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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Then and Now: 1957 Christmas parade

1957: Boy Scouts pull parade floats along Post Street south of Main Avenue during the Christmas parade on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The float at left has a “Jack and Jill” theme, followed by “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and others of the six floats based on nursery rhymes, paid for by downtown merchants through the Spokane’s Retail Trade Bureau, which started as an arm of the Chamber of Commerce. Today, the work to promote retail business, cleanup of streets and sidewalks, and adding holiday lights and decorations is handled by the Downtown Spokane Partnership, the business improvement district supported by taxes paid by area businesses. (Spokesman-Review photo archives)
1957: Boy Scouts pull parade floats along Post Street south of Main Avenue during the Christmas parade on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The float at left has a “Jack and Jill” theme, followed by “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and others of the six floats based on nursery rhymes, paid for by downtown merchants through the Spokane’s Retail Trade Bureau, which started as an arm of the Chamber of Commerce. Today, the work to promote retail business, cleanup of streets and sidewalks, and adding holiday lights and decorations is handled by the Downtown Spokane Partnership, the business improvement district supported by taxes paid by area businesses. (Spokesman-Review photo archives)
By Jesse Tinsley jesset@spokesman.com(509) 459-5378

Police estimated there were 10,000 children lined along the route of the Christmas parade Nov. 22, 1957. It was one of the largest crowds seen in downtown Spokane that year.

Boy Scouts and members of the junior policemen group pulled six new floats down the parade route, each one with a nursery rhyme theme. The floats were built by Display Industries, a relatively new business started at 152 S. Post St. in 1956 and focused on creating signage and advertising displays for retail business. Larry Cowles, former display manager at the Crescent department store, was one of the partners in the business.

An unnamed group of merchants, likely representing the major downtown department stores, paid the company for six hand-pulled displays with full-sized dioramas of nursery rhymes and stories. Christmas marketing efforts were done through the Retail Trade Bureau, an arm of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce. The bureau also spent $6,300 to install decorations and lights in the downtown street trees in 1957.

The bureau held a Christmas display and window-decorating contest for many years. The window division was usually won by the Crescent department store, which had fanciful window scenes with moving figures. In the 1950s, the winning window designer received $50 from the chamber.

Santa Claus rode in the parade on a wheeled sleigh pulled by four reindeer.

Santa Claus was at the center of the commercialization of Christmas throughout the 20th century. Store Santas were common in Spokane, starting in the 1920s. The Santa craze peaked in the 1950s and continues with Santa visits at shopping malls or photo sessions at retailers and seasonal events.

In 1917, the Retail Trade Bureau was launched to organize retailers for seasonal events and downtown beautification. Christmas was always the bureau’s biggest effort, and the arrival of Santa Claus was a celebrated event. He has come by horse and buggy, truck-mounted sleigh, parade float and automobile. In 1950, Santa arrived in a Bell 47 helicopter.

The Retail Trade Bureau would be renamed the Central Business Association, and later, the Downtown Spokane Association. In 1995, Spokane Downtown Partnership, a business improvement district, was formed. Businesses voted to tax themselves to provide for downtown beautification, security and special promotions.