History of the Rose Parade South Pasadena’s involvement

Grand Marshal Francis Rowland led the very first Rose Parade through the streets of Pasadena on Jan. 1st, 1890. The parade was originally created by members of the Valley Hunt Club (VHC) to precede the Tournament of Roses event, and was spearheaded by club president Charles Frederick.

The VHC aimed to draw people across the country to the west with pictures of clear blue skies and brightly blooming flowers, a stark contrast to most areas’ late January weather. According to the “Discovering Pasadena” site, Frederick said, “Here, our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let us hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise.” The tactic’s success was reflected by the creation of the Tournament of Roses Committee. The committee was founded to handle the widely attended and rapidly growing event which had quickly increased from the VHC’s original parade.

As technology of the time improved, the traditional horse drawn carriage floats transitioned into motor-powered vehicles, and eventually became the elaborately decorated floats of recent parades. Parade themes were first incorporated in the early 1900s.

The Tournament of Roses original event featured participants entering competitions such as jousting, chariot races, and tug-ofwar. The event was later replaced by the now widely known Rose Bowl Game, which attracted over 16 million viewers in 2022.

Part of the Rose Parade’s success can be attributed to the annual Rose Bowl Game, which first was played on the day of the parade, January 1st. 1902, where Stanford faced off against Midwest Michigan. Stanford forfeited in the third quarter and Michigan’s 49-0 win put football on hold for the event until 1916, when it was permanently added to the Tournament of Roses tradition.

The Rose Parade became the first nationally broadcasted program after it was watched by around 30 million viewers in 1952, which was 62 years after the parade’s 1890 debut. Currently, around 45 floats participate in the parade, and over 48 million people watch nationally. Live audience has increased to an estimated 700,000 who gather annually on Jan. 1 for about three hours to watch the parade make its way through the five-and-a-half mile route.

The annual Tournament of Roses float has long been a Pasadena-area institution, one that South Pasadena has participated in since almost the beginning of the parade. Going all the way back to 1893, the first float from a South Pasadena organization was recorded by the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses and detailed the Columbia Tennis Club waving from a flower adorned, horse-drawn wagon.

An entry in 1911 marked the first time that South Pasadena entered the parade as a city. A magnet sat on the top of the float bed as particles trailed behind it. According to the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses website, the magnet was said to represent the city’s “drawing power as a thriving community.”

South Pasadena’s first themed entry, “American Eagle,” in the Tournament of Roses was created according to 1919’s theme of “Patriotism.” This featured a float covered in plants, flowers, and other greenery which was trailed by a small eagle construction, and accompanied by children dressed in soldier costumes.

Other notable South Pasadena floats included the “Festival of Dussehra” in 1959, which caught fire from mechanical issues (the around 130 degree driver’s station inside the float overheated), “Ostrich Races” in 1979, which won the founders trophy, and more recently, “Fishing Follies,” which won the Tournament of Roses National Trophy. In “Fishing Follies,” a massive bear is displayed reeling in a human on a fishing expedition according to the theme “Find Your Own Adventure.”

Last year, South Pasadena’s 2022 float “Sky’s the Limit” won the founder’s award as “Theodore” the ostrich jumped from a mountain constructed of flowers. Over 150,000 flowers were used in the construction of the float. The Chevrolet engines fueled by clean burning propane are a far cry from horse drawn carriages of the very first entry.

South Pasadena’s current float, titled “A Spark of Imagination,” is on its way to the lively streets of the Rose Parade as hundreds of volunteers and community members work with the South Pasadena Tournament of Roses organization to finish the massive construction effort. This year’s South Pasadena president of the float, Brant Dunlap, will oversee the construction.