Yes, it's the Santa Fe Fiesta. The City's annual extravaganza, part pageant, part carnival and all Santa Fe. A triple event opened the 1943 Fiesta, including the De Vargas pageant, the coronation of the Queen and the Burning of Zozobra. All in one day.
Will Shuster, in charge of Zozobra, had especially tough duty that year since the paper shortage forced him to seek alternative burnable materials with which to build Big Z. No problem, said Will, he’ll do just fine. Oh, Will’s version of Zozobra for 1943 had two faces, not three as last year. Since Mussolini fell from power, the new Zozobra only had the faces of Hitler and Hirohito when it burned at the stake. Will Shuster’s new name for Big Z – Hirohitlerpuss.
Little accident, though. Jacques Cartier injured an ankle at the Zozobra burning. As it turned out, it was his very last leap of the dance and he slipped on some loose gravel and strained a ligament. The dancer recovered soon enough but he was unable to perform in the traditional La Fonda roof show later that night. Luckily, Billy Palou, La Fonda’s famous violinist, was home on furlough and filled in to provide the evening's entertainment.
The 1943 Fiesta Queen was the beautiful Maria Guadalupe Tapia, known more familiarly as Pita Tapia. Pita was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Juan Tapia, 705 Galisteo. Just 18 and a recent graduate of Loretto Academy, Pita was attending the Capital City Commercial College. The Queen's court consisted of Princesses Alicia Lucero, 18, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abel Lucero, 224 West Manhattan, a graduate of Santa Fe High, class of ’43, and working at the Bureau of Revenue; Dolores Porfiria Garcia, 19, daughter of Mrs. Martinia Garcia, 516 Alto St. Dolores was a senior at Santa Fe High where she was vice-president of her class and working for the summer at Taichert’s; and Juanita Quintana, 21, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ramon T. Quintana, 211 Chapelle, a 1940 graduate of Santa Fe High and employed as an assistant to Dr. W.C. Barton. Juanita’s sister, by the way, was Fiesta Queen for 1942.
The 1943 Fiesta welcomed back a favorite feature. Last year's “Caravanes de los Paisanos” proved popular enough to be brought back in ’43. That’s the parade of country folks come to town complete with vintage carretas. First prize went to Mrs. Walter Goodwin’s group for “the Spirit of Pojoaque,’ a gorgeous produce wagon. Dolores Otero got a nice prize for best buggy.
No cars in this year's Caravan – gas rationing, you know. And the war-time shortage of gasoline also affected the grand parade, which did have a few trucks and cars The parade started at City Hall and marched twice around the Plaza and back to City Hall.
The famous Tio Vivo was back for the 1943 Fiesta. That was the famous hand-operated merry go round and a Fiesta favorite. New for 1943 was the Tio Voladero, another hand operated kiddie ride, a kind of a a revolving swing, and very popular with the kids.
As for the adults at Fiesta, most of Santa Fe bars were closed, except for one or two near the Plaza. It’s not that no-one was drinking, it’s just that, with the war on, booze was in very short supply.
The Pet Parade was huge and the New Mexican printed the name of every entrant and their pets. Way too many to read. For example, Charles Kinsolving has 4 rabbits and one chicken, Helena Ruthling showed up with 2 rabbits, a pigeon, a collie and 2 miscellaneous dogs. You might know Helena from her nickname, Doodlet. Grace Olivas had a rabbit, Betty Larragoite brought a dog, Walter Davies brought a horned toad, Kevin McKibben took six snakes and a lizard and little Wally Sargent brought his little dog.
I’m always amused at that report, because Wally Sargent was my sixth grade teacher at Salazar School in 1958 although he’s better known as a real estate tycoon in Santa Fe now. He’s actually a great guy for a tycoon and he was very cool as a teacher. He drove a flashy turquoise blue 1956 Thunderbird, he'd say things like “you're cruisin' for a bruisin,' and he had a popular radio show on the weekend. He was simply too cool for school, Mr. Sargent.
And that's the Santa Fe Fiesta 1943.
