The Definitive History of Pottsville Winter Carnival
1888 – Blizzard hits Schuylkill County.
Winter Carnival is born when two men shovel Market Street for the first time
and crowd gathers to watch.
1899 – Winter Carnival Parade now features Third Brigade Band,
beer wagon, two horses and a fire truck; first theme “Let’s Party Like It’s 1899.”
1900- Moustache defrosting is first competition event.
1901 – Winter Carnival King frees the serfs; long underwear
arrives from Tamaqua.
1905 - the first telemarketer phone call in Pottsville asks
“do you want to buy a button?”
1910- Steam heat under Market St.allows for sub-zero parades
to continue for decades.
1916 – The first Vulcan arrives in Pottsville, 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
years of demonstrating.
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 Telegraph Night.
1926- Pottsville curling team cheated out of title for violating
franchise territorial rules when it competed in New Philadelphia by accident,
thinking it was Cumbola.
1927- John O’Hara publishes fictionalized version of Winter
Carnival, “Appointment in Jalappa”
out of bitterness for being turned down as a Vulcan; Pottsville scandalized.
1932 – Prohibition ends. Yuengling Brewery now sponsors
Radio Night and Carnival becomes a lot more fun even though it’s quite 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 old buttons collected for war effort at Wiener’s
in Mount Carbon.
1943 –The high-pitched dialect of Vulcans is used by Defense
Department to relay unbreakable secret commands during the war.
1944 – Carnival mascot Pottsie Ottsie mistakenly arrested by
FBI, released after proving he was not the notorious Pottsie Nazi saboteur.
1945 – Germany surrenders after Berlin bombarded by one
million carnival buttons.
1950 – high birth rate of boomer babies results in Little
Miss Snowdrop Contest.
1955 – Congressional hearings in Washington focus on alleged
subversive Winter Carnival Polka Night activities; accordion players from
Minersville refuse to answer questions and are blacklisted from Yok Tom Billy
Urban radio show.
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 hoops are too small for the average county waistline.
1959 – Queen contestants no longer have to answer final question
in pig latin.
1961 – Moustache Defrosting dropped as an event and replaced
with fifty mile walk in the snow after JFK issues a challenge.
1965- Pottsville Ski Lodge opened by the von Tropp Family.
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.” Crowds go wild.
1967 –“Winter of love.”
Snowball fight ceases between City and Port Carbon.
1968 – King of the Carnival proclaims that he is more
popular than coach Tubby Allen and the late Mayor Claude A. Lord combined, resulting
boycotts and rioting.
1969 – “The White Button” is released by Carnival Committee
with nothing on it.
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.
1973 – Pottsville’s new wider sidewalks allow more people of
girth to watch parade.
1975 – “Swine Flu Shot”
theme misses mark, worst theme since “Dutch
Elm Disease.”
1979 – Only floats with odd-numbered license plates
permitted to participate due to oil crisis. President Jimmy Carter laments
about the mayonnaise while speaking at the Catholic War Veterans Lodge.
1980 –Despite the county’s high elderly population, Miss
Slush contest vetoed.
1981 – Urine tests mandated by the city’s Surgeon General at
all Winter Carnival events for no particular reason.
1984 – Nancy Reagan grand marshal of Parade with theme of “Just Say Snow.”
1985 – All athletic events cancelled until further notice by
proclamation of the Pottsville Surgeon General who urges everyone to just stay
home and play video games.
1987 – President Reagan appears at Carnival Coronation and
urges the Mayor to “tear down this ball.”
Instead the city demolishes Garfield
School.
1994- Wonderbra
controversy overshadows Carnival.
1995 – von Tropp family flee city by crossing over Sharp
Mountain in the dead of night; skiing outlawed within city limits.
1996 – Blizzard forces cancellation of synchronized skating
competition at Norwegian Creek near the Trailways bus station.
1998- Pottsville narrows its sidewalks disenfranchising hundreds
of people of girth (politically correct term for fat people).
1999 – Theme of “Party
Like Its 1899 1999” rejuvenates Carnival.
2000 – Y2K virus outbreak. Pong machine at Club 18 explodes.
2001 – Discrimination lawsuit is settled and Moustache
Defrosting reintroduced as popular sporting.
Victory for women who are now allowed to participate.
2006 – Mayor announces construction of multi-million dollar
Intermodal Building to house both Winter Carnival memorabilia and unsold
buttons.
2009- Ban on body-piercing and tattoos for Miss Snowdrop competition outrages some helicopter mothers;
2011 – Wilhelmina Payne releases memoirs, “A Payneful Look Back on the Winter Carnival”
and SanSon Productions buy movie rights for undisclosed sum.
2016- Donald Trump attends Carnival and promises to build a snow
wall and make Orwigsburg pay for it saying it will stop the out-migration from
Pottsville.
2018- Confirmation of Carnival Judge held up after accusation
of misconduct during Carnival Polka Night in 1970 comes to light. Judge confirmed anyway.
2019- Winterfest comes to Second Street! Good Intent Fire Department assist 47 people that
had lips frozen to metal beer cups.
