Parades a prominent part of Petaluma’s past

In Petaluma, we love our parades, and the annual Butter and Egg Days Parade is just around the corner on April 23.

The tradition of parades in Petaluma dates back to 1876 and the nation’s centennial celebration. Petaluma was just 18 years old then, but it put on a whopper of a Fourth of July parade that year.

All of our citizens were asked to decorate their homes and places of business “in a manner never to be forgotten.” Firecrackers, Roman candles and torpedoes were offered for sale, a horse race was scheduled in Petaluma Park, and a “grand gymnastics exhibition and ball” was held by the German athletic club.

The Independent Order of Foresters also threw a “Grand Centennial Ball” that night at The Washoe House, and if you didn’t have your own carriage to get there, you could take the stagecoach, or rent a ‘turn-out’ from the Washington Livery Stables.

The parade itself was a doozy. It was more than a mile in length and attracted more than 10,000 viewers, or about four times Petaluma’s population at the time. One float, “The Centennial Car,” was 32 feet long and contained 100 young ladies ‘dressed demurely in white’ and holding small American flags.

The float was skippered by D.W.C. Putnam, the local carriage and wagon maker, and powered by “four gentle horses.”

The Weekly Argus said: “Petaluma excels herself. No crowds ever yet seen here could equal it. Sidewalks and streets, everywhere people could stand, were crowded. The parade was much the largest, most attractive and enthusiastic that ever before moved through our streets. Everybody was happy and not a single arrest made.”

The parade ended at the cemetery, and the speaker of the day was the grand marshal of the parade, a Santa Rosa gentleman named George Green.

Green’s presentation was reviewed the following day, by Petaluman F.M. Fairbanks, who said Green was, “wearing a not too new Prince Albert suit, and a tall silk hat with a well-stained sweat band. He delivered a long tirade, which lasted for hours and most people quietly disappeared.”

By the 1900s, Petaluma’s Fourth of July parades included the selection of an “Independence Day Goddess” and, in 1900, that lady was Myrtle Healy.

Ms. Healy was supported by Ms. Hattie Cooper as “Columbia” and Ms. Martha Rose as “California.” The selections had been made by The Ladies Improvement Club, which decided that a blonde should represent the goddess and a brunette represent Columbia, and the hair color of California was left to chance.

For some reason there was also a separate float representing “Cuba,” and the lady playing Miss Cuba, was Ms. “Trixy Smith.”

After World War I, Petaluma held a “War Revival Parade,” an odd choice of title. The Weekly Argus reported that: “Jack Cavanagh, of Cavanagh Lumber Co., appeared in his Oakland Automobile, converted into a beautiful float, which he had adorned with a miniature Goddess of Liberty and a full regiment of tiny soldiers flanked by cannon. On the radiator was a miniature airship, while a small battleship occupied the hood.”

The Argus went on to comment: “There are not a score or two of auto owners like live-wire, Jack Cavanagh.”

Parades are like milestones in the life of a community. A joy for child and adult alike, and a thrill for participants.

The biggest parade in Petaluma these days, is the Butter and Egg Days Parade, celebrating the contributions of our dairy, beef and poultry industries. Without these active ranchers and processors, one can only wonder what Petaluma would be like.

The feed mills, the railroad, the river and street shipping, the early banks and hotels are all a result of our agricultural heritage.

This year’s parade theme is: “All Aboard. Next Stop Petaluma.”

Also that weekend, you might visit the Petaluma Museum to hear this writer’s speech: “The Railroad Came To Town,” on Sunday, April 24 at 4 p.m. Wine and munchies will be served. While at our museum, you may also view the permanent exhibits of Petaluma’s history, located on the mezzanine.

(Historian Skip Sommer is an Honorary Life Member of Heritage Homes and the Petaluma Historical Museum. Contact him at skipsommer@hotmail.com.)