The start of the the Panama Canal project was a HUGE event for Tampa.  Being the closest and most convenient port to the canal, Tampa stood to prosper greatly.  Here, the president of the Florida State Sheriffs association announces the changing of the date of their meeting from Feb. 14 to Feb. 21, so that attendees could take advantage of the festivities Tampa was planning.  It wasn't just one day, or a weekend, it was Feb. 12 to Feb. 26, with Feb. 22, Washington's birthday, being "the most interesting day of the celebration."  The feature of the day was to be "a parade of beautiful floats."

FLORAL PARADE DAY and GASPARILLA BALL - CORONATION OF THE NEW KING & QUEEN 1910

The Panama Canal celebration, the floral parade, and the Gasparilla Ball were all planned to coincide to make one huge event.  The floral parade was to start at 2 p.m. and last "some time."  "This will be the largest parade of the kind perhaps ever seen in Tampa..."  

The evening Coronation Ball would be the first Mystic Krewe coronation in four years. "This evening at the Tampa Bay Casino will be witnessed the most brilliant social function given in Tampa for four years.  The last coronation ball of Ye Mystic Krewe of Ye Gasparilla having been held at that time."  The article goes on to name the king and queen, and other members of their court from the last event.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

The event was covered in great detail by the Tribune.  Every VIP, every float, every car, was described.    Below is the section about the parade that covers ONLY the decorated cars parade.  Notice that the car parade formed in a different area than the main parade, and followed a different route until it merged near the end at Court House Square.

The main parade was a grand celebration of the opening of the Panama Canal along with the yearly celebration of George Washington's birthday.   It is never referred to as the "Gasparilla Parade."  On "Page 1" it does mention the Krewe of Gasparilla participating in the event, some on foot, some on horseback, and some on a float.  This would be the fourth time Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla participated in this event.

This is a 3-page article presented in 3 separate images.  When each image opens, click it again to see it full size.  The car parade is included in the context of the full article.  The yellow highlights below indicate the start of each car's description.

PAGE1-The entire parade described     PAGE 2 conclusion of entire parade   

You can be sure that if there was car with an Oppenheimer in it, it would have been described down to the last detail.  A car decorated as in the photo, filled with Oppenheimers would NOT have gone unnoticed and unmentioned. 

The Gasparilla event of that day took place in the evening, the Coronation Ball at the Tampa Bay Hotel Casino, which was attended by Hortense and her sister Irma

The Gasparilla Coronation Ball entire article

The annual festival of George Washington's birthday would be a celebration of the 1910 census results, which initially showed Tampa had grown by 143%.  J. L. Brown, "father of the State Fair movement in Florida" and the Board of Trade would once again organize and promote the event.  It was to be a rejoicing over the gains Tampa had made in the past ten years and its prospects for the future.  They decided to ignore the census bureau's adjusted rate of 138% because "Tampans justly feel that the first percentage was correct, as East Tampa, which was not included, is now actually a part of Tampa, and that West Tampa should also be included, which would make the percentage even greater than 143%" 

This is a long article so it has been broken up by sections.  A few of the sections are shown below.  Click the links to see the other sections of this article.

Plans made with the American Pomological (fruit) Society convention to be held in Tampa this year.

Plans for tent exhibits - letters were sent to all the leading land companies in Florida informing them of the excellent opportunity they had to advertise their goods and services in free space with no admission charged for visitors.

Special "Homeseeker" rates were in effect by the railroad companies offering reduced rates for those headed to Tampa.

County commissioners and Boards of Trade throughout south Florida were invited for them to advertise the best of things their county had to offer.

Big athletic meet - Schools and colleges were invited to send athletes to compete in the various events.  Tampa would pay their transportation costs and give them free rooms in the YMCA building.

Arrangements were pending to have various conventions held in Tampa, one being the national issue of ship subsidies which was supposed to be in Tampa last year but put off at the request of Washington officials who were unable to come at that time.

Auto and Aeroplane races - two of the best-known racers in the country were making arrangements to appear in Tampa at the track at Plant Field.  Also aeroplane flights with Curtiss planes attempting world altitude records as well as competing against autos.

Many VIPs were invited to attend the festivities, including former president Teddy Roosevelt, "who is now considering attending and delivering one or more speeches on national issues.  Three foreign ambassadors.

A Grand Music Festival was planned to be held at the Tampa track with a dozen world-renowned opera singers.

Giant Hippodrome with a fine exhibition of livestock  including the latest technology-electric milking machines  Also diving horses to jump from a height of 60 feet while carrying a young lady rider.

**"They didn't have the pirate ship and week of activities back in the beginning."  Well, actually they did--the week long festivities, not the ship.  Gasparilla grew out of a week long festival Tampa had every year, but not a "Gasparilla festival."   In 1904 it was in May but by 1910 (and skipping three years in between) the May festivities were moved to coincide with George Washington's birthday, Feb. 22.  In those years, Gasparilla was a small part of a much larger week-long celebration of George Washington's birthday.  Often, it was given a separate name, as seen in this feature, the Panama Canal celebration in 1910 and the Census Celebration in 1911. both held the week of Washington's birthday. 

The Gasparilla "Mystic Krewe" was a small portion of the celebration, introduced for the first time in 1904, along with a legend.  The only parade that year was the floral decorated cars.  There was no "Gasparilla Parade."  As evidence, see the 1904 festivities schedule at right.  As seen in 1910 and 1911, Gasparilla was small section of the week long celebration parade, consisting of a float with pirates on it, pirates walking and on horseback.  (More on this in a future feature.)

Click to see 1904 schedule of events

Below, the success of the 1911 floral automobile parade and the winners, with each car described.  The only Jackson auto in the parade was the Oppenheimer's "Jackson containing Miss Hortense Oppenheimer and others, decorated in red and white and surmounted by a stork, representing Tampa's increase in population.  There were sixteen cars in the parade, one truck, and one rickshaw.

Back to Hortense and the City Hall clock

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