A few months ago we posted a gallery on cars and parades of the 50s-’60s that got considerable comments and interest. With that in mind, what better day than the 4th of July to follow up on the subject?
So, let’s join the holiday spirit through this virtual tour of parades from the past.
“George/Dorothy Baxter’s” , “Ford” convert about half way through the article. The next season, they switched to a “Mustang”.
In 68, I drove my parents 66 red Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convert in University Homecoming Parade, carrying the Homecoming QUEEN! Not sure if she or the Olds got more attention 🤔
I wonder what Ben Frank_in would think? He’d appreciate that his namesake was a frugal store, and he’d whistle at Miss Deca. He wouldn’t appreciate a Japanese car parking in front of his store.
I think a thrifty, reliable and long-lived Corolla would be right up his alley.
Such nice photos that bring back memories .
I’d want the Poncho Hard Top parked behind the Chrysler in the first picture .
-Nate
The picture of the white Chevy convertible in front of Varsity Market and Berkeley Hardware was taken at the heart of downtown Berkeley, California at the corner of University and Shattuck. The same intersection as this picture of New Look buses https://www.curbsideclassic.com/bus-stop-classic/bus-stop-classic-new-look-parade-in-berkeley-1960/ The Chevy, probably from Maggini Chevrolet a few blocks south on Shattuck, is pulling a float for Albany, a small neighboring town. For what it’s worth, I have no memory of ever seeing a parade in Berkeley. I would have been three years old then, but parades were something foreign … in books or movies about far-off lands like the South or New England. Go figure there was one just a mile from my home!
The hardware store’s sign touts its train collection. Within a few years it had moved a couple of doors up the street to an even bigger location, with a huge running train display in the window and a large selection of AMT 3-1 models and Märklin trains in the basement. I spent a lot of money on AMT (and JoHan and Monogram) kits there, but the trains remained unobtainium, though I may have bought a few 1/87 Märklin or Wiking cars. FYI, the Harris store in the background became Berkeley’s first McDonald’s, in the mid- or even late-seventies.
In the lead pic, those young lovelies had no idea in `58 that the brand-new DeSoto Adventurer cvt. they were riding in would be worth over $140K in that condition today. It just shows you how times change I guess. Oh, to have been a fly on the dashboard of that gorgeous car (heavy sigh)
Remember when nurses wore those white hats?
I do! I guess that’s the Maternity Ward float (notice the stork on the roof over the cab).
It must have been the parade associated with some sort of fertility festival. 😉
Everyone sure did dress nice to see a parade!
I remember when my family went to the local grammar school on a weekend to receive the polio vaccine. We entered thru the cafeteria as my Mother handled the paperwork for six kids, and my parents.
We then moved to a table full of sugar cubes (with a color dye) in small white paper cups. Behind the table was a tall nurse in a white cap, white uniform, white stockings and white shoes. Very imposing for a kid not even in grammar school. She made sure you swigged the sugar cube which contained the vaccine.
To this day, anytime I see sugar cubes for coffee, I think of that nurse!!!!
That was the Sabin vaccine, probably administered around 1964. Here is Senator Vance Hartke (Indiana) and six of his children who are receiving the vaccine. The yellowed clipping is from my grandmother’s scrapbook. She was a staunch Democratic party activist in our Republican county while I was growing up. It was a time when a good Democrat could get elected in a largely Republican state (unions helped). Imagine that happening in today’s world of polarized politics. You brought up some good personal memories on a special day, as did Jeff in his very enjoyable piece on the Pontiac and his father.
I received the Sabin oral vaccine around about 1964 or 1965. I vividly recall the sugar cube. Like 3speed says, that’s given sugar cubes an extra special place in my memories.
The sugar cubes that were made available during my youth contained anti-sanity vaccines copied from Timothy Leary’s original recipe. Back then, amateurs had trouble getting the dosage right. Which resulted in sometimes keeping the vaccine’s effects permanent, never needing periodic renewals like with tetanus shots which are recommended to refresh every 10 years
Great photos. The photo of the (pink?) 1965 Mercury has a strong Animal House parade scene vibe. Just before the Deltas barge in.
Or the last scene where it’s revealed that Belushi has become Senator Blutarsky and has married Babs. (Buick convertible though in that scene in the movie)
I’m assuming that Mercury is pulling a float just outside of the frame. If not, the lady sitting in parade position must be a whole lot heavier than she looks.
I’m remembering a very hot 4th of July parade down Townsontown Blvd. in 1966, and my future employer Towson Ford had several Mustang convertibles in the parade, but at least one of them had to pull out because it overheated.
I can believe that having owned 2 early Mustangs. For some reason the little 289 likes to run hotter than it did in the ’64 Galaxie I had in college. I guess it could be the smaller grille opening. I have had my ’66 vapor lock during a parade. I poured a bottle of water on the fuel pump and it finally started. Mine has AC so that doesn’t help.
No expense was spared creating and taping the signs attached to the DeSoto in the first picture.
Alright, Jeff Sun! Fertility Festival indeed! However, I laughed my you-know-what off at your remark. Notice how the nurses are carefully anchored to the hood. As a treat, during the summer, when my mother would pick us up from Lake Forest in The Town of Luzerne, NY to bring us back to Grandpa and Grandma’s two-story log cabin, we sat on the fenders of our 1950 Dodge and held onto the hood ornament with our feet (if we were lucky) touching the steel plate between the bumper and the grille. YES, it is fun and today some eccentric would haul a parent into some sort of legal battle for doing it. Great times now no longer available. Love all of the photos.
I can’t count the number of 4th of July parades I’ve watched. A lot though. In all those years, I can’t recall ever seeing a Rambler American parade car – even in the rare years they offered a convertible.
My supposition is that you’d never be able to coax Miss Whatever into being seen in one. I speak from painful high school experience.
Yet Rambler Americans survived long after big finned DeSotos.
“I can’t recall ever seeing a Rambler American parade car”
You obviously don’t live in Kenosha 😊.
This year Miss Kenosha was on the trunk of a red ’65 American ‘vert. There was also a whole section of the parade dedicated to Kenosha-built cars, including a Hurst S/C Rambler and a Rebel Machine.
Today’s parade in Somers (I have to go to these parades, as my granddaughter is in color guard) had a ’67 GTO that was being pushed by 4 guys as the driver tried in vain to get it started.
Delta House “Ate ME” Continental pulling up the rear?
The queen in thex1969 silver vette convertible..she’s a winner..1972..great stuff
Also, we might include some Stanley cup parades, like this one in Toronto around 1967. The last time when the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. 😉
https://auctions.nhl.com/iSynApp/auctionDisplay.action?sid=1100803&auctionId=2354863
Home from college back in the late ’60’s I had the pleasure of driving a suicide door Lincoln convertible in my local community’s July 4th parade. What a showstopper!
Great pics..It is great to see these people young and happy, enjoying themselves.
Happy 4th.
My Dad told stories about driving his high school car, a ’40 Ford sedan, in the Fort Bend County Fair parade, and the Homecoming parade. He said it was fun but the ford kept trying to overheat (flathead). Mom was in the marching band in high school and marched in a few parades in Port Lavaca and Gonzales, Texas.
Ben Franklin was a chain of five and dime stores; Gonzales had one and I remember going shopping there with my grandma when I would stay with her in the summers. I bought model cars and paint there, before there was a Walmart in town. The new Walmart in Gonzales was the first one I went in, on its opening weekend, with Grandma and her friends from church after Sunday lunch, back about 1979-80….
These were the predecessors of the dollar stores nowadays….
The nurses on the Ford truck(looks like a medium duty farm truck) may have represented the local hospital. The sign on the truck mentions La Grange, perhaps the town in Texas that is the county seat of Fayette County.
Checked it out and found the Chevy dealer advertised on the side of the 1959 Impala is still in the same building under the same. Very rare these days. Looks like business is good.
The 59 Chevy convertible brought back memories. I had a white bat wing Impala convertible that I should have kept. They are worth over 100K today.
What’s the story on that red ‘vette with the Hooker header sidepipes, big Chrome Cragar SS wheels and what looks like fat Mickey Thompson slicks on the back? And I would love to be corrected on any brand errors I have made there on this post…. Far from an expert on Corvette myself here, but the side pipes and fatties on the back (tires that is 😜) look pretty good…