In 1953 'outsiders' were invited to SF Chinese New Year Parade - 140,000 showed up Historical Chinese New Year photos from the Chronicles "morgue"

1953: The first year that non-Chinese outsiders were invited to the New Year celebration. 140,000 showed up. 1953: The first year that non-Chinese outsiders were invited to the New Year celebration. 140,000 showed up. Photo: Chronicle Archives Photo: Chronicle Archives Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close In 1953 'outsiders' were invited to SF Chinese New Year Parade - 140,000 showed up 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

Today the Chinese New Year Parade is a fixture on San Francisco's community calendar, but in the past the date, attendance and pyrotechnics were sources of heated debate.

According to a February 2, 1970 San Francisco Chronicle article, the San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration first began in 1851, just a few years after the discovery of gold in northern California. Despite a changing world, Chinatown managed to "keep intact the basic personality of its traditional Chinese New Year celebration."

In the early years, doomsayers, both in the Chinese community, and outside, said the celebration wouldn't last. In the early 1900's, the event "survived an official change to the Western calendar, Americanization of its youth, a sometimes condescending press and frequent attempts to ban the essential firecracker."

In 1930, there was a challenge to switch from the lunar calendar to the Western one. "Local Chinese leaders revived a 1912 edict by which the Chinese Republic, anxious to shed old customs and be as modern as the West, declared that the only day to celebrate the new year would be January 1."

The edict had been mostly ignored in the past. Local leaders said that year would be different. When January 1 passed, the Chronicle lamented the "loss of this traditional picturesque fete." Not to worry.

On February 16, ignoring the edict, Chinese New Year was back as usual. The paper reported, "Bang! Chinese New Year's festival opens with fireworks."

The thirties brought grimness to the world, and Chinatown was not excepted. In 1935, the possibility of a celebration looked bad from the start. The police warned of another firecracker ban "unless the warring Tongs made peace." But, in an incident a la Romeo and Juliette, "one of the boys from one of the Tongs grabbed a beautiful damsel from another Tong and eloped with her to Los Angeles."

It was reported that the Tongs made peace. But, the police "soured the celebration by blockading Chinatown, which infuriated Chinese leaders." This included the consul-general who angrily denounced "unwarranted police interference."

It was said that the only time that the city and community were not at odds about the firecracker ban was during WWII, when gunpowder was needed for the war efforts. The celebrations were very subdued during this time. When the war ended, the firecracker ban fight resumed. Some of the objections were dropped when they learned the religious significance of fireworks, traditionally used to scare away evil devils.

In the 1950's, the Korean war was raging. In 1951 the New Years parade marked the start of a fund drive by Chinatown's anti-communist league, according to a story that concluded, "The gist: that Chinatown is an American town, at America's service." Now 100 years after the first celebration, the Chinese were welcomed to citizenship. "They were the good guys."

After the Korean war ended, someone "had the idea of making a lot of money by turning the New Year's celebration into a tourist attraction, like the Mardi Gras." In 1953, non-Chinese were actively invited for the first time. 140,000 "outsiders" showed up. The Chinese Chamber of commerce became the sponsor of the event, joined ten years later by the city Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

In 1956, once again, the city said there would be no firecrackers. That demand seemed to hold up until the ceremonial lion showed up to do a street dance for charity. It rained firecrackers by the thousands. It was said that the police took this with good humor.

In 1969, amid racial tension, a riot broke out, when the departing crowd of 175,000 attendees found themselves in the midst of bombardment by cherry bombs coated with thumbtacks and BBs, and a few Molotov cocktails. Luckily, of the 35 injuries, none were serious.

The 1960's gave way to another problem, parking, especially one year when 350,000 celebrants turned out. That problem persist today and any trip to the event requires a little planning. Click here for a calendar of events for this year's celebrations and parade. In the lunar year 4715, year of the Rooster.

Bob Bragman is a producer for SFGATE. His writing reflects his love of the Bay Area, in addition to his passion for vintage pop culture, ephemera and vernacular photographs. To see more of his content, please click here.