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FOURTH OF JULY PARADE, 1894 IN NORCATUR, KANSAS –
CABINET CARD IMAGE TAKEN OF ALL THE PARTICIPANTS LINED
UP ON MAIN STREET – GREAT PERIOD IMAGE OF AN OLD STYLE
“JOLLY FOURTH”: This large format cabinet card
image depicts the main street of Norcatur, Kansas filled
with the participants of the July 4th Parade,
1894.
The image was taken from an elevated position, oriented
down the street with all the parade participants arrayed
in a spread before the camera. The groups include
heavily decorated and flag festooned horse drawn floats,
a marching band, a second band in a wagon, a women’s
organization mounted on horse back, a group of garishly
dressed cowboys, the local baseball team, and other
groups as well as the citizenry gathered on the elevated
walkways along the business fronts. A number of the
business signs are visible as well as good detail of
fixtures such as windmills and building architecture.
The image proper measures 8” by 6” and while the backing
card has suffered some damage and loss along the edges,
the image itself is in excellent condition and is not
faded or soiled. There is a penciled notation “father”
with an arrow pointing to a man standing in the
foreground of the right side of the image, and a
penciled legend written on the reverse, “When I was 9
years old, my folks and I lived in Norcatur, Kansas”.
Unfortunately, the writer did not sign their name.
The July 4TH content of this image is quite
unusual, as well as being a large scale outdoor image
with so many subjects and various civic groups
pictured. A fairly significant Kansas related image, it
would also be a nice addition to a collection of early
American patriotic or political material. (0782) $75
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