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Event
Information:
The
Easter parade is an American
cultural event consisting of a
festive strolling procession on
Easter Sunday. Typically, it is a
somewhat informal and unorganized
event, with or without religious
significance. Persons participating
in an Easter parade traditionally
dress in new and fashionable
clothing, particularly ladies' hats,
and strive to impress others with
their finery.
The
Easter parade is most closely
associated with Fifth Avenue in New
York City, but Easter parades are
held in many other cities. Starting
as a spontaneous event in the 1870s,
the New York parade became
increasingly popular into the
mid-20th century in 1947, it was
estimated to draw over a million
people. Its popularity has declined
significantly, drawing only 30,000
in 2008.From the 1880s through the
1950s, New York's Easter parade was
one of the main cultural expressions
of Easter in the United States. It
was one of the fundamental ways that
Easter was identified and
celebrated. The seeds of the parade
were sown in New York's highly
ornamented churches, Gothic
buildings such as Trinity Episcopal
Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and
St. Thomas' Episcopal Church. In the
mid-19th century, these and other
churches began decorating their
sanctuaries with Easter flowers. The
new practice was resisted by
traditionalists, but was generally
well-received. As the practice
expanded, the floral displays grew
ever more elaborate, and soon became
defining examples of style, taste,
abundance, and novelty. Those who
attended the churches incorporated
these values into their dress. In
1873, a newspaper report about
Easter at Christ Church said "More
than half the congregation were
ladies, who displayed all the
gorgeous and marvelous articles of
dress, and the appearance of the
body of the church thus vied in
effect and magnificence with the
pleasant and tasteful array of
flowers which decorated the chancel.
By
1890, the annual procession held an
important place on New York's
calendar of festivities and had
taken on its enduring designation as
"the Easter parade."
As the parade and the holiday
together became more important, dry
goods merchants and milliners
publicized them in the promotion of
their wares. Advertisements of the
day linked an endless array of
merchandise to Easter and the Easter
parade. In 1875, Easter had been
invisible on the commercial scene.
By 1900, it was as important in
retailing as the Christmas season is
today.
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