This Post Is Lit!

 I budgeted some time for my beloved blog! Thanks pandemic!
This is another installment of 100 years ago in Saratoga Springs. Back in 1920, GE and the Chamber Of Commerce got together and forever illuminated Broadway and Congress Park. This all commenced with a celebration event called the Illumination Carnival June19th 1920 on Broadway in Saratoga Springs. The event brought 50,000 people to Saratoga to witness, what was at the time, an amazing feat and feature to the town. It was just what Saratoga Springs needed to maintain a year round crop of tourist activity. 
 Electric lights illuminating the main drags of town at the time, were not a regular feature for small towns like Saratoga Springs, so, for the time, it was an event to behold indeed. Gov. Walker made a short speech before he flipped the switch, saying "As the US stands in the vanguard of world powers today, NY is the greatest of states in the Union, and so, now, Saratoga leads the cities of the world in at least one respect, illumination, here, there is light!'' Then a parade of floats and masked revelers went up Broadway to Church Street and back down. The dimming of the lights signified the end of the celebration, though the party continued until dawn. Mind you, the Volstead Act was just established and prohibition was in full effect. Looking back, Saratoga was a party town regardless, it seems. I kinda love that quality in the people that inhabited this town in the past, they always acted free from moral legislation.

 

There were 53 lights installed in Congress Park, 
and 69 installed on Broadway. 
Here is some photos from within the park.

In preparation for the event, the streets were decorated with flags and "Illumination Sale" signs on storefronts. 

As you can see, I found a nice cache of photos of the town, credits at the bottom, Here is some from a week before the festival, when the lamps were installed.