I have made a very important discovery, the answer to the question "Who invented Parades"? Well after doing endless research I believe I have discovered the answer. Most people think Parades were created to honor someone or some group for example returning Soldiers from WW1 or Politicians on 4th of July. Well that is simply not true, No the real truth is much more sinister than that. Here is how it all began, once upon a time there was a group of Popcorn vendors and they had a meeting to discuss the decline of Popcorn sales. One very entrepreneurial vendor suggested they create an event that would bring an audience to their product. After hours of brainstorming the idea of Parades came up. There was alot of discussion about the ethics of such an idea but at the end of the discussion the enticement of more money won out. The very first parade was set to take place in Farmsville, Iowa, the local Popcorn Union 703 contacted Mayor Johhny Johnson to see if he would be interested in having a parade in his honor and being a politician up for re-election he saw this as a good idea. The parade had 5 floats(horse and buggy's) and went for 4 blocks(the length of the town) and lasted a total of 1 hour( No horses or children were hurt in the making of this parade). More importantly to the Popcorn vendors they sold all of their popcorn and could have sold more if they would have had a larger supply. It was then they knew they had a great profit making idea. If you ever get an opportunity to see photos of early parades you will undoubtedly see Orville Redenbacher in the background. His genius as marketing pioneer has never really been appreciated. Since I have unearthed these facts it has changed me forever, I can no longer look a Popcorn vendor in the face without seeing fake parades before my eyes and when I hear the shout at a Baseball game "Peanuts, Crackerjacks, Popcorn, it is all I can do to keep myself from yelling -Liar, Phony, Hypocrite. There is always one thought that keeps me from exposing them there in this very public setting and that thought is, Yeah I really do want some Popcorn and bring on the parade.