text by Paul Niedermeyer Americans have been celebrating the 4th of July with parades and other festivities since 1777. The nature of those celebrations has changed somewhat over the centuries, but Main Street parade featuring floats, marching bands, and attractive women riding on the back of open cars have been around for at least a hundred years. Let’s take a look at some of these parade cars and their riders from the ’50s to the ’70s, although not all of them are necessarily 4th of July parades. But it seems pretty safe to guess that these two being hauled by a 1959 Lincoln were part of an Independence Day parade.
This parade was a few years earlier, judging from the cars. The yellow Buick convertible is likely a 1952 model.
A 1951 Ford convertible heads up this group of open cars.
A spiffy new ’57 Ford Sunliner is sponsored by Ruth’s Beauty Salon. Yes, American parades are also an opportunity for businesses to get their name in front of a lot of eyeballs.
Miss Oregon 1958 is waving to the crowds from her perch on a 1958 Ford Sunliner.
TV’s Zorro makes an appearance in a white 1958 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight. Based on the Multnomah Hotel sign this is most likely in Portland, OR.
A kid is presumably looking for a handout from the woman in the 1954 Olds convertible. And a cop is about to intervene.
The Grand Marshal gets to ride in the grandest convertible of them all in 1959, a Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
There’s a comment with this photo that says it’s from Berkeley, CA, and dated 11/11/61. The gals riding with that rocket are sporting some rockets of their own. The float, sponsored by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce is being pulled by a 1960 or 1961 Chevy pickup.
The license plate says “Ohio” and the cars say “1965” and the winter coats say something other than the 4th of July. Thanksgiving? Veteran’s Day? A ’65 Impala is in front, a ’65 Pontiac follows and there’s a ’65 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan parked in front of a ’62 Buick Special.
Miss Arcadia Cindy Clark and her court are riding on a 1969 Chevrolet Impala Custom Coupe. Looking good!
I can’t make out the writing on the signs, but if it’s a showdown between the ’65 Ford Galaxie 500 and ’67 Chevy Impala convertible, I’ll have to give the nod to the Chevy. It’s sporting a Turbo-Jet V8 emblem, most likely for the 396 but you never know.
Here’s an Official Hurst-Olds Indy 500 Pace Car, and the sign has these three names on it: Al Unser, Roger McCluskey and George Snider. That does look like it could be Al sitting back there facing away from the camera.
Now this is a little different on two accounts. One didn’t commonly see VW buses in parades, although a sunroof version would have made a great stand-up platform for a celebrity or politician. And the sign of course refers to Martin Luther King’s famous speech. The location has a decidedly LA feel to it, so I’m guessing it was some sort of celebration or commemoration in South Central LA.
Miss Oregon’s driver isn’t in a parade mood.
Happy Birthday America 🇺🇸. There’s nothing quite as inspiring as a parade, especially on July 4th. Although my community always has fireworks, we’ve never had a parade on Independence day, but have had University Homecoming parades in the past, which were replaced by a festival parade. In 1968,I drove the Homecoming Queen in our family’s red 66 Olds Dynamic 88 convertible, fully realizing the attention was on the car or the Queen. Over the years, I’ve attended and participated in so many parades. Last week I watched Chicago’s PRIDE parade on TV in the air conditioned comfort of my home. No longer able to attend. Not the same, but still inspiring. My message is ENJOY every minute and make lasting memories, BEFORE the PARADE passes YOU by!
Good thoughts. Make every day above ground a good one!
Parades aren’t nearly as big a deal now (in these vintage photos, the streets are packed, even with people on rooftops) – however parades are still out there, and there’s even interesting parade convertibles too.
This past spring, my wife happened to attend a parade in Norfolk (NATO Parade of Nations), and took this picture of the city’s sheriff being driven in a 1968 Oldsmobile. (Most parades I’ve seen have cut down on politicians riding in the parade due to bad behavior from the crowds, so I was surprised to see this on that account too).
Anyway, happy July 4th to everyone!
I would call that Cutlass S a ’69 model.
Thanks!
The picture of the Hurst/Olds is probably from the 1972 Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade. It’s traditionally the day before Indianapolis 500 Race Day and runs through downtown Indianapolis. Nowadays all 33 drivers ride in convertibles (pace car replica or “parade” cars) arranged in rows of three (like they qualified for the race) interspersed with the floats and marching bands. Apparently back in 1972 each row shared a convertible. So yes, that was Al Unser Sr. with his mutton chop sideburns sitting on the back.
My small Wisconsin hometown had a big parade. We paid homage to the economic engine of our town. Sheboygan had brats. Milwaukee had beer. Kenosha had Ramblers. We had CHEESE. This is Wisconsin after all.
An owner of one of the local companies was a fellow who always liked unusual vehicles. One year he purchased a VW van with the big sun roof surrounded by all those little slit windows. It was the only one in town and the 1st one I had ever seen. It was such an unusual vehicle that he was invited to drive it in the parade. There were no pretty girls or vote-seeking politicians peeking out of the sunroof.
A wasted opportunity to be sure, but the van was the star of the parade. Today, I’d probably pay far more attention to the assorted 50s and early 60s convertibles sprinkled among the floats and marchers. Back then, the van so captured my attention I can’t recall a single one of convertibles.
Today, a German van is one of my lasting memories of the once common parades that celebrated America’s birthday. Happy 4th of July USA.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AMERICA ! .
I miss the Sam Browne belts cops used to wear .
I remember mom in our local 4th parade in 1959…….. she would have been 101 today, it’s also her birthday .
-Nate
Happy Birthday to your Mom, Nate!
These are fun to see—the cars and then hairstyles sure help date them!
Image #10 (Ohio)–the cold-weather one–might be local football team having just won championship (trophy seen). Bottom of windshield = “Greyhounds” or “Whippets,” perhaps the team name. (It might say “North” on them, but that’s a rough guess).
My second guess would have been “Homecoming parade,” but I figure a trophy wouldn’t be part of that.
Perhaps I’ll peek into figuring out location for a few while observing the holiday. Thanks much for the writeup!
p.s. Lots of vintage-parade footage on YouTube for carspotting. Beverly Hills Easter Parade 1958 is a favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiBIMofkJwY
I agree that Image #10 looks like a high school championship parade. The location is Brookville, Ohio – a then-and-now comparison is below. However, the local high school is known as the Blue Devils (as they appear to have been in the 1960s as well), so the greyhounds on the windshield are a bit of a mystery.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/i74vSgEVtC3QK5ks8
Just noticed a neighboring town’s high school – Dixie High School in New Lebanon – are known as the Greyhounds. So maybe the parade was some kind of a regional parade, with various schools participating (the car behind doesn’t have greyhounds on it). Kind of gutsy to parade your trophy through a neighboring town, but maybe folks there were a bit more civil than where I grew up…
I will add some more to this mystery. A photo search goes to Wikimedia Commons and identifies this as a victory parade for Northwestern High School of West Salem, Ohio. They were the boy’s basketball champions, were known as the “Huskies”, and the parade was held March 1st, 1965. So far, so good.
But West Salem is about 160 miles from Brookville, and there is no disputing Eric’s find. Northwestern’s opponent was Springboro, which is about 30 miles from Brookville.
More to ponder …
The man in the hat does bear a strong resemblance to Northwestern High School basketball coach Roy Bates (who was also a baseball coach), shown below, though the location is definitely Brookville. Maybe the state basketball champs participated in a few parades statewide?
Thanks! Always loving these before and after photos!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! May you all have a wonderful day. Let Freedom Always Ring in our hearts, our lives and for our generations that even we will not see!
And now, it is time for an old joke rather pertinent to this day:
A redundant dowager (retired old lady) in England decided to see The United States on a train tour for many weeks. She debarked in New York, went to Penn Station and boarded her train. As the train approached western New Jersey, the sights became lovely. Then came Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Each area she found beautiful, even the industrial towns. Crossing The Great Plains was unfathomable as to how great in size they are, but when the train climbed The Rocky Mountains, she was breathless in wonder. After these weeks of travel and stopping here and there for side tours, this was the final blow. Out loud she shocked her fellow passengers, “DAMN GEORGE III!”
For 85 years, Minneapolis has staged it’s “Aquatennial” celebration every July. It’s a big deal and local radio stations with a budget for it were part of either the “Grand Day” or the “Torchlight” parade. I worked for WCCO AM & FM in the 1970s and ’80s and always volunteered to drive whatever convertible we bartered that year. (Otherwise one spent a couple of hours developing waver’s cramp.) Only one car was memorable, a Fox-body Mustang, because it couldn’t resist spewing coolant during the 95 degree slow crawl. From
that point I signed up only for the “Torchlight” variant.
Today, Hot wheels car club in the Plymouth, Massachusetts parade. Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower are in the Background. Happy 4th 🇺🇸
I always looked forward to the Plymouth parade. My Nana lived at 44 Court Street so it was easy to hang out on the stoop and see the parade go by. The fire engines were my favorite (I was 11 to 14 in those years).
That blue “Sunliner”, for “Miss Oregon” is beautiful!
In my hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts there was a cherished tradition at the end of the Independence Day parade called the horribles. Start with a barely running car then smash every panel, remove all glass, maybe chop the roof off the roof, mount the wheels off center so the vehicle wobbles, put marvel mystery oil in the washer reservoir and reroute the hose to the carburetor enabling large clouds of smoke on demand, mount US flags on the wiper arms and of course no exhaust mufflers. Load up the car with young folks of varying degrees of sobriety and drive the 2 or 3 mile parade route much to the delight of most spectators. Sadly this all ended about 40 years ago due to some stuffy people who thought it was distasteful. The tradition predated WW ll and is still fondly recalled.
Terrific ’54 red & white Olds convertible.
It’s a Starfire 98.
Racy & hot in their day. But this one has front bumper over-riders. I always associated those with stodgy sedans of a few years earlier.
In ’54-’56, all 98 convertibles were called Starfire.
The name showed up again in ’61-’66 as a personal luxury type, with buckets & console, competing with T-Birds.
Then as a piece of crap in the mid ’70s based on the Vega/Monza, sad end to a great car.
Happy Independence Day!
I will add a few miscellaneous comments;
Photo #2 The Buick is a ’52 Roadmaster. In the background on the right a green ’49 Nash, center a blue ’41 Plymouth coupe, and the black car from the thirties I am unsure about.
#3 An Illinois dealer plate on the ’51 Ford, which was followed by a ’51 Plymouth Cranbrook and a ’47 or ’48 Ford Super De Luxe.
#4 A search reveals this was the Corn Festival parade in La Habra, California, in 1957.
#5 Miss Oregon was Mary Ellen Vinton, and she was actually riding in a Skyliner Retractable Hardtop. The giveaway is the fuel filler on the quarter panel.
#7 The Olds was a Ninety-Eight Starfire, and it was wearing an Illinois license plate.
#8 This one looks to be the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, held on January 1st, 1959. The Grand Marshall was Senator E. L. “Bob” Bartlett of Alaska, and the man in the dark coat appears to be him.
#9 The pickup was a ’61 Apache 10 Custom Cab Fleetside.
#10 The Pontiac was a Bonneville.
#11 Miss Arcadia and her Court were riding on a Caprice, with the wide bodyside molding and “Caprice” on the sail panel. The location was South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia, California.
#12 That sharp Chevrolet was a Super Sport with fender lights, bumper guards, fender skirts, and Mag-style wheel covers.
#14 A couple of Cadillac’s trailing behind; a ’73 and a ’63 or ’64.
Be careful with those fireworks!
I love seeing your photos from the past. 50’s/60’s etc. Also it would be very intesting if you could re-visit those exact same location now to see the changes from 50 and 60 years ago. I know that would be very time consuming. But just an idea.
B.H.
July 5, 2025
Photo No.7 with the ’54 Buick is the most interesting of the lot.
That kid isn’t seeking a handout – he’s trying to give one, a large pamphlet or poster at a guess. Miss Buick’s body language, the pulled-back arm especially, suggests offence. And a closer look shows that unlike all the other pics, there’s quite a few coppers on crowd duty. Something was up in Illinois that day.
1951 Frazer in Racine, Wisconsin on July 4, 2025.
Judging by the wheel covers, I would have to say that ’62 Buick Special is the Skylark version.
I wonder if that actually *is* Guy Williams in the Zorro costume, in his pre-Lost In Space/Professor Robinson acting days!