What Did a Parade Look Like in Texarkana in 1951?

How did parades look back in the day in Texarkana?

Check out this video of the 1951 Armistice Day Parade in downtown Texarkana. The parade route was a little different back then. The parades just ran down Broad Street from East to West, basically the opposite direction that our parades run today.

The parade featured military units from Red River Army Depot, various civic organizations and of course all of the local high schools in 1951, which included Arkansas High, Dunbar High, Texas High and Washington High.

Unfortunately the video has no sound but as you can see in it, the school bands look like they are having a big time as they go by the camera.

I hate to admit this. Although I have heard of Armistice Day I had no idea what is was all about so the good folks at Wikipedia helped out.

Armistice Day is a day that is recognized on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the suspension of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations.

A big "thank you" to the Texarkana Museums Systems for the video.