The Concise History of the Greater Pottsville Winter Carnival

1888 – Blizzard hits Schuylkill County. Winter Carnival is born when men shovel off Market Street to cheering crowd; the first telemarketer phone call in Schuylkill County asks “do you want to buy a button?”
1899 – Winter Carnival Parade features Third Brigade Band, beer wagon, two horses and a fire truck; first carnival theme - “Party Like It’s 1899.”
1900- Moustache defrosting, first competition event.
1901 – Winter Carnival King frees the serfs; long underwear arrives by train from Tamaqua.
1910- Steam heat under Market Street created allowing for sub-zero parades to continue for decades.
1916 – The first Vulcan appears in Pottsville landing by space craft; terrorized citizenry hide.
1917 – Interfaith Council preach against “the sinister influence of Vulcans on our Youth.”
1918 – Unity Day in city calms fears of Vulcans settling in the county.
1919 – Women permitted to participate in Winter Carnival after passage of 19th Amendment.
1920 – “Spanish Flu” deemed worst Winter Carnival theme of all time.
1921- First Winter Carnival Queen Contest held at the Hippodrome Theatre.
1925 – Yuengling Ice Cream sponsors the first Radio Night on WPPA.
1932 – Prohibition ends. Yuengling Brewery now sponsors Radio Night and Carnival becomes a lot more fun even though it’s a Depression outside.
1936 – Winter Carnival King abdicates his throne to marry the woman he loves.
1937- Hair pulling competition banned from Winter Carnival Snowflake Princess Pageant for being “unlady-like.”
1941- World War II results in Winter Carnival parade floats being pulled by dog teams to conserver gasoline.
1942 – One million buttons collected for war effort; Many Vulcans are drafted and replaced by Vulcanettes who are either women or female impersonators.
1943 – Vulcan high-pitched dialect used by Defense Department to relay unbreakable commands during the war.
1944 – Carnival Mascot Pottsie Ottsie mistakenly arrested by FBI, released after proving he was not the notorious Axis Power sabateur, Pottsie Nottsie.
1945 – Germany surrenders after being bombarded by one million carnival buttons.
1950 – high birth rate of boomer babies results in Little Miss Snowdrop Contest.
1955 – McCarthy hearings in Washington focus on Winter Carnival Polka Night subversive activities; accordion players from Minersville refuse to answer questions and are blacklisted.
1957 – Iced Tea Night sponsored by local business is guered to the young.
1958 – Hula Hoop competition added as event amid protests from some that the hoops are too small for the average county waistline.
1959 – Contestants no longer have to answer questions in pig latin.
1961 – Moustache Defrosting dropped as an event and replaced with fifty mile walk in the snow after JFK challenges the city to put down their hoops and put on snow shoes.
1965- Pottsville Ski Lodge opened by the von Tropp Family. Skiing added as an event.
1966- Frankie Fontaine, the character who played the “Crazy Guggenheim” character on the Jackie Gleason Show attends Winter Carnival and says that he “fits right in and feels at home.”
1967 – Peace reigns in Pottsville during the so-called “winter of love.” Snowball fighting treaty is signed between City and Port Carbon.
1968 – King of Vulcans proclaims that he is more popular than both Jesus Christ and Mayor Close combined; snow ball fights break out throughout county.
1972 – Steam Heat Plant shuts down, parade trudges through snow filled Market Street with parade taking an unprecedented eighteen hours to complete; Five marching mummers are never found.
1975 – “Swine Flu” theme features frosted pig catching competition outside of Farmer’s Market; Monsignor Boyle performs exorcism on person possessed by Vulcans.
1979 – Attendance dramatically drops off at parade. Only floats with odd-numbered license plates permitted to participate. President Jimm Carter laments about the mayonnaise at the Catholic War Veterans Lodge.
1981 – County’s high elderly population results in creation of Miss Slush Contest.
1982 – Urine tests mandated by the city’s Surgeon General at all Winter Carnival Events “just for the fun of it.”
1984 – Nancy Reagan grand marshal of Parade with theme of “Just Say Snow.”
1985 – all athletic events are permanently cancelled by proclamation of the Pottsville Surgeon General who urges everyone to stay home and play video games.
1987 – President Reagan appears at Carnival Coronation and urges the Master of Ceremonies to “tear down this ball.” Instead the city demolishes Garfield School.
1994 – Wonderbra controversy overshadows Carnival; President Clinton signs NAFTA; all vulcan outfits now made in China.
1995 – von Tropp family flees city by crossing over Sharp Mountain in the dead of night;. Ski Lodge closes permanently; skiing outlawed within city limits along with skateboarding and moustache defrosting.
1997 - Vice President Gore predicts global warming will end Carnival "as we know it."
2000 – Theme of “Party Like Its 1999” rejuvenates Carnival.
2001 – Mysterious puddle found in downtown rooming house; DNA results confirm puddle to be the remains of Pottsie Ottsie.
2006 – Mayor announces construction of multi-million dollar Intermodal Building to house Winter Carnival memorabilia, unsold buttons and a vial of the Pottsie Ottsie puddle.
2010 – Body piercing and tattooing rejected for Little Miss Snowflake contestants in close 7-6 decision of Winter Carnival Committee, irate single parents storm out of the meeting;
2011 – Wilhelmina Payne releases memoirs, “A Payneful Look Back On the Winter Carnival.” Sam-Son Productions buys movie rights for an undisclosed sum.