Taft was incorporated as a city in 1910, but it wasn’t until 20 years later that the community decided a celebration was in order.
The festivities included a parade that attracted 200 entries and a crowd estimated at 20,000 people. There was a banquet, tug-of-war, fireworks, nail-driving contest, and a water fight staged by the fire department. A civic luncheon was held, which would become a staple of all future celebrations.
The first three events weren’t known as Oildorado. That moniker came along in 1946 (World War II sidetracked the 1945 event) when the Chamber of Commerce decided to form a permanent organization to plan and oversee all future celebrations. It was called Taft Oildorado, Inc.
Planners thought it would be a good idea to make Oildorado an annual event, but the 1947 party proved to be too much for organizers so they decided to go back to holding celebrations every five years with the next one scheduled for 1950.
Over the years new traditions were established, such as the queen pageant (1935), Whiskerino contest coupled with a sheriff and posse to enforce the facial hair edict (1940), old-timers registration and the wooden nickel gang (1950).