The P-rade was not always the vast, often ambling trek we know now, and it didn’t originally end downcampus. For 90 years, the alumni classes marched eastward, to ’79 Arch and down Prospect Street. There, they entered a stadium, now long demolished, for a pass-in-review procession before watching a Yale-Princeton baseball game, now long abandoned. While not a formal history, this photo-filled presentation takes a look at amusing features of the Prospect Street era that are never seen in P-rades today, as well as the raucous origins of some things we do see now. Discover: The first P-rades. The arches and the gates. P-raders on Nassau Street. The early flavor of Yale-mockery in elaborate class floats and ‘stunts.’ The marshals creating the marching orders and inventing the Old Guard. Prewar trends in costumes and themes. The Sacred Bird. The countermarch. Snake dancing. The senior sprint. The first pitch. The Honor Class moving up. The Victory P-rade. Animals. Drinking while marching. Women joining the march. The ‘P-rade Prize’ trophy. The end of the ball game; Prospect Street as the beloved high point. Changes in the route and the move onto campus.

Sponsored by the Alumni Council Committee on Reunions (COR)