H A P P Y
B I R T H D A Y
A M E R I C A
Today Bob and I went to St. Louis to spend the day at an event there called Fair St. Louis. We got up early this morning and were on the road by seven twenty. Its an hour drive into the city and we wanted to be sure to get a parking space as a huge crowd is expected at the ten o'clock parade and riverfront festivities.
We found our space on Market Street to watch the parade and sat down next to a husband and wife and their daughter. We talked to this couple during the whole parade and we never did get their names. Very nice people and I wish we had exchanged information with them.
The parade is called the Veiled Prophet Parade which has quite a history.
Usually, social change happens the way a glacier moves, slowly, almost un-noticeably. But a sharp turning point hit St. Louis in Kiel Auditorium on Dec. 22, 1972 - the night a civil rights protester ripped the veil from the Veiled Prophet. Before that night, the Order of the Veiled Prophet had catered to the city's elite - the wealthy, white and powerful. Since that night, if sometimes very slowly, the Order of the Veiled Prophet has broadened its reach to the hundreds of thousands of average Joes and Janes of all races who pack Fair St. Louis each year.
Surprisingly, a St. Louis fair was the starting point for the Veiled Prophet, back in 1878. In those days, St. Louis was host to an autumn event called the Great Agricultural and Mechanical Exposition. St. Louis was also home to brothers Charles and Alonzo Slayback, natives of New Orleans who thought their adopted city needed something similar to Mardi Gras. Alonzo Slayback dreamed up the Veiled Prophet theme, remembering an Irish poet who had written of a wise, veiled and anonymous Persian prophet in the Kingdom of Khorassan. So were born the Veiled Prophet parade and ball, timed to coincide with the fair. The parade was aimed at boosting the spirit of the city's common folk. The ball was aimed at reassuring the city's elite of their exclusive status. In 1949, KSD-TV started broadcasting the ball live. A survey the following year found 80 percent of the region's televisions had tuned in. As historian Thomas M. Spencer has written, "Most St. Louisans probably enjoyed the 'fairy tale' nature of it. By watching the ball, they were vicariously living the experiences of the elites dancing across their television screens."
Gradually, the Veiled Prophet lost its grip on the public's fascination. Among the reasons: The social turmoil of the '60s and '70s. The economic rise of the middle class, which no longer had to daydream about what the upper class was doing. A steady influx of outsiders, whose sheer numbers loosened what had been St. Louis' inbred ways. Still, as late as 1972, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gave the Veiled Prophet Ball lavish coverage. Then, at the ball itself, a white civil rights sympathizer named Gena Scott slipped into Kiel's balcony at the urging of an activist group called ACTION. From the balcony, Scott slid down a power cable and unmasked the prophet. A major no-no.
Developing the VP Fair, change came to the Order of the Veiled Prophet. Before decade's end, the order admitted three blacks. True, all three were doctors, men of affluence. Two years later, in 1981, the order decided to reach out to the public by returning to its fair-festival roots. Over the Independence Day holiday, beneath the Gateway Arch, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to what was then known as the VP Fair. But to the region's blacks, the initials "VP" still gave off more than a whiff of racism. In 1987, their suspicions hardened when fair officials leaned on municipal authorities to block pedestrian access to the Eads Bridge - the path between the VP Fair and overwhelmingly black East St.Louis. A public outcry quickly took down the barricades. Fair officials asked themselves what the fuss was about. For answers, they turned to such blacks as then-Alderman Steve Roberts. He told historian Spencer, "They had the best intentions but didn't understand."Gradually, they came to understand, and took steps to turn the fair around. They expanded the attractions aimed at families. They made sure more black faces were evident - on the concert stages as well as behind the counters. Finally, in 1995, they swallowed hard and changed the name of the annual event. The initials "VP" - and most of their baggage went away. The festival was reborn as "Fair St. Louis."Oh sure, the Veiled Prophet Ball lives on. And yes, the Veiled Prophet parade remains a part of the summer festival. but oh, how times have changed. Last year, riding at the head of the parade as grand marshal was Ozzie Smith -- the African-American Wizard of Oz. In my research about the parade I couldn't find any other reference to the Wizard of Oz so I really don't know the significance of that.
There is the history of the parade we watched today. Here's what we saw.
These characters brought lots of laughs.
What's a parade without an military band?
There were antique fire engines....
Floats of all kinds.....everything from life "Down on the Farm"
.....to the Fireman's Float
....to this one, I don't know what the "theme" is but take note of the guy in the middle, he's juggling very large knives. I sure hope his float didn't hit a bump in the road further down the avenue.
There were also "characters" in the parade. Mickey and Minnie Mouse made their way down the parade route as did SpongeBob and few other well known cartoon figures. No one caused more of a stir than Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs. I'm sorry to say I didn't get a single picture of Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy or Doc because I couldn't take my eyes off of Snow. "She" took the time to pose for me.
All modes of transportation were well represented in this parade. The following represents land vehicles.
Everything from antique cars.... souped up as they are. In fact, passed these cars on the road on the way into St. Louis this morning.
...to the latest automotive technology, the solar powered car.... I'm a tad too claustrophobic for this one!
From the smallest of scooters.....
To the largest of trucks.
There was even a "utility" vehicle.
Air was represented by this model of the Spirit of St. Louis, the airplane that Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic ...
The sea was represented by this pirate's ship.
Even the St. Louis Library system had an entry into this year's parade. These ladies were something to see. Many hours of practice must have gone into their routine.
When their leader called out the name of a routine these ladies and their library carts were as synchronized as any swimming team.
When the parade was finally over we said our so longs to the nice couple we met and made our way to the riverfront at the Arch.
I have to tell you, we were disappointed with "Fair St. Louis". It was nothing more than hot dog vendors which charged five bucks per dog, Budweiser tents that sold their beverages for six and Pepsi's for four. Tent after tent, the same thing, the same vendors. Foot long corn dogs, cotton candy, freshly made potato chips, there was no reason for anyone to go hungry if you wanted to pay the much inflated prices.
Purina had a dog show going on but we missed it due to being at the parade.
There was a stage set up for musical acts going on throughout the day. We happened to catch the show for Everlife. Three sisters from Pittsburgh who we're told are the biggest thing on RadioDisney right now. I couldn't tell you if they were good or not, we couldn't understand a darn word they sang.
We did stop to watch the dance program a local dance troupe put on.
I did get this shot of the Delta Queen docked at the riverfront.
Our intention was to stay until the fireworks display because it is listed as one of the country's ten best, but there just wasn't anything to hold attention for seven hours! And HOT? Oh my gosh it was hot. We tried to find shade trees to sit under but it seemed every else beat us to it. Since there really wasn't anything worth seeing to us we cut the day short and came back to the campground. It was cool inside the house and we watched the fireworks display from Washington D. C. on TV. It wasn't the same but it was good enough.
So that's how we spent our nation's birthday. Happy Birthday America!
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