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April 25, 1925. "Apple Blossom Festival at Winchester, Virginia." Our second glimpse at these curious goings-on. National Photo Co. View full size.
She appears to be quite the stunner and I think, was representative of an American Indian woman.
Washington Post, April 19, 1925.Winchester Ready to Greet Hosts at Blossom Festival.
“Prince Shenandoah” to Crown Miss Eleanor Chiles, Queen of Fete.
… A colorful festival parade will be held early Friday Afternoon, marching through the gaily decorated streets to the fair grounds, where the pageant, symbolizing the routing of the Indians from the Valley by the white men, will take place. Miss Eleanor Chiles, brunette, daughter of S.M. Chiles, will be crowned by “Prince Shenandoah” on a dais in front of the grandstand. A rythmic dance will follow.
Washington Post, April 25, 1925.Apple-Blossom Fete Ends With Fireworks
Crown Festival Queen.
Forty thousand persons, exultant because a million apple trees are in bloom, marched through the streets today with rejoicing for nature's promise of a rich harvest. … Just as a valley, rich and fragrant, with a myriad of blooms scenting the air, never seemed more beautiful, so the skies, glorious and blue, never seemed more far. Of the 40,000 persons, some rode in gorgeous floats and other marched; but all were attired in costumes of pink, red, green and white—the colors of the blossoms. …
They marched to the fair grounds, there to crown a queen, Miss Eleanor Chiles, of Frederick county, whose radiant charm personified the unrivaled beauty of the apple blossom. She was attend by twenty princesses, the fairest of the Shenandoah.
I think this depicts a re-enactment of the marriage of Pocahontas (1595-1617) to John Rolfe, widower and tobacco grower, in colonial Virginia in 1614.
[Actually, the kneeling girl is the Queen of the festival, in this case, Miss Eleanor Chiles. She's being greeted by, apparently, the "Minister of the Crown," one Richard H.G. Gray. Those offices are still in use at the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. - tterrace]
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