Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, beloved Thanksgiving Day tradition enjoyed by generations of Americans that draws an estimated 3.5 million attendees in person in Manhattan, New York, and tens of millions more viewers for television. The annual parade, which is sponsored by American department store chain Macy’s, features floats, giant balloons, marching bands, and popular music and dance performers. For many Americans, watching this parade on Thanksgiving morning is a hardwired annual custom, ranking alongside turkey and gravy, yams, stuffing, and watching football games played by the NFL.
Inauguration and progression
The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, held November 27, 1924, was called “Macy’s Christmas Parade” and aimed at ginning up demand for Christmas shopping. Macy’s held the parade to celebrate the opening of what it called the “World’s Largest Store”—more than 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 square meters) of retail space that occupied a full city block in Midtown Manhattan. That first parade drew a significant crowd with some sources suggesting 10,000 spectators attended and others putting the figure at 250,000. It featured live animals from the Central Park Zoo, along with floats of childhood favorites, such as Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood. Santa Claus made an appearance in front of Macy’s store, at the endpoint of the parade.
Macy’s was not the first department store to stage a Thanksgiving Day parade—Gimbel Brothers department store held the first of its kind in Philadelphia in 1920—nor was it the last since many major cities and companies across the United States have also hosted annual parades to celebrate Thanksgiving. But Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become the epitome of Thanksgiving parades, an iconic and inextricable part of the American Thanksgiving tradition. Except for the period of 1942–44, during World War II, the parade has run annually since the first procession. The name was changed from Macy’s Christmas Parade to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.
Despite the parade’s nominal transition from a Christmas parade into a Thanksgiving parade, it has maintained a close connection with Christmas. Santa Claus has remained a featured character and has generally marked the conclusion of the parade since its inception. The jolly, red-clad North Pole dweller has appeared in both live character and balloon form. The parade is featured in the 1947 Christmas classic film Miracle on 34th Street, which is often telecast following the parade.
The early years of the parade were broadcast on radio. CBS began broadcasting the parade on television nationally in 1947. NBC took over that role in 1953, bringing the parade to millions of homes every year since. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, revelers were not permitted to attend along the parade route, but the parade was staged in somewhat limited form and filmed for a television audience eager for a sense of normalcy.
Balloons: ups and downs
Over the past century, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has featured a wide variety of giant balloon animals and cartoon characters. Puppeteer Anthony (Tony) Sarg designed these central features of the parade as floating marionettes. They were initially made out of rubber, with the assistance of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The balloons were at first filled with air and held up with sticks, but later helium allowed them to float and ropes were added to control them. The 1927 parade featured its first balloons, including popular cartoon character Felix the Cat. Many more characters from cartoons and popular culture followed, including Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, Smokey Bear, various Muppets, Spider-Man, and Garfield. In 1968 the Peanuts character Snoopy debuted at the parade, and the bemusing beagle in balloon form has appeared in a variety of different guises through the years—including an aviator, an astronaut, and an ice skater. Snoopy has appeared in more Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades than any other character.
Unfortunately, some balloons have had their share of mishaps. The inaugural Felix the Cat balloon in 1927 crashed into a telephone wire and caught fire. In the early years of the parade, the balloons were released after the parade and rewards were given out to those who returned them. In 1931 a hippopotamus and a tiger ended up in bodies of water, and in 1932 a Tom Cat balloon became entangled in an airplane wing over the borough of Queens, New York. That put an end to the practice of letting the balloons fly free.
Weather and parade obstacles have also impacted the balloons. In 1956 a Mighty Mouse balloon was not mighty enough to fight through 45-mph (72-km/hr) winds and crumpled near Columbus Circle. In 1957 rain filled Popeye’s hat and drenched onlookers, and a similar soaking happened thanks to a tip of Donald Duck’s hat in 1962. The most serious balloon accident took place in 1997, when a Cat in the Hat balloon hit a light pole, severely injuring a woman. After that incident, and another with an M&M balloon in 2005, Macy’s and New York City introduced precautions for balloons and light poles along the route, as well as weather-related policies for high winds, to ensure the safety of attendees and balloons alike.
Performers and hosts
The parade has also been a platform for musical performers and other entertainers. The Rockettes dance team from the Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center made their debut in 1957 and have become regular performers. Since 1974 the children’s show Sesame Street has included a float with beloved characters and performers. Various top college and high school marching bands are featured in the parade. Star music performers over the years have included the likes of Rihanna, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ariana Grande, Kiss, Gwen Stefani, Cher, and Mariah Carey.
The televised version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade features hosts who narrate the events for viewers at home. Notable and long-tenured hosts have included Katie Couric, Lorne Greene, Bryant Gumbel, Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Matt Lauer, Ed McMahon, Al Roker, Pat Sajak, Willard Scott, and Betty White.
Fred Frommer Charles Preston