Men and Children in Parade

Men and Children in Parade

A man and two children in Naval costumes and masks, known as the "Searsport Horribles." standing on "float" for a Fourth of July parade in Searsport, Maine. The float is made of a peapod rowboat "Olympia" with flags and bunting on a wagon drawn by a horse. A second man, without a costume sitting on the bow of the pea pod appears to be the driver. The phrase Parade of Horribles originally referred to a literal parade of people wearing comic and grotesque costumes, rather like the Philadelphia Mummers Parade. It was a traditional feature of Fourth of July parades in parts of the United States in the 19th century, and "Horribles Parades" continue to be part of the Independence Day celebration in several New England communities. Parades of Horribles were a New England tradition dating back prior to the 1870s or earlier in various small towns across New England. The oldest known Ancient and Horribles Parade in New England occurred on July 4, 1851 in Lowell, Massachusetts and was named as a parody of the more somber Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, the oldest military organization in the United States. New Englanders in several cities started parading in concert with other New England towns in the middle of the 1800s in "Ancient and Horrible" or "Antique and Horribles" parades. The dress was meant to satirize politicians and other public figures.