Anaheim looks back at Halloween Festivals of yore, prepares for this one now just two months away
By Brooklynn Wong
Thousands upon thousands used to pack out downtown Anaheim for the annual Halloween festivities. Fundraisers would be held through the year that would raise awareness and ramp up the community’s anticipation for the autumn spectacle.
A rather impressive crowd can be seen gathering for the Fall Festival in its early days.
Schools used to close to allow students to participate in the Kiddie Parade and help paint business’ windows in town with festive scenes.
The city would come together for multiple days of celebration, as a calliope would drive through the streets and awaken residents in the early morning, so they could partake of a breakfast, multiple parades, a “Pumpkin Bowl” football game, and many contests for different categories and titles, among other things. Kangaroo courts were held, where officials roaming the streets were able to fine, “arrest,” and “try” anyone who was not dressed up, or didn’t comply with any number of rules set for the festivities. The parade was even broadcast on national television for a time.
Over the years, interest in, and the magnitude of, the parade has ebbed and flowed, including during World War II when Anaheimers had other things to worry about (windows had to be blacked out at night, and all people had to be inside because being bombed was a real concern, so no more large, public nighttime festivities), and later, when the city needed to trim its budget, so didn’t give as much money, resources or attention to things that weren’t necessities.
A crowd gathers for early Fall Festival fun.
The parade and festival have proven to be resilient, coming back each time, but on smaller scales, and never quite what it once was.
On Aug. 8, Patricia Grimm, a Library Technician at the Anaheim Public Library Heritage Center, gave a presentation about the Anaheim Halloween Festival at one of Muzeo’s “Lunch & Learn” events.
Grimm showed the most delightfully nostalgic of pictures and video footage from the Anaheim Halloween Festival, the heyday of which seemed to be the ‘40s through the ’70s.
A float in the 1947 parade.
The Excelsior Creamery float in the 1955 parade.
Halloween festivities in town were first created as a remedy. Anaheim’s young people took the “trick” in trick-or-treat seriously, wreaking havoc on Halloween night, on town property. Merchants wanted youngsters to redirect their energy into something positive. And thus, in 1923, the first Anaheim Hallowe’en Festival was held, with the first parade coming the following year.
The Kwikset “Circus” float in the 1950 parade.
Today, Anaheim is sprawling and transient, the most populous city in Orange County, and private parks like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm are the big draws come Halloweentime, not community festivals.
But there is a remnant that does anticipate it each year—those who are old enough to remember when it was the place to be for them and their classmates. And those who are discovering it for the first time and are intrigued by the novelty of the old-world charm.
Andy Anaheim, the city’s mascot, has become synonymous with the Festival, showing up on parade logos and buttons. He is possibly an ant, but no one’s quite sure. He was designed by someone at Disneyland, and used to advertise the City.
He can be found holding pumpkins on vintage buttons and is typically in the parade, as a big letter A float, beating a drum.
Celebrities used to lead the way, acting as grand marshal. Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson were the inaugural grand marshals, in 1924, and in 1954 the honor went to Donald Duck and the man who voiced him, Clarence Nash. Buddy Ebsen, Walter Knott and Jodie Foster were among the others given the honor.
Buddy Ebsen serves as grand marshal.
In the mid-‘50s, when Walt Disney was pondering opening his theme park in Anaheim, the Disney-Anaheim partnership infused the festivities with a new flavor. In 1953, Walt Disney gave six studio-designed floats to the parade. It was in these early years when the Disney Company was lending its support to the parade that it was a powerhouse. Later, when Disneyland was built, its peeling off and creating its own Halloween festivities inside the park was arguably one contributing factor to the parade being at risk of becoming obsolete.
Over the last six years, however, the parade has made somewhat of a marked comeback, and it has two men to thank—Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily, artists and consultants who design parades and have the Disney Company amongst their clientele.
The two moved to Anaheim and became interested in the town’s history. They kept stumbling upon photos that showed just how wonderful and popular the parade used to be. They were surprised to learn that the festivities still happened annually, and wanted to lend their services to do what they could to bring back some of the charm and sentiment of the spectacle.
Their approach has since been to give the parade what made it great in the first place—an old-world, vintage feel. They primarily did this by re-creating some of the floats they had seen in the old photos.
In the ‘50s, a group of children created a flying saucer float, but on the float they had misspelled it, writing, “Flying Sasser.” Kidney and Daily recreated the sasser, in all its misspelled glory.
A replicated “rocket witch” also reentered the scene. It is a remake of a float spotted in photos of the 1951 parade, portraying just what it sounds like—a witch seated atop a rocket poised for takeoff.
This year will mark the 95th Anaheim Fall Festival & Halloween Parade. Festivities in addition to the main parade will include a Kiddie Costume Contest and Halloween Pooch Pawrade. It is to be held on Saturday, Oct. 27 in downtown Anaheim, beginning at 6 p.m. The parade will move primarily along Broadway, beginning near West Street, then hang a left on Harbor Boulevard, a right on Center Street and a right on Anaheim Boulevard, before ending at the Packing House. A map and more information, and entry forms for the costume contests can be seen at anaheimfallfestival.org.
A fundraising “Backyard BBQ” is being held on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. For $50, individuals can eat, drink and be merry with live music by the rocket witch herself, a local woman named Amber Foxx. The location will be 729 North Lemon St., and those interested must RSVP to info@anaheimfallfestival.org.
