Parade float carried three lovely young ladies representing springtime. The float was a tribute to "Springtime" with two robins in the front, a flowering arbor, and giant butterfly wings. It was the Sweepstakes Winner that year.
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
Kappa Sigma fraternity's float "definitely stole the show," according to the News Tribune, during the 1951 Daffodil Parade. The fraternity from the College of Puget Sound provided smiles and laughter with a satire of the City Council and the current problems with vice conditions. "Council members' equipped with pistols waved to the crowd as "Senator Kefauver" shook his broom over their antics. Mayor John Anderson, the "Big John" so noted, joined in the crowd's laughter. (TNT 4-8-51, A-1-article; A-9-alt. photo.)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Tacoma); Fraternities & sororities--Tacoma--1950-1960; Students--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The Honolulu Conservatory of Music's float from the 1951 Daffodil Parade. Two men sit in the front seat. Two young women are seated above the back seat, one holding an accordion and one with a guitar. Large music staves have been added to the front of the car which has been covered with daffodils and outlines of notes.
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Accordions; Guitars;
This daffodil-covered "zoo" depicting a jungle theme was just one of the 70 floats entered in the 1951 Daffodil Parade. On top of the cage were two young ladies in leopard-spotted strapless dresses while inside the cage, petting a lion created out of daffodils, is another young lady in a two-piece zebra-striped bathing suit. Crowds estimated at 100,000 lined downtown streets, fire escapes and peered out of office buildings to view the 1 1/2 hour procession. The float is pictured on Pacific Avenue passing the California Oyster House (930 Pacific) and Norman R. Smith's Men's Clothing (928 Pacific). (TNT 4-7-51, p. 1-article on parade)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); California Oyster House (Tacoma); Norman R. Smith's (Tacoma);
Decorated with hundreds, if not thousands of golden daffodils, the Jordan Baking Co. float proceeded down Pacific Avenue during the 18th annual Daffodil Festival Parade on April 7, 1951. It was photographed passing the Washington Hardware Co. (922-24 Pacific) and the Stationers, Inc. (926-28). Aboard was a display of the company's familiar wrapping and a subtle reminder of the freshness of its products. Jordan's was believed to be the state's largest independent bakery and had won numerous awards for its bread. Its "Fresh As A Daisy" float won second place in the parade's Commercial Division. (TNT 4-8-51, A9-alt. photo)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Jordan Baking Co. (Tacoma); Washington Hardware Co. (Tacoma); Stationers, Inc. (Tacoma);
Float #30, entitled "Springtime," won the Sweepstakes Award in the 1951 Daffodil Festival parade. The float had two large robins in the front and enormous butterfly wings at the rear with a young lady as part of its "body." Two other young misses carry metal watering cans as they pose next to a flowering arbor. This float was the creation of the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co.
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
Float #37 in the 1951 Daffodil Parade had as its theme, "Safety First." A small house, created out of daffodils and topped with shrubbery, was escorted by both a woman "fireman" and a smiling "devil." It was parked outside the Oxygen Sales & Service Co., sellers of oxygen and welding products.
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Parade (1951 : Tacoma); Oxygen Sales & Service Co. (Tacoma);
Waving to the crowds lined up on Pacific Avenue for the 1951 Daffodil Festival Parade are three Elks officials motoring along in a convertible decorated in blossoms. Driving is secretary Erling O. Johnson and in the back seat are Harold Duncan at left and Lloyd L. Wynans, right. Mr. Wynans was the current Exalted Ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Tacoma Lodge No. 174. Mr. Duncan, as Leading Knight, was to succeed Mr. Wynans as Exalted Ruler later in the year.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Convertible automobiles--Tacoma; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Johnson, Erling O.; Duncan, Harold; Wynans, Lloyd L.; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Tacoma Lodge No. 174 (Tacoma);
The Packard Bell float motored merrily along Pacific Avenue past the Washington Hardware Co. store on April 7, 1951, in the 18th annual Daffodil Festival Parade. An unidentified woman smilingly displays a handful of daffodils to the teeming crowds. A Packard Bell television set aboard the float has the photograph of the 1951 Daffodil Queen, Elaine Chipps of Puyallup, on the screen. Packard Bell was celebrating its 25th anniversary in 1951.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Packard Bell Co. (Tacoma); Washington Hardware Co. (Tacoma);
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);
Pausing on its way out of town is the Jordan Baking Co. float on April 7, 1951. It is most likely heading for Puyallup and environs as part of the 1951 Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival parade. The flower-bedecked float had as its theme "Jordan's Bread Fresh as a Daisy" which won it second place in the Commercial Division. Jordan's, with over 100 employees, was believed to be the state's largest independent bakery and known for their high quality, prize-winning bread. The young ladies on the float are not identified but company owner, Arthur K. Jordan is standing next to the float. The woman next to him may be Mrs. Jordan. (TNT 4-8-51, A-9, alt. photograph)
Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Jordan Baking Co. (Tacoma); Jordan, Arthur K.;
Small boys with big axes accompany the Boys Club entry in the 1951 Daffodil Parade. A tractor is pulling a large cart containing a daffodil-covered Blue Ox and his famous associate, Paul Bunyan. Crowds estimated at 100,000 packed the downtown streets of Pacific (shown above) and Broadway for the 18th annual Daffodil Festival Parade. Many families also got a good view of the 1 1/2 hour procession of floats, bands and other marching units, through office building windows including Washington Hardware Co.'s.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Boys Club (Tacoma); Washington Hardware Co. (Tacoma);
The Tacoma Kiwanis Club's entry in the 1951 Daffodil Parade provided a somber note to the festivities in its "Freedom is not Free" theme. WWII was still a fresh memory and the country was now engulfed in the Korean War. A nurse is flanked by a sailor and soldier who stand with their weapons, overlooking a coffin and cross in a field of daffodils. Judges awarded this entry third place in the Service Club division. (TNT 4-7-51, p. 1-article)
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Kiwanis Club (Tacoma);
Making a slow and careful turn onto Pacific Avenue is the prize-winning float from the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co., entitled "Springtime." Graced with two large robins and enormous butterfly wings and dressed in green, yellow and maroon colors, the float won the Sweepstakes Award in the 1951 Daffodil Festival parade.
Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1951 : Tacoma); Spectators--Tacoma--1950-1960; St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. (Tacoma);
Two units of segregated U.S. Army troops. An African American unit is followed by a white unit in the Armed Forces Parade on May 20, 1950. This was the first Armed Forces Day parade. It was a combination of the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force. It was estimated that 6,000 persons participated in the parade. Over 2,500 infantrymen of the 9th regimental combat team of the Second division and other units from Fort Lewis passed in review. Reserve units also played an important part in the event including the National Guard, Marine Corps, Naval Reserve, Army Reserve and Bellarmine R.O.T.C. (TNT, 5/22/1950, p.1)
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Soldiers--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960; African Americans--Tacoma--1950-1960; African American soldiers--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Armed Forces Day was created in 1949 to allow citizens to come together on a single holiday to thank our men in uniform for their service to our country. In this photograph of the May 1950 Armed Forces Day parade military units from Fort Lewis are marching south on Pacific Avenue. The camera's image offers a view of the facades of the buildings in the 900 block of Pacific. The Rust Building with 12 stories is at the end of the block. Awnings and fire escapes hang from many of the buildings. All the buildings in the 900 block of Pacific were demolished in the late 1960s to make way for the Park Plaza North Parking Garage.
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Soldiers--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Members of an all-African American unit from the United States Army turn the corner onto Pacific as they march down South 9th Street as part of the first Armed Forces Day Parade held on May 20, 1950. Over 2,500 infantrymen of the 9th regimental combat team of the Second division and other units from Fort Lewis took part in the huge display of military might. The troops from Fort Lewis were joined by representatives of the Navy, Marines and Air Force as well as non-military groups from local schools, fraternal and civic organizations. It was estimated that over 6,000 persons participated in the parade. Although President Harry Truman had signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948 calling for the desegregation of the United States' armed forces, the army did not formally announce its plans to implement the order until July of 1951. (TNT, 5/19/1950, p.1)
Military parades & ceremonies--Tacoma--1950-1960; Soldiers--Tacoma--1950-1960; Marching--Tacoma--1950-1960; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The Olympia Centennial Queen Royal and her court, dressed in pioneer garb, appear in the 1950 Daffodil Parade to advertise their upcoming celebration May 1-7th. In the background spectators view the parade from the front of Union Station. The two hour parade was led by the U.S. Marine color guard, followed by the Governor's car, with the cars bearing the mayors and officials of the sponsoring cities of Tacoma, Puyallup and Sumner immediately behind.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Parades & Processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Union Station (Tacoma);
Daffodil court members smile in the early morning gloom aboard the Tacoma Kiwanis float as they line up for the parade. The Kiwanis' floral tribute to spring topped by a beautiful butterfly took second place in service club entrants in the 1950 parade. The parade was a grueling all day affair for marchers and float riders, beginning with the line up in the morning and the two hour parade through Tacoma, after which parade performers reassembled at noon in Puyallup for the march to Sumner.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Parades & Processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Floats (parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Kiwanis Club (Tacoma);
This float sponsored by the city of Bonney Lake celebrates the Boys Club. It is topped by two youngsters, one in a football uniform and one in skiing garb. The Bonney Lake float is making the turn from Broadway to 9th, followed by the Associated Contractors sweepstakes winning windmill float and a marching band. The cold weather in 1950 delayed the opening of many of the daffodil blooms, cutting the amount available for the parade in half.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma);
This "small fry" float representing the little old lady who lived in a shoe nursery rhyme passes down Pacific Ave. in the 1950 Daffodil Parade. The little old lady and her many children ride on the float. The Daffodil Parades had no theme until after 1951. The parade operated on a very small budget of about $5,000 financed through the sale of 50 cent daffodil buttons and contributions. Daffodil growers, although not the parade's biggest supporters, ended up being the biggest contributors, delivering approximately 1,000,000 flowers to the parade at a price well below market price.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma);
The 1950 Daffodil parade heralded the arrival of Spring and the coming of the Easter holidays, as evidenced by the bunny float entered by the Orting Lions Club. This float was 3rd place winner in class 2 service club entrants.The driver's head can be seen out the side of the bunny. Parade floats had to cut their demand for daffodils by one half when cold weather stopped many of the yellow blossoms from opening in time for the parade.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Lions Club (Orting);
This flower bedecked tribute to the new Narrows Bridge, which was under construction, was the 3rd place commercial entry award winning float, sponsored by Rhodes Brothers department store. The float boasted that now even "more roads will lead to Rhodes." The float had miniature cars crossing the span over a floral Puget Sound. Rhodes was Tacoma's largest department store and was located in downtown Tacoma on Broadway.
Celebrations--Tacoma; Festivals--Tacoma; Spectators--Tacoma; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1950-1960; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1950-1960; Puyallup Valley Daffodil Festival (1950 : Tacoma); Rhodes Brothers Department Store (Tacoma);
