Missouri news

See what Kansas City's Super Bowl parade might have looked like a century ago

KCUR | By Gabe Rosenberg

Published February 17, 2023 at 5:48 AM CST

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of Grand Boulevard for the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade on Feb. 15, 2023.

Close to 1 million people gathered in the streets of the city and in front of Union Station to cheer on, and maybe even meet, the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs. But what would the grand event have looked like if happened in 1923 instead of 2023?

Through his camera lens, David Wetzel may have had one of the best views in the city of the Super Bowl victory parade on Wednesday.

The Kansas City, Kansas, native says he got set up at a friend's balcony at the Western Auto lofts, with a perfect view of the Chiefs parade as it marched down Grand Boulevard.

Wetzel, 39, is an acoustical designer who's been taking photos as a hobby "since I can remember." He's also a big history fan who loves seeing images of Kansas City "then and now," so he wanted to create his own.

During the festivities, Wetzel shot digitally with a Fuji X-T series mirrorless camera and a 55-200mm lens, and then altered the photos afterward to recreate the "vintage" feel.

With that simple setup — and the cardinal rule of "location location location" — Wetzel captured some of the most memorable images of the day, and made them look timeless.

Now this team is truly one for the history books.