1920 Portland, Oregon Rose Festival Parade Archive of 18 original parade float photographs.

“Electric Parade on Tuesday to be a Gorgeous Affair” —Oregon Sunday Joural June 20, 1920

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Born from an 1888 backyard rose show, the Portland Rose Society expanded by 1904 to offer annual shows, parades, and pageants. In 1906, the inaugural Rose Festival and Flower Parade took place.

These eighteen photographs document the 1920 Flower Parade with “15 gorgeous electric floats” crafted by the Shriners, i.e., the “Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.” A Shriner’s Convention took place concurrently in Portland, and the floats featured in these photos were named with distinctive language inspired by Arabian, Egyptian, and Islamic traditions.

Some of the float’s names included “Hitting the Hot Sands for Mecca,” “Ala Baba: A Tale of Arabian Nights,” “Guardians of the Mystic Jungle,” “The Daughters of the Nile,” “The Garden of Allah,” “Ildez Kiosk and the Dancing Girls,” “Aladdin’s Dream of Paradise,” “Sheba and the Sphinx,” and more.

In two photos, you can see the “Arch of Welcome” located at Sixth and Adler Streets. The images depict an Arab riding a camel and another Arab pointing towards Mecca. The Shriners’ friendly greeting, “Es Selamu Aleikum!” meaning “Peace be with you!” and “Aleikum Es Selaum,” which translates to “With you be peace,” is seen on the arch.

The parade was to form at Twenty-first and Washington streets with “motor police; a platoon of police [...] Indians bearing banner of welcome; two chariots; four autos containing Shrine officials” and then the fifteen illuminated floats. (The Oregon Daily Journal, June 20, 1920)

Today, the Grand Floral Parade is the Portland Rose Festival’s highlight, ranking as America’s second-largest all-floral parade, after the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Price: $650.00