Belmont-Central Celebration

I recently rediscovered three mystery Chicago photos I snapped during my grade school days about sixty years ago. The location is no mystery. The pictures were taken on Belmont Avenue, just west of Central Avenue, in the middle of the shopping district.

The mystery is—what was going on? There’s a parade coming down Belmont, so it’s obviously some sort of celebration. Perhaps it’s the Fourth of July.

Whatever it was, it must have impressed me in 1960. Notice that I used color film that year. That was a luxury I couldn’t afford to indulge, except on special occasions.

The last photo shows the reviewing stand near Central Avenue. Did the stand remind me of Soviet leaders watching the tanks rumble through Red Square on May Day? And who are the dignitaries in the photo? Mayor Daley Senior and his crew, maybe?

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

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