Sunday, January 16, 2011

Float on

Living here in the tourist trap known as the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia I'm surrounded by attractions. Caverns, Civil War battlefields, the Skyline Drive, Monticello and "antique" shops aplenty. Recently I visited an attraction I hadn't heard of before, American Celebration. The parent company has been in the parade float business since the Forties. The owner has a habit of saving everything and buying more. He was there that day and we had quite an interesting talk. He has a 400,000 square foot facility up north that's completely full. Some of the overflow is on display at here at Shenandoah Caverns which he also owns. I didn't take enough pictures but here's a sample of what's on display


All of the floats are self-propelled with custom built drivetrains. The figures are sculpted with steel rods and covered with various materials. They've appeared in parades all over the US including the Rose Parade and presidential inaugurations (note the seal in the picture above).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

beautiful work! Those people deserve more credit.