How to Build a Flying Sasser

Anaheim's famous "Flying Sasser"- 1953

Little green people from Mars, UFOs, rockets and ray guns... folks in the 1950s were really into outer space.  Way before Walt Disney's Tomorrowland even existed, kids were already using their imaginations to explore distant planets out in the backyard and battle Martians on the playground.

"Welcome To Mars" - 1953 Kress Five & Dime Employees

The Anaheim Hallowe'en Parade's theme in 1953 was "Out of This World" and featured, among many things, a witch riding a missile instead of a broom, a platoon of pretty young Martians wearing kitchen colandars on their heads, and, most memorable of all, a "Flying Sasser" built by neighborhood kids. 

Thanks to the one-and-only known photograph taken of it, the "Sasser" managed to survive obscurity over the passing years.  Four boys, wielding toy pistols. pose in front of homes on a suburban street (presumably Broadway or Center Street).  A TV antenna, possibly borrowed temporarily from a rooftop, supplies a hint of a high-tech to the otherwise homemade-looking spacecraft. The scene is so charmingly Americana, it's no wonder the photo's been published in several books on Anaheim history. Even our local Ruby's Diner has a framed print on the wall over one of the tables.

This year the Flying Sasser returns to the Halloween parade, 59 years years after it first appeared, thanks to some creative people in the Anaheim Historical Society.  Anaheim resident and AHS member Bill Couture has recreated the Sasser from scratch, and we think his might be even better than the original!

So... take a look!

First, the size and shape were plotted out with chalk on Bill's driveway, followed by the painstaking process of bending tubing for the inside structure.

Did you know?  Dogs love sassers even more than people do.

This is Harley, and he has SASSER-EYES.

Next, the wooden "skin" is attached and trimmed.

Splendid, but...

...what are our Sass-tronauts going to wear?

Well, in keeping with the original artistic intent... it appears that foil-wrapped helmets are the way to go!

A few more details and we'll be ready to save the universe....


Look for the "Flying Sasser" in this year's Anaheim Halloween Parade, on Saturday October 27th, 2012.

You better be there.  No sassin'!

Anaheim Oktoberfest 2012

We love this time of year. The second annual Anaheim Brewery Oktoberfest once again brought us back to our German colony roots.  The food, the music, the community, and the craft beer --all make us feel proud to live in this wonderful city. Thanks to Barbara and Greg Gerovac, K & A Downtown Cafe, the German-American Brass Band, and Umami Burger for making this an event to remember.

A Good Old-Fashioned Anaheim Halloween

1957 SQR Department Store float

With the sounding of the Anaheim city power plant whistle at 7:00 PM, heard all over town, 31 decorated store windows were unveiled along Center Street announcing the start of the first Anaheim Halloween Carnival and Festival on Thursday, October 30, 1924.  Then at 7:30, two blasts of the whistle set off the start of the parade. An estimated 20,000 residents and neighbors from nearby towns crowded onto the sidewalks on both sides of the street to watch the 45-minute procession led by baseball superstars Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson who served as Grand Marshals. 

It was the beginning of an annual feature on the life of the city that has continued for 88 years.

Creepy Country Folk, 1951 

Mr. Robot is wearing the prize ribbon he won earlier in the costume judging, 1951.

In the years that followed, new events were added, such as a Halloween costume breakfast served in City Park, a huge public dance along the main block of Center Street in 1927, and a kangaroo court and football game in 1938.  During the war year of 1942, the program was considerably curtailed with an energy-saving citywide blackout strictly observed. But by 1945 the parade was once again going strong, with 40 floats, 8 bands, 400 horses, all led by cowboy actor Wild Bill Elliot (radio’s famed Red Ryder).

  

Anaheim’s “Hallowe’en Festival” began as a device for discouraging neighborhood youngsters from mischievous pranks such as soaping windows, uprooting fences and damaging property. Local merchants conceived the idea of putting the energies of Anaheim children into “wholesome fun and frolic.”  Nevertheless, Halloween tricks by neighborhood kids continued, including turning on fire hydrants during the parade and splashing ink on passing cars.  In 1949, one old home along the parade route was flooded by a garden hose stuck in the front door mail slot!

 In 1953, as construction was about to begin on nearby Disneyland, the parade received a boost with several floats designed by the “Walt Disney Studios of Hollywood.”  It included “many of the famous and fanciful Disney characters woven into a theme of well-known fairytales.”  

1953 souvenir button

The infamous Flying Sasser of Anaheim, 1953

Other themes that same year were “Americana” representing  “our rich American heritage”, and “Out of This World” with young amateur float designers letting their imaginations go wild with floats based on space ships, rockets, and, our personal favorite, the “Flying Sasser!” (Incidentally, the Anaheim Historical Society is right now building a spectacular recreation of the “Flying Sasser” for this year’s 2012 Halloween parade.  You certainly won't want to miss it!)

1967 Grand Marshal, Buddy Ebsen, star of TV's Beverly Hillbillies

Many well-known stars of stage, screen, and radio have had the honor of being Anaheim Grand Marshal, including young actors Jodi Foster and Johnny Whitaker, comedian Buddy Hackett, and even “The Banana Splits!”  In 1969, the parade was televised for the first time, live on KTLA, Channel 5.

This year the tradition continues, and the Anaheim Historical Society will once again present the exciting “Autocade of Antique Cars”.  We’ll also have some special surprises along with several brave people pedaling old-timey bicycles!  We hope you’ll bring your family out to enjoy this wonderful community tradition.

1961 Anaheim Kiddie Parade on Center Street.

This year's Anaheim Halloween Parade is Saturday, October 27, 2012.  

The parade steps off at 6pm at West Street and will travel east down Broadway to Anaheim Blvd.  

For more info call 714-999-3456 or visit www.anaheimfallfestival.org

Get into the Halloween spirit!

Once called the biggest Halloween celebration west of the Mississippi, Anaheim's Halloween Festival is a yearly celebration that started back in 1924. The Orange County Historical Society is conjuring up a spellbinding program on the Festival's history for their October meeting --and YOU are invited!

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity Episcopal
Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. Bring your friends and family --Admission is free.

Presented by historian Stephanie George, an Anaheim native, and the archivist at the Center for Oral and Public History at California State University, Fullerton.  Stephanie is also the recording secretary for the Orange County Historical Society, president of the California Council for the Promotion of History, and second place costume contest winner of the 1962 Anaheim Halloween Festival Pancake Breakfast!


For more information, please visit  www.orangecountyhistory.org.