This is a photograph we dug up at the Library of Congress. It shows a parade in honor of Nicaraguan President Gen. Anastasio Somoza, visiting the city on May 5th, 1939.
A Parade in Honor of Nicaraguan President Gen. Anastasio Somoza, May 5th, 1939
So they had the Goodyear blimp in 1939? It’s flying near the Capitol dome.
The blimp was probably military — US Army Air Corps. An interesting question is when did the US stop doing big parades for visiting heads of state? The films of the arrival of King George V and Queen Elizabeth (the late Queen Mother) later in 1939 are great, and some are in color. I remember from my boyhood that when Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie made a state visit, there was a big parade from Union Station up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. I believe it was customary for government employees to be give leave to help “flesh out” the crowds watching the arriving head of state. It’s certainly not done today.