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In the year of the U.S. bicentennial, more than 16,000 Mummers strutted down Broad Street as Philly’s famous New Year’s parade celebrated its 75th anniversary.
The event was held three days late, after weather forced its postponement twice in a row for the first time in history (it’s happened a few times since then, per a String Band database).
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Jan. 4 was still chilly, reportedly just under freezing with 25-mph winds. But that didn’t stop the spectacle from drawing a large crowd, estimated by The Philadelphia Inquirer as 800,000 people strong.
The gusty breeze did make it tough for marchers wearing the larger and more elaborate costumes, but they struggled through. Then-Mayor Frank Rizzo stuck it out as the parade marshal despite a broken hip, “riding in front of the string bands on a flatbed truck,” according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
As befits the nation’s 200th anniversary, the parade that year was replete with American history references. Costumes were not supposed to include blackface, thanks to a 1964 court order — though the racist makeup has surfaced several times since, despite troupe leader efforts to stop it — but did include at least one Confederate flag.
Controversy is as much a part of Mummers lore as colorful attire, but the flag, now recognized as a symbol of white supremacy, didn’t seem to make the news, according to a search of the archives.
As part of the city’s commemoration of the bicentennial, the Mummers Museum would open in South Philadelphia later that same year.
The “Stars and Bars” standard appeared to be part of a theme taking inspiration from the U.S. Civil War, according to slide film recently digitized and provided by a Billy Penn reader.
The old images show some of the costumes and revelry from 25 years ago, as well as something else: how far cameras have come in a quarter-century. Back then, as evidenced from these pics, getting a good, in-focus shot was far from easy, unlike today.
Scroll down for more pics from the event.
