Now that the weather has turned cooler here in Los Angeles, thoughts naturally turn to the coming holiday season, which is probably why this photo caught my eye. It’s the annual Santa Claus Lane nighttime Christmas parade up Hollywood Blvd as it passes Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. The parade happened on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, which puts the date of this one at December 1, 1957. (Playing at Grauman’s at the time was “Kiss Them for Me” starring Cary Grant and Jayne Mansfield.) What a festive delight it must have been to walk Hollywood Blvd at night with those Christmas trees lighting the way as far as we can see.

Mary M says: “One of the reasons it was stopped was that the wiring wasn’t safe that illuminated the trees.“