Easter Traditions: Easter Parades

What seems like a modern excuse for a shopping spree is somewhat of a societal rite of spring.

Dating back to the middle ages, many cultures would strut their new fineries on their way to church or visiting friends on Easter Sunday. A more spiritual meaning of this ritual is that it represents the procession that followed Christ carrying the cross.

The Atlantic City Easter parade, started in 1860, was a grand promenade. Back in the day, people would dress in elegant hats and brand new clothes to take their customary stroll down the boardwalk. Fifth Avenue in New York City enjoys its fair share of fashionable traffic on the holiday, as well as The Easter Parade in Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., which started in 1952. And Irving Berlin's 1933 song, "Easter Parade," romanticized the tradition on Broadway in the musical "As Thousands Cheer," on the big screen in the 1942 movie, "Holiday Inn," and in the same titled movie "Easter Parade" in 1948.