News of the Arroyo
Title: | History of Rose Tournament |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2002-12-17 |
Summary: | December 18, 2003 - Charles Cherniss presents a history of the Tournament of Roses. |
Author: | Charles Cherniss |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | An idea that blossomed into tradition Members of Pasadena\'s exclusive Valley Hunt Club had to find something to do back in 1890 in addition to chasing the hounds and the fox, and hoisting a few orangeades back at the clubhouse. They couldn\'t play contract bridge. The game had not yet been devised. They couldn\'t zoom around town in their fancy automobiles. Neither autos nor streets were that far advanced. Movie houses were only a glimmer in Thomas Edison\'s eye, and TV was at least 40 years away. So, according to Joe Hendrickson in his seminal history of what was to become the Tournament of Roses, the socially elite listened attentively to fellow member Charles Frederick Holder when the zoologist said, \"What our city needs is an expression of our inspiration. \"There can be no more spontaneous illustration of pure inspiration than the natural beauties of Pasadena and its vicinity -- inspiration from the petals of thousands of roses in bloom while our former Eastern homes are buried in snow.\" Displaying newspaper clippings of the blizzard blanketing the Atlantic Coast, Holder exhorted the crowd, \"Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let\'s have a festival and tell the world about our paradise. \"Go home. Pick your natural flowers and put them on display.\" And thus the annual tradition of the Tournament of Roses was born Jan. 1, 1890. Decorating carriages in roses and other greenery and parading down Pasadena streets turned out to be fun. So was the opportunity to twit weather-bound friends and neighbors shivering in the East and Midwest with tales of what sunbathed Pasadenans did on New Year\'s Day. The latter was a particularly popular pastime with part-time Pasadenans: those who came west to winter in the resort hotels and mansions of the Crown City. Blowing Pasadena\'s horn about what is arguably the world\'s greatest New Year\'s Day celebration became a tradition from the outset. 1956 float. Walter Raymond, owner of a major resort hotel atop Raymond Hill (mostly in South Pasadena), told Holder, \"We need visitors from the East to fill up our hotels.\" Holder mailed out press releases. That grew into national and worldwide press coverage. That grew into newsreels. That grew into start-to-finish, dawn-to-midnight television coverage. That grew into more and more promotion, including stunts and military flyovers. Sports were part of the tournament tradition from the start. It was initially suggested the event be called \"The Battle of the Roses,\" suggesting athletic combat as well as decorated carriages. \"Tournament\" won out, but so did the plan of public games on a town-owned lot just east of Los Robles off Colorado. Jousts, tugs of war, footraces and mounted horsemen with 12-foot lances trying to spear three rings. The Pasadena Evening Star reported 1,000 were fed and 3,000 attended the first event. Pasadena\'s population was 4,882. In the early \'20s the Tournament of Roses hired a marathon champ to leave Tournament Park early on New Year\'s morning, run to the top of Mount Wilson and back, arriving to the hoped-for cheers of the football crowd at halftime. The runner did exactly as instructed, but ran into a major hitch. He didn\'t have a ticket to the game and the gate ushers refused to admit him. Food and fun also became part of the tradition. That it was all done on a volunteer basis is perhaps the greatest tradition of them all, one that has grown and continues to grow in each of the years to date. Nobody is quite sure of when the tradition of Tournament volunteers -- now numbering more than 900 -- wearing white Panama suits began. I remember those suits back to the early \'30s when my father was a Tournament of Roses volunteer, but suspect the idea is older than that. From any standpoint, something that happens every year for 70 years must be considered a tradition. It is said the volunteer system is more than a tradition, it is the reason the Pasadena area is so successful in a wide spectrum of charitable and community efforts. Volunteers, called White Suiters, get the habit, start volunteer- Other traditions worth noting: Photo imagery of 1933 Queen Dorothy Edwards. Rose queens -- First was Hallie Woods in 1905, chosen by her classmates at Pasadena High School. Selecting a queen was occasional for many Tournaments after that, as was a short-lived custom of picking a king. No queen had been picked for eight years until 1915, when the tradition returned permanently. By the 1930s, every girl in the Pasadena High School District, including Pasadena City College, was required to apply for the Royal Court. Today, every girl attending a school, public or private, in the Pasadena Community College district may try out. As many as 1,000 have done exactly that some years. THE BOWL -- The Rose Bowl was built by the Tournament of Roses on land provided by the city of Pasadena. The Tournament then turned the stadium over to the city. Unlike many stadia throughout the nation, there is a tradition of not charging the taxpayers for major improvements to the Rose Bowl. Additions of seats, private boxes, a new press box and other improvements have been paid for by the Tournament, which did the fund-raising. A common method of raising funds dating back to the start was selling seats for a long period of time, such as 10 years. Similar financing plans have come into use to build stadia elsewhere only in the past decade. The Bowl is a college stadium and UCLA\'s home field, but the professionals like it, too. Five Super Bowls -- the five best-attended Super Bowls -- have been played there. There\'s a plan afoot for the sixth and, possibly, modernizing the stadium to hold a pro football team as well. It\'s also been the site of huge events such as the finals of both the men\'s and women\'s World Cups and the 1984 Olympic Games soccer championship. HORSES -- Tradition requires the equestrian units in the parade, except for a few novelty acts, to feature silver trappings. Despite the cost of $5,000 to $50,000 per horse for such trappings, a large number of horses so outfitted are turned away each year. The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales have pulled the city of St. Louis float in the parade each year since 1953. A sought-after assignment for White Suiters is operating pooper scoopers -- broad-billed shovels and brooms -- to clean the streets after horses and an occasional elephant or two pass the TV, judging and VIP grandstands at the start of the parade. BANDS -- Music is an important part of the Tournament tradition. Some bands -- especially the Marine Corps and Salvation Army -- are perennials and welcomed each year by the crowds. So are the bands representing the schools playing in the game. Others are mostly high school bands chosen by the Music Committee. The committee personally attends band competitions in Southern California. Other bands from around the world are chosen through recommendations and videos, usually a year or two in advance. The bands pay their own way to the parade, raising as much as $90,000 or $100,000 to do so. A big deal for young kids. As this publication demonstrates, one major tradition of the Tournament of Roses and Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game is celebrating tradition. Happy 2003. Charles Cherniss, who this month celebrates his 40th year at the Pasadena Star-News, is the paper\'s former business editor, editorial director and editor. He is also a longtime Pasadena resident. |
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