PEACOCK LANE 1929 CHRISTMAS LIGHTS - URBAN MYTH Today December 21, 1935 James H. Richmond, at 604 S.E. Peacock Lane (the Morrison Bridge tender) was the first homeowner on Peacock Lane, to enter the Portland Advertising Clubs outdoor illumination contest. The dead memory in this history, the promoted origination year. The homes on Peacock Lane have NOT been decorated in Christmas lights since 1929. That is an urban myth. The following year Jim Richmond continued to be the only homeowner on Peacock Lane to enter the yearly contest. He dropped out in 1937 and Peacock Lane Christmas lights were never mentioned again for the next 11 years in The Oregonian. You have to travel forward to 1948 to finally find the Peacock Lane we know today at Christmas time. Heres the short announcement of its REAL origin: The Oregonian - December 19, 1948 - page 26: Residents of S.E. Peacock Lane, known for the street open house they hold each Summer, have decided to decorate every home on the street with some kind of Yuletide lighting, Binford reported. Ormond A. Binford was a homeowner at: 741 S.E. Peacock Lane, and Portland Jaycees home illumination contest director. After the 1948 beginning, Peacock Lane was mentioned most years in The Oregonian probably because it was the first coordinated Portland residential street in Christmas lighting. When did the 1929 year slip into the Peacock Lane history? Read on... 1949: Peacock Lane has made a colorful Christmas display. Almost all of the 35 homes on the lane are decorated and lights have been strung across the street. 1950: One of Portlands fairylands of Christmas lighting is to be found on Peacock Lane. The majority of the 35 houses are of the so-called English style of architecture with the usual steep pitched roofs and they have been outlined in colored lights. Trees and shrubs, in many instances, have also been lighted and some of the homes have floodlighted displays. The general effect is outstanding. The mass exterior lighting idea took hold two years ago and this years decoration is bigger and better. 21 of the children from Peacock Lanes families have formed a carol singers group and will contribute their songs to the spirit of Christmas. Harold Sappenfield - Member Peacock Lane Boosters Committee. 1952: Henry Ernstrom, 522 S.E. Peacock Lane, has announced there will be no decorative lighting along that four-block street this year because of the power shortage. 38 families, who for the past seven years have made of their street a Christmas show place attracting thousands of viewers. [Comment: 7 years would make the beginning in 1944. During WWII all outside Christmas lighting was suspended to save power for the war effort.] 1956: (Peacock Lane) lights will be on each night from December 16 through January 1. In Addition, decorations at each entrance to the lane will be shown this year. Three 20-foot Christmas Trees also will be on view. 1959: (Peacock Lane) lights and Christmas music will go on at 5pm. New features this year include the lighting of a 60-foot Christmas Tree, and old-fashioned red Christmas lanterns on each side of the lane. 1961: (Peacock Lane) Santa Claus will visit the street three nights a week preceding Christmas. 1962: Denny Harrington, President of the Peacock Lane Association said an illuminated Christmas card will be posted at each end of the lane. Red Christmas lanterns and candy canes also will adorn each side of the lane. 1973: Ray G. Knudson, Chairman of a Peacock Lane residents group, said about half of the residents, have decided to light their houses this year. The others dont feel the energy crises is over. They wont light up. [Comment: In the end Peacock Lane remained dark.] 1975: A holiday tradition begun 30 years ago has snowballed into a truly satisfying project for the 27 householders living on the famous S.E. Peacock Lane. With the exception of the 1973 Christmas when former Gov. Tom McCall asked Oregonians to dim their lights. [Comment: 30 years ago would make the beginning in 1945. Within the WWII outdoor Christmas light suspension. Plus they forgot about the 1952 power shortage when Peacock Lane was dark at Christmas] 1984: Peacock Lane in Southeast Portland must be decked to the halls because the street has been putting on the Show each year since World War II. [No comment needed.] 1986: Peacock Lane, between 39th and 41st. where an estimated 3,000 cars tour this neighborhood each night. Plan on at least a five-minute wait to get inside. Be sure to turn on only your parking lights for the best effect. Better yet walk through. Coffee and cocoa are available. While at the S.E. Belmont entrance you can tour Peacock Lane via a horse-driven wagon for only a buck. Collection barrels will be placed near the Peacock Lane Associations hot cocoa stand at the end of S.E. Alder Street for those who wish to donate food to the Portland Police Bureaus Sunshine Division. 1990: The trolley -- new this year -- and wagons may be reserved for an hourlong ride along Peacock Lane and through the nearby Laurelhurst neighborhood. The covered wagons and trolley each accommodate between 25 and 30 riders. 1991: The Lights that have illuminated Peacock Lane annually since the 1940s. 1993: His neighbors across the street [on Peacock Lane], Edward and Dorothy Hawes, disagree. Theyve lived there for 37 years and Dorothy says she has a post card from someone who claims to have visited the street in 1928. [Comment: A postcard? I would have felt better if Dorothy had said a Christmas card. The name Peacock Lane has been around since November 25, 1923 when the name changed from East 40th so yes, a postcard could have been sent. One house with Christmas lights does not make Peacock Lane the same tradition. The tradition grew from the residence as a collective.] 1994: Peacock Lane and theyre reckoned to be Portlands finest. They first went up in 1929. [Comment: Now the beginning switches to 1929.] 1994: Peacock Lane decorate and light their street in honor of the holidays. The four-block lane has been a Portland tradition for almost 50 years. [Comment: Back to 1944 again.] 1995: As far back as 1929, Peacock Lane neighbors say, the stretch between Belmont and Stark streets has been lit up with thousands of holiday lights around Christmastime. [Comment: Thousands of lights since 1929 and The Oregonian never mentioned anything about it? That would have been the biggest Christmas lights display in Portland, period.]
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 08:04:19 +0000