RED CARPET HISTORY - TINEE WAS THERE!

OSCARS RED CARPET: A BRIEF HISTORY

TINEE checking out RIVER OSCAR

Last night, Academy Award Officials were showing signs concern as to whether "WEATHER" or not the rain would be kind to the BIG event tomorrow. 

Red Carpet Luxury Kayak Rentals were being considered.

O'NEIL Wet Tux's were also ready and standing by.

1922 Robin Hood Premiere

For decades, stars great, small and dubious have swanned down the Oscars’ regal rug. Turns out the backstory is as rich and multifarious as a David O. Selznick epic.

1922

Hollywood’s first red carpet event usually is ascribed to the opening of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre and the premiere of Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks. The irrepressible Grauman, a founding Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences member, later would take credit for the red carpet becoming a staple at Hollywood events.

1961

The first Oscars red carpet is rolled out at the 33rd Academy Awards on April 17, 1961, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

1966

The Oscars are broadcast in color for the first time, giving millions of viewers a glimpse of the red carpet in living color on fruitwood-trimmed console Zeniths.

1992

The American Turf and Carpet company takes over making the Oscars’ red carpet. The continuous filament nylon creation is manufactured and dyed in Dalton, Ga., and replaced every two years. The carpet is not wholly red. It’s dyed with a proprietary blend of colors used exclusively for the carpet to make it read red on television (“Nancy Reagan Red,” Rivers has called it) and sealed to prevent the color from degrading under assault from innumerable ManoloBlahniks.

2001

The Oscars move to the Kodak (now Dolby) Theatre. The red carpet follows.

2003

U.S. forces invade Iraq three days before the Oscars. In deference, the preshow hoopla is scaled back dramatically, including the red carpet itself, which shrinks to a vestigial doormat in front of the theater entrance.

2013

A metastasizing number of awards events and premieres inspires organizers to roll out carpets in yellow (like at 2013’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards), blue, pink and even white. The Grammys, Emmys and Oscars remain steadfastly red.

2014

Today’s Oscar red carpet has grown to 16,500 square feet and takes two days to install. Scraps are jealously guarded to keep them out of the mitts of eBay trolls.