This holiday season, Orange County will razzle and dazzle with its boat parades and fancy shopping mall get-ups. But many longtime residents will note the absence of OC’s greatest Christmas tradition, Forty Miles of Christmas Smiles. This fiercely competitive lighting competition spanned OC’s entire coastal region, from San Clemente to Seal Beach, for over 40 years, beginning in 1932 and lasting through to the early 1970s. During that time, Pacific Coast Highway served as its main thoroughfare for travelers to appreciate every display. Each city represented itself, often competing for best decorated streets and residential areas, and boosted creativity to vie for press attention while wooing the masses.
A trophy was usually awarded to each city, while business sponsors donated various cash prizes and gifts to participants. Sub-categories often included best religious themes, residential streets, dioramas, civic displays, and business décor.
The first Forty Miles of Christmas Smiles event started in 1932 as the brainchild of William Gallienne of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. C.G. Huston of the Orange County Coast Association, an organization that would primarily sponsor the event for most of its time.
That first year in 1932 was enough to boost the tradition and lay the groundwork. At precisely 7 p.m. on December 18, participants were instructed by radio to turn on their lights and display their décor for those cruising PCH. Meanwhile, motorists were treated to rows of lighted Christmas trees along the highway. San Clemente and Laguna Beach both constructed massive shrines, inviting motorists to stay and take in the holiday cheer.
But it was the city of Huntington Beach that won the first grand prize, a Nativity scene that held a 30-foot-long, 10-foot-high painting adorned with lights and wreaths. Huntington Beach continued to win for the first five consecutive years, and then Laguna Beach took the prize in 1940. Afterwards, the contest went on hiatus during World War II. In 1952, the competition divided itself into three area regions (north, south and central Orange County), which competed for the grand trophy. Winners were often displayed and announced in the local newspapers.
Sadly, the event began to fade in the late ’60s. Reasons are likely lost to history, but one possibility may be from the conservation demands the Federal Energy Office issued in 1974. Others point to dampening enthusiasm as press attention seemed to dim.
But perhaps the smiles can return to the OC. Here, among the many art institutions, colleges and spirited residents, a hotbed of fresh creative potential is ready to bloom this yuletide season. Energy concerns can easily be minded with the use of solar lights, LED lighting technology and other green-minded, money-saving yard decorations, so there’s no excuse not to smile this year.
