Aledo Independence Day Festival 1896 - CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

It’s not officially summer yet, but school is out, and I’ve broken a sweat outside more than once so I think that counts as summer. Before we know it, Americans will celebrate their country’s 238th birthday. These days, people do lots of different things to commemorate the Fourth of July. Some run the iconic Old Glory up the pole. Some people grill out, amble outside for a bit in shorts and a t-shirt, or compete in a watermelon-eating contest (messy, but yum, right?), and maybe watch or walk in a parade. Zillions of people go to watch their local fireworks display… at least, it feels like zillions when I’m trying to leave the parking lot. And sometimes people set off their very own stash of fireworks of varying legality.

But let’s take a look at this photo of an Independence Day celebration when America was almost half the age she is now: 120 years old. There are no watermelons to be seen, no t-shirts (quite the opposite, in fact!), no obvious fireworks. But yes, there are flags, and there are a number of meticulously and what must have been colorfully decorated bicycles manned by engaged community members of all ages. And if you look carefully in the back, a few gentlemen have chosen to stick with their good ol’ reliable quadrupeds, thank you very much.

So, even though the parade vehicle of choice has changed over the years, it’s nice to know people still feel like celebrating at least once a year.

--Written by Anne Shelley, Illinois State University

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