Lake Shore Tire Company July 4th Parade Float

 

The float pictured above was sponsored by the Lake Shore Tire Company for a parade in Sandusky on July 4, 1918. Men are dressed in World War I military uniforms, some bearing weapons. A simulated cannon on the float appears to be made of tires carried by the Lake Shore Tire Company. Lake Shore Tire Company was in operation in Sandusky from about 1915 to 1931, and was run by Fred Brobst and J. Leroy Weier.

The Lake Shore Tire Company sponsored the float below in the 1919 Fourth of July parade in Sandusky.

Names of deceased local servicemen from World War I are listed on a tablet in the back of the truck.

Floral urns, similar to those still found in Washington Park are found in the four corners of the truck bed. An article in the July 5, 1919 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal, reported that the Lake Shore Tire Company’s float was one of the most beautiful floats in the parade. 

As the parade passed at West Monroe and Jackson Streets, the band played “Onward Christian Soldiers.” Area men who had served in the war marched directly behind the band. Over 150 soldiers and sailors, along with two Marines, participated in the parade. Following the parade, Ohio Congressman Randolph Walton, gave a speech in front of the Erie County Courthouse. He said, in part, “The boys of Erie County are deserving of all the honors that can be given them. The outstanding characteristics of the American fighter were cheerfulness and unselfishness.”