What is the origin of the phrase "parade of horribles"?

Hi David,

Entering "parade of horribles" on Goggle gave a hint that someone else had  
asked about this phrase on an EZBoard word origin bulletin board.

http://pub55.ezboard.com/fwordoriginsorgfrm1.showMessage?
topicID=1995.topic&index=3

(hopefully these links will work)

There you will find a reference to the Dred Scott Decision, which I found here.

http://www.guncite.com/court/fed/sc/60us393.html

You will find "parade of horribles" in the first paragraph, I believe.

Another great source for word origins is The Word Detective.  I went there 
first but I didn't find this particular phrase immediately listed, although it 
could be archived. 

http://www.word-detective.com

If there's an earlier reference to "parade of horribles," I haven't it yet.  
Hope this is of some benefit to you.

Regards,
V

Sorry, link didn't work to the bulletin board but here's the citation from the 
Dred Scott decision:



[Cite as Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, 417, 450-451 (1857). NOTE: This 
decision concerned whether African-Americans could be considered United States 
citizens and capable of bringing suit in federal courts. The Court relied upon 
historic discrimination which denied African-Americans the rights of citizens. 
The Court's most conclusive example (their terms) was New Hampshire's 1815 laws 
which denied militia participation to African-Americans: "Nothing could more 
strongly mark the entire repudiation of the African race." (P. 415) Among the 
resulting ************parade of horribles************ should African-Americans 
be considered citizens, the Court enumerated the rights of citizens and 
included the right to arms: "It would give to persons of the negro race, ... 
the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, ... the full 
liberty of speech in public and in private upon all subjects upon which its own 
citizens might speak; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to 
keep and carry arms wherever they went." (P. 417) Asserting the federal 
government had no power to enact Territorial laws which would infringe property 
rights (slaves as property), the court listed rights individuals possess upon 
entering a Territory destined to become a state and again mentioned the right 
to arms: "... no one, we presume, will contend that Congress can make any law 
in a Territory respecting the establishment of religion, or the free exercise 
thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of 
the people of the Territory peaceably to assemble, and to petition the 
Government for the redress of grievances." "Nor can Congress deny to the people 
the right to keep and bear arms, nor the right to trial by jury, nor compel any 
one to be a witness against himself in a criminal proceeding.... The powers 
over person and property of which we speak are not only not granted to 
Congress, but are in express terms denied, and they are forbidden to exercise 
them." (Pp. 450-51) In this respect the Dred Scott decision is similar to its 
contemporary, Cooper and Warsham v. Savannah, 4 Ga. 68, 72 (1848). It is 
likewise similar to other Supreme Court decisions which list individual rights 
and include the right to arms. (Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U.S. 275, 281-282 
(1897); United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259, 265 (1990)) Other 
points of interest could be the Court's profession of duty to interpret the 
Constitution "according to its true intent and meaning when it was adopted." 
(p. 405); quoting "an American patriot" for the point that "European sovereigns 
give lands to their colonists, but reserve power to control their property and 
liberty" whereas the "American government sells lands belonging to the people 
of the several states ... to their citizens, who are already in possession of 
personal and political rights, which the Government did not give, and cannot 
take away." (P. 513)(Campbell concurring) For further information on Dred 
Scott, visit Sonja's Dred Scott page (includes a photo of Mr. Scott) and Lisa 
Cozzens' Dred Scott: Introduction.]

If you read more carefully, you'll see that "parade of horribles" is not, in 
fact, in the text of the Dred Scott decision, but rather simply in the 
introduction to it at the beginning of the cited page! This seems to be a red 
herring. So far, I can find no actual evidence that the term is anywhere near 
that old (1857). All actual quotes I've found seem to be much more recent, but 
I have not yet tracked down the oldest citation!

Here's the word origins homepage and you can find your way to the bulletin 
board if you'd like to take a peek.  I'll have to go back and register myself  
It looks like an interesting site.

http://www.wordorigins.org/home.htm

And here's one more useful link:

http://www.theslot.com/contents.html

Thanks for the interesting question!

Drat those crimson fishes!

I'm wondering if the phrase comes from the Old Testament's reference in the 
Book of Leviticus (26:16), Deuteronomy, or possibly Job.  I don't have this on 
authority but I used "litany of horribles" as search words and came up with 
several Biblical references.

Good luck with your search.

Regards to the Davids,
V

Still working on this one but found this reference in an RDF document that I've 
cut and pasted.  You can see the full article by entering "antiques and 
horribles""origin" on Google.  I still don't know if this is the earliest 
reference.

{quote} 

    According to Town Council meeting minutes of 1815, an official Committee of 
Arrangements was appointed; this is the earliest record known of such a 
committee being formed. Since there are no records that indicate what the 
committee was tasked to arrange, it is fair to assume that the official town 
arrangements for the day included the usual oratory, music, amusements and 
fireworks. 

Between 1815-1826, there appears not to have been one but several unofficial 
parades on the Fourth of July; with various groups of citizens forming one 
procession and after marching through the streets, perhaps waiting to watch 
another band of celebrants strutting about in their related but quite separate 
parade. 

We have numerous account of "young bloods" parading the streets; of "hooting 
and hollering" and the discharge of firearms on the "night before." Displays 
of "antiques and horribles" would march at daybreak and young boys would 
gather, form themselves into a line, and march while banging on drums and 
tooting on conch shells, causing a racket at an early hour in the various 
neighborhoods. Militia units met at their armories, paraded to the town Common 
and presented mock skirmishes. 

    Exactly when the idea came about of having one organized parade is not 
certain, but this multifaceted stream of marching citizens may have been one 
reason why the Town Fathers decided to appoint a Chief Marshal, someone who 
could establish some order to the growing number of celebrating Bristolians. 

{/quote}

Consider this:
http://www.andovertownsman.com/news/19990701/AE_001.html

The earliest date it establishes is 1853, but the tradition probably goes back 
a few decades further than that. The hypothesis that appears plausible on the 
basis of comments that have appeared here so far is that the Horribles Parade, 
or the Parade of Horribles was a custom that started sometime in the beginning 
of the 19th century, and was part of the celebrations of the 4th of July. It 
probably became fashionable and quickly spread from town to town.

Here's one additional reference I found here:

http://www.channel1.com/users/hemlock/MakersRemembrance.htm

{quote}

Fourth of July holidays were always special in Upper Falls with
perhaps the peak of the celebrations coming in the 1920s. There was
always the traditional observance of the significance of the day but
this village added its own special touch, its parade of "horribles" an
exuberant type of humor perhaps best expressed in the posters and
signs advertising the event. Fortunately, some of these posters have
been preserved, albeit in poor condition, and may be seen by courtesy
of the reference desk at the main [Newton] library. Printed in heavy
black ink, they measure about two by four feet and contain nothing but
a delightful collection of nonsensical descriptions of things that
were not going to happen on the "big day", so far-fetched and varied
that they cannot be reproduced. here - they certainly must be seen to
be appreciated. The bands and floats in the parade were excellent but
it was the "horribles" which the crowd turned out to see - grotesque
characters designed. by the men during the year but kept secret until
the day.

Following the parade there would be field events at the playground,
mostly for the children . In the afternoon a baseball game would draw
a large crowd but the grand finale of the day, a huge fireworks
display, would attract great throngs from miles around.

{/quote}

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The more I thought of this phrase and its connection to Independence
Day, the more it did sit well with me.  The description of the
'parade' sounds more like Halloween.  I also noticed similarities
between "the horribles" and the Irish "troubles."

Possible additional search terms:

Gaelic/Celtic/Irish
callithumpians
mummers
horribilis
Norse/Viking

Found this in a PDF doc.  You can read the entire article entering
"mummer" "callithumpians."  It's from an oldcelticbooks.com. This is
like some kind of weird string theory.  Are you still with us, Dave?


{quote}
In Lunenburg County, the Galoshans were called Belsnickles and they
mustered at New Years rather than Hallowe'en. They were active all
through the days of Yule: "Belsnickling does not stop with Christmas,
but is carried on until New Year's Eve when costumes are changed from
black to white, and those who go out are now called the New Year's
bucks." On Prince Edward Island, they were known as The Horribles,
"costumed clowners who would parade on New Year's Day." An observer
says that they were "adults dressed up in outlandish garb, often with
weird masks on or with a blackened face. They rode in the New Year's
parade." The march of The Horribles died out at the time of the First
World War.
{/quote}

This from entering "ecossais""horribles."  

Additional search words: 
Scottish
Scottish Rite

{quote}  
 
   Origins of Halloween: 
A thousand-year-old festival which comes us from our ancestors the
Celts.
You surely already intended to speak about Halloween , festival
national in the United States, where one gets dressed in a horrible
way to claim confectioneries and to have fun the festival between
friends. But do you know which are his origins and who introduced this
tradition on the new continent?

A festival to make flee the devil 
It results from an old Celte festival. Indeed, there is more than 2000
years, the Celts (ancestors of the Irishmen, the Welsh and the Scot)
who lived in Ireland were people of farmers. October 31 represented
the last day of the year, Samhain ("Sowène decides") or "the day
between the Years" since it marked the end of the year and the
beginning of the new year, one day magic where Death merges with the
Life, where the world of the côtoie Spirits that of the alive ones,
where the sun makes place at the night of the winter when Past, the
Present and the Future do nothing any more but one. Thus on October
31, with taken care, when their harvests were finished, the Celts
gathered in circle around druide, their priest, to thank the god sun
for his beautiful harvests. To this occasion, the Celts came into
contact with the world of deaths.

To celebrate the arrival of the winter and to prolong the days which
shortened, they lit large fires. In order to prevent that fire
attracts the devil and the witches, the Celts carried horrible masks
to frighten them! The season of the black and deaths would begin the
following day, which one can place on November 1. This day out of
time, neither the last of the summer, nor first of the winter, then
was devoted to disappeared.

 The evening of October 31... 
Much Irishman emigrated in the United States. Proud their Celtic
ancestors, they carried their habits in America... Since, their
festival of Halloween arrived on our premises! In the United States,
one thus prepares the festival of Halloween, national festival since
the XIXème century, during all October. These last years, Halloween
became particularly popular in Europe, and France in particular.

{/quote}

I'm out,
V