Saturday, October 27, was the day that everything happened. Every Halloween party on the face of the earth was that day and unfortunately, we weren't able to attend them all because we had a parade to go to!
Every year for the past 88 years, a major thoroughfare in Anaheim, CA has been closed to traffic so spooks and ghouls can haunt the residents of that community. Fortunately, our pals Bob and Amber live on the very street where the parade is held so we get front row seats. Unfortunately, as you are well aware, I am terrible with photography, so my photos of said parade are pretty awful (I choose to believe some evil spirit overtook my camera).
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| Bobby, Amber, Emily, and Jesse Front row seats are the best for heckling!!! |
Usually, Amber and Bob's parade festivities include elaborate costumes and hordes of revelers. They, however, were making preparations for their Australian musical debut, so the action was relatively low key. Food is never left out of the equation.
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| Amber's bacon-wrapped mummy dogs and my nothing-to-do-with-Halloween-whatsoever pesto canapes. |
The parade is the perfect example of small-town American spirit still thriving. Even though Anaheim is a bustling center of industry and tourism, its residents haven't neglected their heritage and the parade teems with old-timey charm and all the usual suspects.
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| The Boy Scouts |
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| The Mounted Police |
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| Low-Riders and marching bands |
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| Classic automobiles |
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| And The Shriners! When was the last time that you went to a parade where they still had Shriners in mini-cars? Even though the photo is blurry, this is by far my favorite part of the parade. |
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| They also have an organ-mobile!!! A Shriner is on board playing a pipe organ/calliope - INCREDIBLE!!! |
This year we had a vested interest in the parade. Mary took part in The Anaheim Historical Society's parade entry; based on a photograph from the parade in 1953, they recreated "The Flying Sasser!"
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| The original Flying Sasser - a sassy saucer piloted by juvenile space cadets. (Source) |
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| Mary prepping for show time in Bob & Amber's spacey, atomic living room. |
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| Kevin & Mary and the 2012 Flying Sasser |
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| Mary's costume is based on another parade photo circa '53. Female residents of Anaheim as auxiliary members of the Flying Sasser team. (Source) |
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| Mary & Amber I guess it's true - Mars needs Women!!! |
I apologize for the crummy photos. Maybe one day, I'll figure out the settings on my camera (but probably not). Until then, I hope you have a very safe and very HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Stay tuned for our next Halloween post - the costumes!!!
And as I can't let you get away without some mandatory Halloween viewing here is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as performed by Bing Crosby.
Cheers!
Mr. Tiny
Oh wow! A Halloween parade! We don't have those here. Boo! Hiss! What a fun idea. I love Mary's costume and that whole flying sasser situation. Y'all need to stop being so fabulous so that the rest of us can catch up. Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it; it seems like you guys should be having parades all the time! Also, it's all smoke and mirrors - we are the biggest dorks ever! But thank you, nonetheless!
DeleteOhhhhhhhhh, now I get your sister's costume.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely needed a little explanation. Happy Halloween!!!
DeleteThe parade looks like so much fun! Nothing like that in London, its all ghoul based events. But I can't wait to see your Halloween outfits!
ReplyDeleteI think every town needs a parade; you guys did have the Royal Wedding, but see if you can talk the Queen into some Halloween fun!!!
DeleteMars needs women! I am laughing right now. You missed the pictures of Amber boo-ing current elected officials and telling those running for office how passionate she is! Fun night my friend!
ReplyDeleteI WISH I had gotten pictures of the boo-ing! I think at that moment I was falling out of my chair because I was laughing so hard!!!
Deletehow cool! i was in a parade once when i was little (dressed in a handmade lion costume on a christmas float) but i've never seen a halloween parade! and i love those old pictures! those space costumes are amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis is our second parade of the year; apparently Californians love a parade!!! There is something so wholesome about a local parade and I love the old-timey feeling of this one. Any photos of your lion costume? I always want photographic evidence.
Deletei need to find the pictures. the costumes were really cute, my uncle made them! he rules, he used to french braid my hair for me, and taught me needlepoint!
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