Where Rose Parade floats are born

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Floats fill a huge work area at Phoenix Decorating in Pasadena. The company is building half of the 44 flower-covered behemoths that will be in the 2012 Rose Parade. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Morgan Smith, 17, of Temecula and Kyle Le, 18, of Riverside work on the Western Asset float. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Samantha Yin, 18, of Temple City helps create a float sponsored by RFD-TV. All three major builders of Rose Parade floats rely on volunteers to apply the decorations. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Each float in the Rose Parade must be covered in unaltered organic material, such as flowers and seeds. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Austin Fagrell, 16, of Fallbrook, Calif., works on the Rotary International float. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Volunteers help with the Western Asset float. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Sunita Boddu of San Clemente works on the float sponsored by Kinect for Xbox 360. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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Chris Lofthouse, president of Phoenix Decorating, says he counts on 12,000 to 13,000 volunteers per week in December. The 2012 Rose Parade is Jan. 2. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 29, 2011 8:09 AM PT

Millions of Americans are familiar with the Rose Parade, the storied Pasadena pageant whose flower-covered floats have dazzled viewers for more than a century.

What’s less known is that most of those rolling creations are produced by a trio of local firms that labor in obscurity most of the year to prepare for a single day in January.

Phoenix Decorating Co. in Pasadena, Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale and Artistic Entertainment Services in Azusa are the Rose Parade’s Big Three.

With the Jan. 2 showtime fast approaching, the companies are putting the finishing touches on floats that took months to design and build. On average, each craft costs more than a typical U.S. home.

-- Hugo Martín, Los Angeles Times

Photo: Volunteers help with the Western Asset float. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times