To celebrate Thanksgiving means taking part in a plethora of traditional activities: cooking a turkey for the big day, tuning into some American football, and of course, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. While the classic parade annually draws in around 22.3 million viewers, I’m sure not many are away of the parades humble beginnings.
The idea of a Thanksgiving Day parade originated with the Gimble Brothers Department Store in Philadelphia. The parade took place in 1920 as campaign to usher in the Christmas shopping season and featured 50 people, 15 cars and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus. It was in 1924 that the Macy’s department store decided to use the idea of a Thanksgiving parade to showcase the opening of the of new 1 million square feet Macy’s store right at the start of the holiday shopping season; however, despite its timing, the parade was dubbed a “Christmas Parade,” in which onlookers were promised a, “marathon of mirth,”.
The original parade spanned a length of a whopping six miles but was later scaled back to a more accessible two and a half miles. The parades attractions included floats feature famous Mother Gooses favorites such as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and Little Red Riding Hood, Macy’s employees dressed as cowboys, clowns, and knights as well as a vast array of animals on loan from the Central Park zoo. The inclusion of live animals did not last in future parades as the tired growls of the animals scared spectators. The live creatures were then replaced by less ferocious balloons, something that would soon become a trademark of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The helium filled Felix the Cat was introduced in 1927 designed by Sarg. One of the other most notable features of the beloved parade is the arrival of Santa Claus to usher in the Christmas season. At the end of the original parade Santa was crowned, “King of the Kiddies,” after which he scaled a ladder and sat on a gold throne mounted on top of the marquee above the store’s new 34th Street entrance near Seventh Avenue from which he unveiled the, “Fair Frolics of Wondertown,” a fairytale scene situated in the storefronts window.
The Thanksgiving Day Parade would be incomplete without its classic helium filled character balloons. This year, the parade will feature sixteen character balloons each containing, on average, about 12,000 cubic feet of helium. To put that in perspective that is enough to lift 740 pounds or fill 2500 bathtubs! It takes around 90 minuets to inflate the balloons; however, it only takes 15 minutes to deflate the giant attractions. Each balloon requires up to 90 handlers, each of which has to be at least 120 pounds and in good health.
Today’s modern Thanksgiving Day Parade is worlds different from the very first parade but despite it’s differences there remains one similarity: the joy it brings as it celebrates both Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas holiday season. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition rich with history and it will continue to bring people together as the years go on. Make sure to tune into NBC on Nov. 23 at 9 am in all time zones to watch a tradition as American as apple pie.