Easter Parade pageantry: Rare 1950s color photos show the ornate hats, spruced-up suits, flower-adorned ‘Sunday Best’ outfits*
Daily Mail (UK),
by
Tate Delloye
&
Dusica Sue Malesevic
Original Article
Posted By: ladydawgfan,
4/22/2019 3:20:17 PM
Every year since the late 1800s, New Yorkers take to 5th Avenue wearing their ‘Sunday best’ in a secular celebration of Easter, as seen above with the two elegant women dressed in canary yellow and pastel blue while flanking a smartly dressed man. The parade has become a beloved tradition where revelers laced in finery and fancy hats join their pets and fellow performers for the festive spectacle. The event started spontaneously in the late 1870s as well-heeled uptown New Yorkers decked out in the latest trends from abroad strolled down 5th Avenue after church
The ladies with the pink bird hat and the white hat with bells was way over the top!
I wonder how many people noticed the "666" on the sign in the article about Easter?
20 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
columba 4/22/2019 4:03:09 PM (No. 42030)
One picture mentioned the diversity or color and race. That is mostly because the parade was of people who had just attended a Roman Catholic Mass at St Pat´s - and the Christian religion does not separate ethnicity as does secular government.
26 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
judy 4/22/2019 4:54:13 PM (No. 42031)
It was back when women could wear furs without being called names, when the rich were admired, when people dressed up to go the movies & church, when men wore hats, when everything was closed on Sunday, when the only rule we had was to be home before dark, when no one locked their doors, when children respected their parents, if you wanted it you had to work for it, no charge cards, kids played outside, if kids got in a mess the parents stayed out of it & let them settled it among themselves, went to visit our grandparents every Sunday, when one look from my Dad, who would not hurt a flea, scared us to death, when you could watch TV with your children without being embarrassed & when music was music.
55 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
DVC 4/22/2019 4:56:25 PM (No. 42028)
On the avenue, 5th Avenue,
The photographers will snap us,
And you´ll find that you´re,
In the rotogravure,
I could write a sonnet,
About your Easter bonnet,
And all the lovely ladies,
In the Easter Parade.
I was raised with a lot of show tunes (Rogers and Hammerstein?) being played by my parents. And I enjoy the memories of these famous, wonderful old songs. That is strictly from memory, my apologies if I missremember it a bit.
I distinctly remember photos, which may exist somewhere in our things, of my siblings and I in brand new Easter suits and dresses sewn by my mother so that we would be properly dressed up for church on Easter. She wore a hat with flowers, and white gloves and my father wore a suit.
Easter was a big deal, even into the 1950s.
23 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
trackman999 4/22/2019 5:08:21 PM (No. 42035)
"Easter Parade" was written by Irving Berlin.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 4/22/2019 5:17:02 PM (No. 42026)
The 1950’s were probably the last time most Americans were on the same page as a country. You should have been there - it was great!
36 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
JoElla Bee 4/22/2019 5:31:29 PM (No. 42033)
Just talking with someone yesterday about how we used to dress up for Easter with pretty dresses and hats and gloves and have pot luck "get togethers" after worship services where the kids had their Easter baskets and hunted colored eggs and ate too much Easter candy, and how we miss those times so much.
20 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
dman 4/22/2019 6:03:21 PM (No. 42029)
Once Upon a Time, there was a country called "America".
With all the advances in technology and PC "progress", how is this 21st Century zoo better than what our country was then?
"Back to the Future" doesn´t sound all that bad to me.
15 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
jjs 4/22/2019 6:16:21 PM (No. 42032)
So the world has gone from "suit and vest" to "suicide vests" all in my lifetime.
23 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Zbogwan2 4/22/2019 6:29:55 PM (No. 42022)
Went to 9AM Mass on Easter and lo and behold one senior lady had a glorious Easter Bonnet on her head. It certainly caught my eye as it is now a total rarity on Easter or any other Holyday?
Seeing that Easter Bonnet reminded me of my first year dating my wife in 1963 when she wore a cute Easter Hat that day. Funny how a simple thing like a Easter Bonnet can elicit such Good Memories?
18 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 4/22/2019 6:57:48 PM (No. 42023)
Back when Americans had class. Notice the old guy with the great Santa Claus beard in two photos... must be related to the cameraman!
5 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
red1066 4/22/2019 8:29:41 PM (No. 42037)
I never went or have gone to church on Sunday in anything but a suit and tie. To go in anything else to me is an insult to the house of the Lord. On Easter this year, I counted only three people other than myself wearing a suit and tie. Some people came in jeans. JEANS, on Easter!! The women at our service were generally dressed much better, but I saw way too many people dressed like they were going to Home Depot instead of to church. I guess I should have been happy that they at least made an effort to come to church, but......
14 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Zarin 4/22/2019 9:23:18 PM (No. 42024)
Yes, I recall the great hat department at Macy´s (? when I was 10 years old.) There were 6 windows & alcoves and each contained an array of hats - each alcove held one color and many styles. Mom bought 2 hats that day.
6 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
nonsense 4/22/2019 9:35:01 PM (No. 42034)
An American tradition that the Left Liberal Progressives have not destroyed...yet. Amazing!
6 people like this.
Gorth seems surprised so many races are mingled and get along. Racism wasn´t a common word back then.
I think the one with big teeth and red lips is related to AOC.
2 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
DVC 4/23/2019 3:34:00 AM (No. 42036)
Thanks, #5 for the correction.
3 people like this.
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*to celebrate the holiday in New York
A trip back to the days of dressing up for church and a parade without a political bent.