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Old Posted Sep 19, 2020, 6:51 AM
CaliNative CaliNative is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
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...A mystery parade showing a delegation of men wearing white suits and carrying white umbrellas!



eBay

The contingent makes me thinks of New Orleans or the Caribbean. It's possible the men are of African or African-American descent but it's a bit difficult to tell for sure.



the reverse.



.... "Swobd"

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^^^
Looks like an early version of the Doo Dah Parade. But seriously, many labor organizations long ago had men in white suits carrying umbrellas in parades as a symbol of labor unity (workers under the umbrella/protection of a union). Here is another example from Indiana in the early 20th century--again men in white suits with umbrellas, in this case a baker's union; click on the photo in the link below and you see the umbrella men in white suits:

https://indianaalbum.pastperfectonli...D-933439182128

So, in all likelihood the parade in your photo is some sort of union parade, probably on Labor Day. I don't know what SWOBD means, but maybe it was some sort of millinery union (hatmakers). The word millinery is on the back of the postcard.

Last edited by CaliNative; Sep 19, 2020 at 8:19 AM.
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