Parade Figures
If one looks at the photograph of the Doo Dah Parade which was placed on Page 1 of the Metro section (Dec. 4), it isn’t difficult to see that there definitely are not 35 rows of people on each side of the street, each person with only 18 inches of shoulder space.
But that’s what it would take if, indeed “250,000 people lined the one-mile” route in Pasadena.
The 1-million-person figure for the Rose Parade is also an exaggeration, yet year after year The Times accepts that nice round publicity-oriented number from “Pasadena police” (translation: City of Pasadena, aka Tournament of Roses Committee) and publishes it as fact.
The Times might do well to put out feelers for a more objective estimate of the crowd at the 1987 Rose Parade.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
Pasadena
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
