The Farmers Insurance Group float featuring Bob Hope in the 1965 Tournament of Roses Parade.
50 years ago today: the 1965 Rose Parade
To kick off our month of scanned slides, we're starting with scenes from the 1965 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. Fifty years ago, the grand marshall was Arnold Palmer, and the University of Michigan appeared in the Rose Bowl versus Oregon State.
In 2011, Jonathan and I watched the Rose Parade from the bleachers on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. After a lifetime of watching the Rose Parade from home, it was surreal to experience it first-hand. You can see some of the photos I took here.
I have 73 slides from the 1965 Rose Parade, so expect to see more of them over the next few days!
Crazy to think this parade happened fifty years ago today.
I'm sure every little girl wanted to be her.
The See's Candy float featured the Chipmunks singing the Beatles. How awesome is this?!?
Mr. Arnold Palmer and his family.
The University of Michigan's float.
Like Father, Like Son
These photos of Gerald Hardin and his son Greg were taken in early 1958.
It is comforting to know that we are not alone in our journey. Our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great grandparents were all here before us doing the very things we're stressing out about today.
Perhaps times were different, but deep down we're all still the same. We owe them a debt of gratitude for blazing the trails before us. They built dreams and memories that we'll share with the next generations.
That's really what life is all about, isn't it?
My Grandfather's WWII Helmet
My grandfather, William Andrew Cannon, around 1942.
On October 24, 1942, my grandfather William Andrew Cannon enlisted in the Air Force at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He would become a pilot based out of Foggia, Italy during the war. During his time in Italy, he met my grandmother on the Isle of Capri. They married in December 1945 and moved to Meridian, Mississippi in 1946. They would eventually move back in Italy in 1955, where they lived until he retired from government service in March 1990. They moved to Booneville, Mississippi later than year.
On October 25, 2014 (72 years and a day after my grandfather first enlisted), a man named Grant sent me a message through the G&J website. He owns an Ebay store called Circa1941 that specializes in WWII helmets and other military gear. He had purchased a helmet with the name Cannon written on the inside along with the serial number 4357. A quick search of this website told him the helmet belonged to my grandfather. Another quick internet search led him to Gerald & Joan and the blog posts I've written about my grandfather. We connected a few days later, and he offered to send us the helmet as a gift. My grandfather passed away on February 28, 2002, so being reconnected to him in this way is a true gift that means a great deal to our family, especially my grandmother.
There have been times over the past two years that I've wondered what I'm doing with this blog. It has really become more of a family history/photo preservation blog, and while it provides inspiration for my work, it doesn't really do much for my business. When Grant emailed me, I was reminded why I started this business and this blog -- Through my work, I wanted to tell stories, preserve history and share memories. Because of this blog, we were reunited with a piece of our family's history and we're able to honor my grandfather's memory. If that isn't Gerald & Joan in a nutshell, I don't know what is.
Thank you, Grant, for this wonderful gift.
My grandfather, Lt. William A. Cannon, is at the bottom left.
Update: My dad with the helmet!
