Apple Blossom Festival Collection

46 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff on 12/19. Last revised 08/2021. 

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, photoduplications, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumed all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 3.5 linear feet; 7 reel to reel tapes; 5 cassettes; 1 flag; 1 flash drive

DATES: 1924-2019

SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection includes programs, scrapbooks, articles, extensive photographs and ephemera, 1924 to present. News articles have been scanned as PDFs and are available on a flash drive (in envelope, with collection). The Archives also holds a number of oral history interviews concerning the Apple Blossom Festival. Please ask staff for assistance in accessing these interviews.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival is an annual event celebrating the apple blossom season and the anticipated crops for the fall harvest in the Shenandoah Valley. The festival started in 1924 and has been an annual program in Winchester, Virginia ever since (except during World War II and through 1949, and in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic). Over the years the Festival has grown to include a number of special events and dinners, but the signature event is the parade, which draws large crowds and features personalities from the entertainment, political and sports worlds to participate in the festivities.

RELATED MATERIAL: John Hunter Bean Collection, 72 THL; Media Collection, 1306 THL; Sound Archives Collection, 1656 WFCHS/THL

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Brill, David L., The Trail of the Pink Petals, The Official History of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, Winchester, VA: Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, 2001.

CITE AS: Apple Blossom Festival Collection, 46 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift. 

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1 

Article--Apple Blossom Festival - "It is Spring in the Shenandoah Valley," by Ann L. B. Brown, Virginia Country, May/June 1984, 1 item, 4 pages, printed

Article—“History of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival” (1940), by Ralph Sprinkle; 29 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Article—“Seventeenth Annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Winchester, Virginia (May 2-3, 1940),” publicity report, by Ralph Sprinkle; 6 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Article--"'Roots' of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Had Pre-Historic Beginning," by Tom Wood Baldridge, no date, 1 leaf, printed (photocopy)

Article--"When Apple Blossoms Blow," by Eugene P. Sakers, Virginia and the Virginia Country, March 1950, 1 item, printed

Article--"Virginia Welcomes Apple Blossom Time," no author, Virginia in the Heart of the Nation, Spring Number, 1928, 1 item, 2 pages, printed

Article—Washington Herald—Winchester Popularity Edition, 1953

Articles:  Apple Blossom Festival Essays (folder contains the following: )

• “ ‘Roots’ of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival had Pre-Historic Beginning” by Tom Wood Baldridge; 1977 excerpt, 1 leaf, printed
• “A Bloom Tradition: VA Horticultural Society Auxiliary Celebrates 75 Years” by Glenne W. White; Spring 2015, 3 leaves, printed
• “Pride in My Community: It’s Apple Blossom Time in Winchester, VA” by Glenne W. White; blog post from April 27, 2015, 5 leaves, printed
• “Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Celebrates the 87^th Year Living in ‘The Land of Pink and Green’” by Glenne White; March 8, 2014 for Valley Homes and Style’s Magazine; 5 leaves, printed

Apple Blossom and the weather, 1971-1990, school paper by Ricky Spitzer, 1 item, 4 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Apple Blossom Festival Artwork/Greeting Card—contains note to Becky Ebert from Charla Hayen (April 1, 2017); 1 item, printed

Baldridge, Tom - news article, Winchester Star, 1979, 2 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Brochures, 24 items, printed: 1925 (2), 1926, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1950, 1959, 1975, 1977, 1981 (2 copies), 1980 (3 copies), 1989, 1999, 2020

Byrd, Harry, Jr. - involvement with Apple Blossom Festival, 1937-1984, 7 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

Cancellation stamps—Apple Blossom Festival, May 1-3, 1969; 6 stamps, printed

Coronation service, 1931, 1995, 2018, 3 items, printed

Crown Bearer—Alson H. Smith, 1 item, printed

High bloom dates, 1907-1946, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy), 1 leaf, manuscript

Dates of Apple Bloom from 1907--1930, news article, printed (photocopy)

Financial report - Apple Blossom Festival, 1951, 6 leaves, typescript

Financial report - list of advertisers, 1962, 4 leaves, typescript

History - Apple Blossom Festival (folder contains the following):

• "Winchester, Frederick County and the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival," by Katherine Glass Greene, Philip Williams, and W. W. Glass, 1930, 28 pages, printed
• "The Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival History," from 1949 Apple Blossom program, 1 leaf, photocopy
• "History"--list of major participants: queen, festival head, etc., 1924-1996, 21 pages, typed
   

Invitations to Festival events, 1924, 1926, 1930, 1976, 1987, 9 items, photograph of manuscript, printed

Luncheons, 1926, 1939-1994, 6 items: 1 leaf, manuscript; 2 leaves, typescript (photocopy); 4 printed programs

Mayor Bell’s Notes and Invitations, 1978-1980, 10 items, 28 leaves, typescript; 1 leaf, manuscript

Miss Apple Blossom Pageant, 1954-2000, 1 leaf, typescript (photocopy)

News Articles, 1924-2016, undated, scanned and saved to flash drive as PDFs (in envelope)

News Articles not scanned to flash drive, unnumbered pages

News Articles—from Chicago Newspapers about the Apple Blossom Festival, May 10, 1924-April 27, 1938; 7 leaves, printed photocopies of original newspaper articles

Official passes, no date: 1 leaf, manuscript; 5 items, printed

Planning for Second Festival, 1925, 1 item, printed

Princesses, Program, 1929, 1 item, printed

Princesses, maids of honor, chaperones, instructions - 1961, 1962, 14 items, typescript

Princesses' schedule, tickets, permission notes - 1961, 18 items, typescript/manuscript

Pumps and Pearls, Program, 2009 (first time event was held), 1 item, printed 

Queen and court--3 items, 24 leaves

Queens Dinner Program—7 items (1948, 1995, 1997, 2017, 2018), printed

Song--"Apple Blossom Time," 1938, by Jane Mallory Browne, sheet music, 2 pages, printed

Song--"I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time," 1920, by Neville Fleeson and Albert von Tilzer, sheet music, 3 leaves, printed, photocopy

Song--"In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree," article by James V. Hutton, Jr., 5 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

Song--"When It's Apple Blossom Time in Virginia,” no date, by George H. Emmans, sheet music, 1 item, 4 pages, printed

Song--“Winchester in Apple Blossom Time,” 1977 by Walter W. Birchett and Blossom Dearie, 3 items, 2 records, 2 leaves printed

Souvenir--photographic facsimile of The Virginia Centinel: or the Winchester Mercury, March 25, 1789, 1 item, 2 pages, printed

Souvenir--The Washington Post, copy order form, no date, 1 item, printed

Stamps--(Commercial) advertising the Festival, 1925 and 1928, 11 items

Stationery--8 items: 2 leaves, 1 envelope, printed; related correspondence, 3 leaves, typed (photocopy); 2 postcards, printed

Trademark

Traffic Census--1930, 2 leaves, typescript

Wine Fest

BOX 1A 

Distinguished guest tickets, for coronation and pageant, no date, 2 items, printed

Tickets and stubs in envelope for the 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 34th and 35th Festivals, 26 items, printed

Apple Blossom pageants, 1930-1975, 1 item, 3 leaves, manuscript (photocopy)

Apple Blossom pageant notes, 1929, 1 item, 3 leaves, typescript

Apple Blossom pageant scripts, 1930-1935, 6 items, typescript

Apple Blossom pageant scripts, 1936-1941, 6 items, typescript

Apple Blossom pageant reminiscences--1930s, 9 leaves, typescript

BOX 1B

Firefighters' Parade, 1929-1996, 2 items, 3 leaves, printed/typescript (photocopy)

Grand Feature Parade directors, 1938-1997, 1 leaf, printed/typescript (photocopy)

Grand Feature Parade--grand marshals, correspondence re Hopalong Cassidy, 1953, 1 item, typescript

Grand Feature Parade--instructions for participants, 1928, 1932, 1933, 1934, 5 items, printed

Official list of awards to prize winners in parade--1930s, 44 items, handwritten on typed forms

Parade – Floats--judging, 1930s: ribbons, judge's pin, 49 leaves, typescript/manuscript/printed

Parade – Judging, 1934, Floats and Drum and Bugle Corps
Second division – 3 items
Drum and Bugle Corps, Judges sheets – 10 leaves, manuscript on typed form
Grand Feature Parade, 1934, list of parade participants with notes--2 copies, printed

Parade participants - 1949, 1 item, 3 leaves, typescript

List of prizes for participants in Feature Parade--1930, 1 item, 1 leaf, printed

BOX 2 

Apple Blossom Festival poster contest winner‑1975, by Jeff Williams, drawing, copy

Apple Blossom Festival scrapbook ‑ 1925

Apple Blossom Festival scrapbook - 1926

Apple Blossom Festival scrapbooks--no date, 3 items 

BOX 3 

Belt Buckle – Johnny Appleseed, 1984-85 souvenir, oval, 2.5 cm x 3.5 cm

Scrapbook—1966 

Certificate of Appreciation to Curtis D. Wilbur, Secretary of the Navy, no date, printed 

Photographic souvenir folders‑1925, 3 items

Photographs and poster mock-ups of the 1924 Apple Blossom Festival 

News articles, 1931, English girl was crowned “Queen Shenandoah” by Admiral Byrd, laminated

Newspapers, 1937 

Newspapers, 1987

BOX 4

Apple Blossom Festival Programs,: 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 
*There was no festival in 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945.

BOX 4a

Apple Blossom Festival Programs, 1950. 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955

BOX 5 

Apple Blossom Festival Programs, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 19071, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980

BOX 6 

Apple Blossom Festival Programs, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985. 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999.

BOX 7

Apple Blossom Festival Programs, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.

BOX 8

Apple Blossom Festival Programs, 2018, 2019,
*There was no festival in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

BOX 9

Pageant audio recordings--1956, 1957, 1958, some indexing, 12 items--7 reel to reel, 5 reformatted cassette tapes

BOX 10 - Apple Pie Baking Contest

Timeline, Apple Pie Baking Contest, compiled by Kala Brzezinski, 2015

News Articles and ephemera concerning Apple Pie Baking Contest, 1952-2014, unnumbered leaves, printed

OVERSIZE

Flag – “Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, Winchester, Virginia”, 84.5 x 9.5 cm, 1 item, green cloth with pink apple blossoms and words stenciled on it (filed with framed items on the south wall of the archives storage room). 

MAPCASE 5, DRAWER 7

List of Rooms for Rent during Festival, 1932, 1 item, printed

Newspaper article, Baltimore Sun, 1946, Apple Blossom Festival, 1 item, printed

MAPCASE 3, DRAWER 12 

Poster Advertising Shenandoah Valley Apple Blossom Festival about May 1^st,  Winchester, VA, n. d.,1 item, painting 

PHOTOGRAPHS 

Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com/