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Charlotte Carolina's Carousel Parade 1957. Rambling Rebels sign.

1949 Christmas party for the Gastonia City Utilities and Street Departments held in the assembly building at Rankin Lake.
Clipping submitted by Deb Lewis Erwin. 

Although outside of our mission timeframe (1930s-1970s), these photographs of the begining of the 1990 Veterans' Day parade taken from the Oakwood Cemetery looking west then north are interesting from at least two perspectives. First, they show a still-living and breathing West Franklin Avenue business corridor. Many longtime establishments have either closed of moved east: Sisk Barber Shop, Smith Chevrolet, Harris-Teeter Super Market, Powell Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Sunrise Dairy, North Carolina National Guard Armory, and others farther west. But others continued to function and even thrive for several more years: at left, the Franklin Avenue Branch of BB&T, on the right the former Piedmont Lincoln-Mercury building is being remodeled as a linen and home-furnishing store, farther down the street, the YMCA, Coca-Cola Plant, and Sears are still active. Second, The parade took place as "Operation Desert Shield" had been announced, and the United States was building an international coalition to expel an invading Iraqi army from neighboring Kuwait. An overarching patriotic pride seemed to permeate the day. [Note the (modern) first generation Ford Crown Victoria patrol car.]