On January 2, 1939, the Golden Memories themed 50th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade was held in Pasadena, California. Shirley Temple presided over the festivities as Grand Marshal. The Star-News and Post printed a commemorative booklet for the occasion with cover shown above. Although Shirley was already approaching her 11th birthday, the art on the cover attempted to depict a much younger version of the child star to keep her more precocious to her adoring fans. Below is a color tinted image from the parade inside the booklet.
If you’re wondering why the 1939 parade was on the 2nd instead of the 1st, whenever the 1st falls on a Sunday, the parade shifts to Monday.
Another shot of Shirley with Rose Queen Barbara Virginia Dougall:
If you wanted to get an up-close-and-personal seat for the parade, you would have needed a ticket:
A float promoting the upcoming MGM film “The Wizard of Oz” included costumes and cast members from the film:
A few color screenshots showing the Oz float:
The football game that followed was between USC and Duke; USC took home the trophy!
A few additional images from my collection of Shirley in the parade:
You can see Shirley’s father seated below her, somewhat hidden by all the roses around him:
Rare color footage exists of Shirley enthusiastically waving to the crowds. Keep in mind the parade lasts roughly two hours! Her hand must have been exhausted!
See more Shirley Temple 1939 Rose Parade photos at my main website.
For the design of the annual Shirley’s Army pin, Melissa (aka “The Colonel”) settled on the March of Dimes (MOD) as the charity of choice for this year’s fundraiser. A crappy micro-sized photo of Shirley promoting the MOD accompanied her request for me to design the pin. When I asked if she had something other than her download from Worth(less)point, she replied, “Any photo of her wearing that coat from ‘Little Miss Broadway’ will do.” She must have been tipsy or drowsy, as she knows very well that for someone with OCD for accuracy, “any photo” for reference just wouldn’t do. As it happens, in my vast collection of Shirley photos, I had a November 21, 1938 shot of Shirley receiving roses and a ribbon in honor of being named the Grand Marshal for the upcoming 1939 Tournament of Roses parade. Another shot, taken at the same time, shows her holding up what I “assumed” to be a ring commemorating the same thing.
Never assume…we all know what happens when you do that. Looking for answers, I reached out to Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas. Her kindness and generosity in the Shirley world are unmatched. It wasn’t long before I had a plethora of photos AND (accurate) information! It appears Shirley did publicity shots for the Rose Parade AND March of Dimes on the same day, outside her 20th Century-Fox Bungalow. Note the pack of Camels littering the ground. I’m sure Shirley picked the box up and disposed of it properly after this shot was taken!
There was the photo from my collection, used in a vintage ad encouraging people to donate to MOD, with a picture of the button they would receive as a result:
Rita found a vintage MOD button on Worth(less)point; here’s my cleaned up version:
A vintage cartoon of Shirley promoting MOD:
A vintage Mercury dime from the time period (FDR did not grace the dime until after his 1945 death):
Rita also sent these great shots of Robert Ripley (of “Believe it or not” fame) exchanging his dime for a button, in between takes of “The Little Princess.” The two are standing outside her portable studio trailer.
A closeup of the exchange:
Ripley is a proud wearer of his March of Dimes button!
The corresponding close-up:
This vintage interview with Shirley’s mother provides some background on the very real fears that existed as a result of infantile paralysis at the time:
All mothers of children, rich or poor, famous or unknown, feel the same about infantile paralysis — helpless to ward off its attack, anxious to help those who are unfortunate enough to fall under its blighting shadow. This is the belief of Mrs. Gertrude Temple, mother of the most celebrated little girl in the United States today: Shirley Temple. Mrs. Temple, writing to Keith Morgan, New York City, chairman of the committee for the celebration of the President’s birthday, through whom the 1939 campaign for funds for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis will be launched on January 16, declared:
“To every parent infantile paralysis is a constant fear, for we never know when it may lay its dreaded hand upon our own homes. For that reason,” Mrs. Temple continued, “I have always felt a personal interest in the infantile paralysis drive. I believe that every parent and grown-up should be made to feel how vitally important it is to do everything possible to help the success of the infantile paralysis campaign.”
When the campaign opens January 16, Shirley Temple will be one of the first to wear the March of Dimes button signifying participation in the campaign, as the little motion picture star is an ardent solicitor for all good causes. The one last piece of research I wanted to do was to figure out what dress Shirley was wearing underneath her coat. Since I typically design the Shirley’s Army pins in color, I wanted to be accurate! I first “assumed” from glancing at the source photo that Shirley was wearing this green smocked dress from “Just Around the Corner.”
The first proof I sent to Melissa to make sure I was on the right track:
A resounding “yes” followed! The next proof:
Although I was happy overall, I felt the mercury dime in the background made the pin a bit busy looking. I consulted Rita and as per usual, her design advice was spot-on. She also pointed out that the outfit Shirley was wearing under the coat was THIS one from “Just Around the Corner”:
I enlarged the photo from my collection and used it for a guide:
Two more proofs followed; the first one was way too busy…
but the second one was JUUUUUUUST right!
Rita created this video on Shirley and her MOD efforts — it’s a must-watch!
Here’s MY request: purchase a Shirley’s Army pin today by emailing Melissa for details!
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
The above photo shows Shirley Temple receiving her Rose Parade Grand Marshal ribbon from Tournament of Roses Chairman Lathrop K. Leishman, November 21, 1938. Shirley was to preside over the annual parade on the morning of January 2, 1939.
Seeing the flagstone flooring, in these images, I thought perhaps they were taken on the porch of her Brentwood home, seen below.
The style of door just didn’t line up with any of my photos, so I did what anyone would do. I reached out to the #1 Shirley Temple expert, author and designer Rita Dubas.
She quickly responded and let me know that these were taken at Shirley’s 20th Century-Fox Bungalow. Not long after she filled me in, I acquired the photo below, which expands the view to include the fence.
Yes! A match! Now it all makes sense. Below we see Shirley getting ready to film “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938), leaving her Bungalow hand-in-hand with studio tutor Frances Klamt.
Below, at her bungalow again, this time between takes for “Just Around the Corner” (1938).
An overall view of the bungalow then…
and sadly how it looked when I saw it in person a few years ago.
Thanks as always, Rita! Another Shirley mystery solved.
See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.
78 years ago yesterday on January 2, 1939, Shirley Temple acted as the Grand Marshal for the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Zooming in, you can barely see her father George's head peeping out from under the sea of roses.
Fifty years ago, Walt Disney was the Grand Marshal for the 77th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade held in Pasadena. The theme was "it's a small world." Sadly, Walt would pass away by year's end.
Flashing forward to 1980, Frank Sinatra was the Grand Marshal. Here is his gigantic floral recreation:
and the Chairman of the Board himself:
As it so happens, I was marching in the parade with my high school band that somewhat chilly New Year's Day, too:
Happy New Year to you all; today is a little bit of a departure in honor of today’s holiday. Here’s Joan Culver, the 1956 Queen of the Tournament of Roses Parade. Shot #2 is Joan with her Royal Court:
The Tournament of Roses is an annual tradition that dates back to 1890, with the football part being added in 1902. Back in January 1980, I actually marched in the parade itself. My high school rehearsed endless hours the one turn that we would have to make right where the TV cameras would be rolling. Our director expected nothing less than precision from us, and for the 3-5 seconds that our band was on TV, we looked great! What a rush...of course the next 2 hours of marching was not so fun. Here’s a shot from that morning, including a detail of me on the saxophone:
Our band was staying at the Marriott in Newport Beach; after the parade was over, everyone was back at the hotel flipping on the TVs to watch the rebroadcast of the parade; when our band was on, you could hear the shouts roar throughout the hotel (we were obnoxious high school students...what do you expect). We traveled many miles from Philadelphia to Los Angeles; our trip also included a day at Disneyland, which unfortunately I only have a few horrible Polaroid One-Step photos as remembrances. Back to the Blog Topic...last time we saw Liz Taylor at Daveland, she was munching popcorn. Today, she’s flying in a pack of helicopters and eating at Club 33. Here’s Liz and her children at the posh Club 33:
Could they be any more excited?!? This photo is from July 18, 1973. Peter Lawford was with Liz and family, but apparently didn’t want to be in the photo. Here is a current photo of the room that Liz was in:
Here’s to a fantastic 2008; may all your resolutions come true.
See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.
