Print ArticleThis week Jacksonville will celebrate Christmas for the 182nd time. Here's four major Christmas traditions that don't happen anymore in a city that continues to change.
The Dorcus Drake Annual Christmas Party
Image of the 27th annual party in 1984 courtesy of the Jacksonville Public Library Special Collections Department
Held at the Jacksonville Coliseum, the Dorcus Drake Annual Christmas Party and Toy Drive was once the biggest private run Christmas Party in the nation.
Founded in 1957 by Dorcus Drake, the granddaughter of former Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, the annual event was so large that in 1987, party organizers entertained 51,000 children who claimed trailer-loads of donated toys.
The event declined without Drake's direction after her death in 1993.
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