Earl C. Hargrove Jr. founded Hargrove with his father after World War II in 1946. From modest beginnings dressing windows for retail stores, the company’s reputation for quality and creativity grew. It wasn’t long before Mr. Hargrove began to get calls to produce parades, floats and special events. And in 1949, he took on the moniker of “the President’s prop man,” when he set the stage for President Truman’s Inaugural in 1949. Hargrove has been a contractor on every inaugural since. In fact, Hargrove employees measure their tenure by the number of inaugurations they have worked.