The earliest Christmas Parade in Springfield that I know of was in 1950. I was six years old, and we came to town to experience it. It was a very simple parade with Santa as the theme.
It began on Batts Boulevard and went down Main Street to the Courthouse. Everyone stood on the sidewalks and to catch candy as it was thrown by Santa. The Merchants Association of Springfield sponsored the parade. They would promote Christmas sales by hiring a Santa Claus to visit all the merchants on Main Street, which would draw the children. By drawing children that would bring out the parents to purchase gifts and toys for Christmas.
1951 – This was the first real parade with Santa walking with the high school band on the same route as the last year. The store themes were “Candy Land.” The Association promoted “Dollar Days” events for the first time. Many items in the store were marked down to a dollar and larger items marked down also. The city workers installed bells and garlands on the light poles. Stores stayed open til 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and on Monday night before Christmas. It was so different than than it is now. We only had one street of stores to shop in.
1952 – The parade, which wasn’t much, consisted of the high school band and a fire truck. This time something different happened with Santa. He arrived by airplane at the airfield on Highway 49 East. After flying low over the town in the mid-morning, it was announced he would arrive by car. This event happened on Friday the day after Thanksgiving. There was no parade. This year, the merchants realized that the event in previous years had a problem: the big kids were getting all the candy and the small children didn’t get any. They used the Jaycees and the Boy Scouts to give out candy by handing it to each child. They gave out used and broken toys at the event that had been repaired by the inmates of the state prison. Lights were strung along the street from the south end of Main Street to the Springfield Baptist Church…