The Santa Clause Lane Parade

When I was a kid growing up in L.A., the Thanksgiving weekend always began Wednesday night with the annual Santa Claus Lane Parade down Hollywood Blvd. I looked forward to it every year. Unlike parades with elaborate floats and impressive marching bands, this had Hollywood B-actors, second bananas, local fringe celebrities riding in cars with their names hand painted on the sides, and a few 100 year old guys from an American Legion Post playing trombones. The big finale was the arrival of Santa Claus, usually on a float that looked like a Cub Scout project gone horribly wrong.

The parade began in 1928 as a way to lure shoppers to Hollywood. In the 30s and 40s big stars would participate. It was the only time Bette Davis would get within a hundred yards of real people. In 1946, the parade inspired Gene Autry to write "Here Comes Santa Claus, Right Down Santa Clause Lane".

By the 50s the luster had worn off and instead of Natalie Wood you'd see the kid who played Whitey on Leave It to Beaver. Once Bing Crosby was the Grand Marshal. By the late 50s it was Oscar Levant who by then had a local TV talk show on KCOP, Channel 13. I was never sure if he was waving to the crowd or just having another seizure.

The parade was always televised locally on KTTV, Channel 11 in black-and-white, hosted by Bill Welsh. He'd interview all the "stars" as they passed. That was my favorite part. How do you ask Gypsy Boots what his next project was with a straight face? Gypsy Boots was a local health nut who dressed ridiculously and did anything he could to draw attention to himself. He was the Melrose Larry of his day. His next "project"??? Appear in next year's parade.

Bill once asked Monty Montana, who had appeared in a bunch of B Westerns, what his next project was? His answer: giving a lasso demonstration at a local elementary school.

I was nine years old. I found this hysterical. Tomorrow I would watch the Macy's Parade and there would be the original Broadway cast of West Side Story, elaborate floats, a 200 member marching band from Ohio State, and those magnificent giant balloons. But tonight I was seeing Bill Welsh ask Iron Eyes Cody about his new book.

I never actually went to the Santa Claus Lane Parade. My parents were not about to wade through a million people so I could see local newscaster, George Putnam, on a horse. But I didn't care. It was a TV event anyway.

The parade has been renamed the Hollywood Lane Parade and is now on Sunday night. And KTLA, Channel 5 televises it with Bob Eubanks and usually Lee Meriwether. It's in color. It's syndicated. It's not as good. But every so often there's a flash of the parade's past cheesy greatness. The 2000 Co-Grand Marshals were Frankie Muniz and Dennis Hopper.

I love holiday traditions. Happy Thanksgiving!!

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You can read more from Ken at http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/.

Comments

[hiprogloho]

You never actually went to the parade? Then how dare you satirize it? You had to be there. Back in the days of Saturday morning cartoons, that parade was a poignant glimpse of old world civilization when stars still walked the streets and LA was not yet the West Coast version of New York that it is now.

I was there back in the 70s with my dad. I regard those happy times as the good old days. And I never saw the parade as cheesy. Hollywood back then was free of bling and more humble. There was no such thing as quasi celeb bohemians, freaks or reality shows. TV was oh so innocent real people heaven.

What do we have today, a change of the parade's name out of foolish political correctness and some gangsta rapper plugging his latest audio noise CD. If the parade is a pale imitation of what it once was, then go back to person in a time machine. Because you missed a live event of LA culture at its best.

[ptillen]

Wow, that's a fabulous piece of music history about Gene Autrey and "Here Comes Santa Claus". Thanks for the slice of Americana.

[Ken Volok]

The Santa Claus Lane Parade! KTLA! Tom Hatten! All great memories from my own childhood, in the 70s golden age of TV! The KTLA parade broadcast was def a major part of the Holiday season for me as a child. And Hatten not only hosted weekend broadcasts of the old Fleischer cartoons but other "family friendly" classics as wll, often Bob Hope vehicled. he would sit beside a 16mm projector in a fully illuminated room, and "run the projector" after sharing some nugget of film history and/or trivia.
KTTV had Ben Hunter on weekday afternoions, doing a similiar schtick but with guests. One being the noted historian Ron Haver, But they would cut the films to fall within time slots.
However one thing KTTV did do at night, would be to run their classic films uncut ( alot of the MGM, Warner Bros., and some of the RKO library) and always overrun the time slot. Cal Worthington (and His Dog Spt) seemed to be the main sponsor and he would be in the santa Claus Parade as well. KTLA had Movies til Dawn focusiing on the Paramount/Ua Library. I mention these because they are all such a part, as well as the parade, oof LA TV history and show what regional TV can achieve in terms of quality.

[BettyG]

Oh, and I just remembered the "Celebrities" a local TV guy who hosted the Popeye cartoons (Tom Hatten) was riding right behind us, and Soupy Sales was in the parade also (at the height of his fame -- really dataing myself here) -- and all the girls in the drill team were trying to find him, but alas we didn't. I was a huge fan.

[BettyG]

Ken -- what a treat to read your post and be reminded of this Parade! Yes it was cheezy. I marched in it in the 60's with my high school band and marching unit (which I was in). It was fun. All of a sudden the cameraman was in the middle of the street as I marched past, so I guess I was on TV as well -- what a treat.

[beverlynoelle]

Great post! The seizure line = hilarity!

[boing007]

'See you at Ten, see you then'.

[Zenith1959]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my liberal friends in Huff-Po land!