Community Corner

VIDEO FLASHBACK: 'Round-Up Days' Parade 1957

Time to enter the time-machine and travel back to 1957 for the Oak Lawn 'Round-Up' Days parade.

During the 1950s, TV westerns like Gunsmoke, the Lone Ranger and Davy Crockett were all the rage. It wasn't unusual to see Oak Lawn kids outside playing cowboys and Indians.

Taking advantage of the Western craze, the hosted an annual cowboy-themed weekend where local merchants staged fake gunfights on 95th Street.

The Western weekends were designed to lure new residents into moving to Oak Lawn in the post-World War II years. 'Round-Up Days' always featured a parade full of riders on horseback, high school marching bands, and floats.

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'Round-Up Days' had their desired effect. In its first three years, Oak Lawn's population grew from 9,000 to 13,000 between 1949 and 1951.

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This clip, provided by the shows the 1957 'Round-Up Days' parade down 95th Street. 1957 was 'Round-Up Days,' attended by more than 100,000.

Worried that Oak Lawn was no longer "quaint," 1958 would be the last round-up, and the rest is history.

WATCH MORE video flashbacks:

To learn more about the village's history, visit the and explore the exhibits, archives or to ask history coordinator Kevin Korst an obscure history question about the village.


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