The parade dates to 1890 and was conceived by the Valley Hunt Club of Pasadena. Members used flowers to decorate wagons, carriages, and their horses to celebrate a good citrus harvest. The 
parade quickly outgrew what the club could sponsor, so a Tournament of Roses organization developed to run the parade and all that went with it.
Before the Rose Bowl There was the Tournament of Roses Read More »
Generally, at one minute before midnight on December 31, people from around the world will welcome the new year when the sparkling New Year’s Eve Ball drops slowly into Times
Times Square Ball Drop and the Story Behind this New Year’s Eve Tradition Read More »
Even in the 1920s, the economy had quite an effect on the holidays, starting with changes for the president and his family. In 1928 Herbert Hoover and his wife had done their holiday shopping in Rio de Janeiro and celebrated Christmas Day on a battleship traveling back from their good-will tour of Latin America. It was reported that in 1929 they were to celebrate very differently. Here are some of the aspects of the Hoovers’ 1929 celebration:
The White House and Holidays Past Read More »
Children today are much more sophisticated in their entertainment taste than children of the 1950s and ‘60s, but in our culture, the Santa story is so prevalent that even today’s
Santa’s Village: The First Franchised Amusement Park Read More »
At holiday time, a special treat for the family often involved a trip downtown (or to the nearest big city) to see the store windows, talk to Santa, and admire the town Christmas tree. Major cities still have this holiday atmosphere (think of Rockefeller Center and the windows at Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, and Saks), but in smaller communities across the country the fabric of the shopping experience has been changed by the rise of big box stores.
Stimulating Retail Sales in Stores 100 Years Ago Read More »
There is nothing new about wanting to surprise a friend or family member with the gift you have chosen…but it used to be much harder to wrap these gifts.
Wrapping Paper and Gifts: The Story Behind It Read More »
