Recently I discovered a new archive of pictures from Ottumwa, Iowa. The archive is hosted on a site called Fortepan.

The pictures brought back a lot of memories as I looked through them. However, the pictures that I really liked were from balloon parades from the mid-70s. Every year when I see images of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade I think back to these parades.

I never thought I would see pictures from the parades, but the images have lived on in my memories.

The pictures are from Michael Lemberger who is well known for his pictures of Ottumwa, Iowa.

I have only reduced the resolution of the pictures, no other changes have been made.

I really like this dinosaur.

The pictures are in black and white, but I can picture the colors in my memory.

What I found interesting in this picture is the hand made Pizza Hut signs. I assume they were one of the sponsors of the parade.

Can you tell what time of year the parade took place in?

I like this cool dragon which makes me think of the Chinese New Year. However, it was not that time of year.

You can see in all three pictures that the spectators are wearing coats, so it must be winter. However, the Christmas decorations are the real clue. I well remember these decorations that went up every year. You can see them in the first picture also.

So many memories.

I know I have some Ottumwans among my readers. Do you remember this parade?

Steven