Million Monster March: The Anaheim Halloween Parade

Although it hasn't yet been made official, I'm pretty sure that we are honorary citizens of Anaheim, CA.  We are probably over thinking it, but out of sheer good taste and unqualified breeding, we're just waiting for the mayor's announcement that both a street and a day will be dedicated to Tiny & Mary before we send out the invitations to the ribbon cutting ceremony.

"Where's our key to the city, huh?!"

This could take a while...
(photo courtesy of Star Class Media)

We spend so much time with our Anaheim-resident friends that sometimes it feels like we live there - especially when it comes to Anaheim's big day to shine - The Anaheim Halloween Parade! 

Andy Anaheim, a character created nearly 60 years ago by
Disney artists, stepped off the parade with his rotating head,
functioning arms, and booming bass drum.

For months and months, our pals over at the Anaheim Historical Society have been planning, designing, and preparing for this year's parade.  While the parade has always been a rallying opportunity for the community and a real source of hometown charm, the recent past has seen the it dwindle into a cavalcade of local politicians and obscure beauty queens.  Great - and very successful - pains were taken this year to restore some of the thematic elements that make it the Anaheim Halloween Parade.

Just a sampling of the projects as they progressed
at the official parade headquarters.

If nothing else, I have a modicum of rhythm.  Obviously, marching in a parade would come so very much like a second nature to someone so rhythmically-blessed as myself, that I could easily miss the parade meetings and just jump right in at the last minute, right?  Right?!?!

It begins at sundown.

I quickly learned that marching in a parade is more than soliciting high-fives from the crowd; it is an art form!
There's definitely a trick to walking, waving, and wearing a mask (sans glasses) all at the same time!
(photo courtesy of Star Class Media)

We were in the old-timey section of the parade.
The positioning worked out perfectly as we were able to recycle last year's
costumes (after returning from Japan, time, energy, and funds were low).

This cat costume, worn by our pal, Norma,
was a hit with us and with the crowd!

The two-part, man-powered Haunted House had a wooden frame but the
rest of the structure was  - believe it or not - cardboard!
The artists behind these pieces are incredible.

Speaking of cardboard, this is another cardboard sculpture.
Reminiscent of the trees from The Forest of No Return in Babes in Toyland,
the amount of depth and texture achieved in this piece is mind blowing!
Once all of the lantern foliage was lit, it was spectacular!

Shriners rule the world!
The minicars and calliope/organ wagon are always a highlight!

I had a very, very small hand in bringing the
"Heebie Jeebie" to life, so small in fact, that
I shouldn't even mention it.  But I am nothing
if not one to take credit where credit isn't due!

The Jungle Cruise/Tiki contingent of the parade was
 among my favorite entries!  Dig that crazy mask!

There was so much more to the parade, but because I skipped, tripped, waddled marched this year, I depended on the kindness of friends for many of these photos.  If you are anywhere in the area, you are more than welcome to contribute and participate in next year's Anaheim Halloween Parade.  

Join the fun!!!
(photo courtesy of Star Class Media)

2014 will mark the parade's 90th year and it is sure to be a spectacle of unprecedented proportions; contact the Anaheim Halloween Parade website for more information.  For additional information on the history and redevelopment of Anaheim please visit the Anaheim Historical Society.  Preparations for next year's parade begin in January 2014.  Happy Halloween!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

A Halloween Parade

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).

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.

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.

The Boy Scouts

The Mounted Police

Low-Riders and marching bands

Classic automobiles

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. 

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!"

The original Flying Sasser - a sassy saucer piloted by juvenile space cadets.
(Source)

Mary prepping for show time in Bob & Amber's spacey, atomic living room.

Kevin & Mary and the 2012 Flying Sasser

Mary's costume is based on another parade photo circa '53.
Female residents of Anaheim as auxiliary members of the Flying Sasser team.
(Source)

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

Waking the Dead: "Gon But Forgoten"

Unlike many people, I have never gone through a "Goth" phase.  I am just too square.  With few exceptions, I've always been drawn to the merry rather than the macabre.  One of those exceptions is cemeteries; I love them.  I love the tranquility.  I love the history.  I love the ritual.  I love the monuments and tributes.  I love the universality of honoring loved ones who have passed on.  Okay, okay, I love that they can be a little spooky too.  

One of my favorite cemeteries was one we found on a coastal hike starting from Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.  If I find some of our pictures from Waverley Cemetery, I'll have to share them with you.  I'm sure the significance of the cemetery, beautifully poised on a cliff above the ocean, is without end to an expert in the history of colonial Australia; its graves date to some of the earliest British inhabitants of New South Wales.  To us it was simply a lovely place to stop and explore along our walk.  The effects of time and of the salty, ocean air are quite evident, and lend an added measure of drama to the final resting place of Australian notables.  It is one that I would love to revisit and strongly recommend that you visit it if you're ever down Bondi way.

Mary beneath the archway to Anaheim Pioneer Cemetery 

Back home we were given a tour of Anaheim's Pioneer Cemetery by some of its most famous residents (Anaheim, not the cemetery specifically), our friends Bob and Amber.  Founded in 1866, it may not be quite as old or quite as dramatic as a cliffside graveyard in Australia, but what we saw inside was pretty inspirational.  We were careful to go during the brightest light of day so we wouldn't have bad dreams that night.

"Precious darling, thou hast left us,
Left us yes, forever more.
But again we hope to meet thee
On that bright and shining shore."

Anaheim Cemetery is home to the oldest mausoleum on the west coast of the United Sates.  Within its walls also stand the markers of many important names from the annals of Orange County history.

Samuel Kraemer was the first white settler in the area
 to start farming, introducing new techniques for
cultivation and irrigation.

Augustus Langenberger and Clementine Schmidt Langenberger were
part of the original Anaheim Cemetery Association - pioneers in Anaheim
 and founders of Anaheim Cemetery.  

The Langenberger family mausoleum, built in a Spanish mission style, is a highlight of
the cemetery tour.

The Kraemer's portal to the eternities

Anaheim was largely a German settlement, so many of the oldest graves are entirely in German.

Very roughly translated, the epitaph says, "Here resting softly this man sleeps."
...or maybe just "Rest in peace."
How's that for only one year of high school German??? Pretty bad, probably.

There were many veterans' graves as well.,  Not being a
 historian, I had to look up the significance of the star marked G.A.R.
 G.A.R. stands for Grand Army of the Republic and signifies the
 deceased's service in the American Civil War.

As much as I enjoy history, it is really the ornate headstones that hold all of my interest.  Blame it on the grave markers in the queue at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, but I am always on the lookout for interesting shapes, intricate carvings, beautiful statuaries, and funny epitaphs.  As it is only but a couple of miles away from Disneyland, I almost wonder if some of the Imagineers came to Anaheim Cemetery for a little inspiration.

I knew the odds were against me, but I really did spend a fair amount
of time looking for a marker that read "Fronts."

I love the draped fabric carved into this headstone.

A bit of faux bois never hurt anyone.

A bit more faux bois with a hanging scroll

I love the statues of angels.
I wonder if statues like this were individually-carved
 or cast from a mold.

I also wonder if there are any craftsmen around
who still create this kind of marker.

For every elaborate monument there is one so simple that it serves merely as practical documentation.

The saddest headstones are of course the most diminutive - those belonging to children.  I had never noticed before, but many of the miniature, heart-shaped headstones document the age of the child including the months and days.

"Baby Twins"

Obviously, the purpose of wacky tacky is not to be a huge downer, so we have to show you one of the strangest grave markers that we found, the one belonging to 19-year-old John A. McCoy.

"Killed on a thresher"
I am stumped as to why his family thought this was absolutely
necessary to include on the headstone - especially if they were charged
by the letter.  If that was the case, I think I probably would have
left off that gory little tidbit of information.

By far, the most significant and interesting headstone to me was a tiny marble slab marking the grave of an infant child.  Hand-carved, it seemed to tell the whole story of the family that lost their baby, Louise.  They were clearly neither wealthy nor well-educated, but the love for their child was abiding.  I imagined that they spent all the money they could afford on the marble itself (unhoned, unpolished), and then were left to their own devices to carve it.  I find that the spelling mistakes and omissions/edits actually deepen the sweetness and sadness of this tiny headstone.

"Louise Cowan
Born March 31 '14
Died May 15 '14
not
Gon but ^ forgoten"

Anaheim Cemetery
1400 E Sycamore St
Anaheim, CA

Walt Disney and an Imagineer, Marc Davis, discuss

the development of The Haunted Mansion.

What do you think, is it weird to like cemeteries so much?  Have you visited a cool cemetery lately?  Do you have a cemetery close to you that is the final resting place for someone famous?  Or even better, someone infamous?

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Destination Moon!

I love to eat...but never my own words.  One of my very first blog posts was about the Laguna de San Gabriel Playground, where I mourned the loss of cool parks and lamented the fact that interesting playgrounds were few and far between.  Evidently, my laziness in searching out perfect parks does not necessarily equate to their nonexistence.  Thankfully, weird, wonderful, and wacky tacky parks abound - at least in Southern California.  Sometimes one must simply do a little bit of homework in order to find them.

Moon Unit Mary

In our recent post "How'd You Like to Spend New Year's on the Moon?", we visited a hometown landmark, Moon Park.  When I was online looking up a street address for the park, I found that there was another park with a lunar layout in nearby Anaheim, CA.  Just a hop, skip, and a jump from Disney's Tomorrowland is Brookhurst Community Park - Destination Moon!

"Destination Moon" - Dinah Washington

Ever apropos, Mary carried her moon and star carpet bag.

I hate to say it, but I think Brookhurst Community Park puts old Moon Park to shame.  BCP is a sprawling landscape of stalagmites, bridges, arches, and giant craters.  It is definitely more of a playground than a park and invites visitors to crawl over, under, and around the man-made moonscape.  Here are a bunch of photos of us doing just that.

The moon bridge that traverses the length of the park,
bisecting it into play/picnic area and sports complex.

Trust me, this is what everyone is
wearing on the moon this season...

I know because I was the only one there.

Paging 21st Century Ed Woods - aren't you ready to buy a camera and start filming your low-budget, sci-fi movie here?
I've already roughed out the first draft for "Mr. Tiny Meets the Moon Men"

Lest we forget that it is a playground, Mr. Tiny attacks the equipment.

Mary tries to astral project herself out of space prison.

Maybe I am over thinking this, but how cool would it be to have a fashion show a la "How to Marry a Millionaire"  where the models came down the ramp through the lunar arch and then perched themselves on the stalagmites?

I wish I could tell you more about the design and history of BCP, but the Anaheim Parks Dept. just won't give.  According to my brother, this area used to be called the "sadlands" and was heavily populated by skaters.  Maybe the Anaheim Historical Society can help me out with this one as there is little information that I was able to learn beyond finding out that the park was built in 1973.  It is not often, however, that we go to a playground for a history lesson.  We go to a playground to PLAY! 

Brookhurst Community Park

2271 W. Crescent Ave.

Anaheim, CA

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny