You may not realize that Valley Decorating used to build floats 50 years ago!  As part of our tribute to the hard work of Float builders, we've posted some interesting pictures below.  Although the materials may have changed (as well as the hair styles!) many of the basics of float building remain the same.

Before the days of vinyl Floral Sheeting, paper sheeting was used on floats.  Remember, plastic wasn't even around before World War 2!  In the 1950's, when Valley began to build floats, floral sheeting was made of paper.  The name "Petal Paper" is still used to describe vinyl floral sheeting, even though the vinyl has been in use for 30 years!

Now lets take a trip back to memory lane.  In the early days of float building at Valley Decorating,
we built floats for the Desert Circus Parade in Palm Springs, along with dozens of other parades in the western U.S.  Before it was known for being home to spring break rowdies, Palm Springs was the get-away for the Hollywood stars.  This parade took place on a warm day in early April, 1953.  How many stars of the movies and TV can you recognize?
 

(Click on thumbnail for a larger image.)

More Pics!!!

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