Thanksgiving Day Parade History

An annual tradition, 90 years in the making. 50 million people sit in their homes on Thanksgiving morning and watch the Macy’s Parade. Millions more flock to their local parade to take part in the holiday festivities. 1924 was the first annual Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The first parade wasn’t much like the one held today. Originally called the Macy’s Christmas Parade, it was put on by the giant retail store, as an effort to draw attention. The first floats included; little miss muffet, Old Lady in the shoe, and Popeye. Instead of giant balloon animals, the first parade borrowed real life animals from the central park zoo. More than 250 thousand people attended the parade.
Inflatable balloon animals were brought to the parade a few years later in 1927. Felix the cat, was the highlight of the parade, but problems occurred with his large size. Felix was filled full of helium and at the end of the parade officials simply just let him go. The first few years Macy’s just let the balloons go, one ended up in the East River, one landed in the middle of Long Island, and another wrapped itself around a planes wing. After 1933, helium balloons were created with release valves to make a smoother deflation process.
Floats were horse drawn, until its first televised event in 1939. For the first time in 1947 the parade was held on national television, bringing its name to fame. 12 emmy awards have been given to the parade for outstanding daytime broadcast achievement. Hosts of the parade have included Betty White, Regis Philbin, and Al Roker. The parade has become a nationwide event, with cities all across America replicating the celebration. Nearly 8,000 people people participate every year in the parade, making it the largest Thanksgiving parade in history.