The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a time-honored tradition, but the annual holiday spectacle has changed a lot over the years.
In its 90-year-plus history, the parade has gone from a regional attraction featuring live animals and Macy’s employees to a time-honored tradition attended by 3.5 million people and watched by tens of millions more on TV and YouTube.
1924: The First Parade
Macy’s
The annual holiday parade got its start in 1920, featuring Macy’s employees in costume and animals from the Central Park Zoo. Animals were banned from participating in 1926, reportedly because they were frightening the children. The company then recruits puppeteer Tony Sarg to design the giant balloon characters the parade has been known for since.
1932: Balloon Meets Airplane
For the first few years of the parade, organizers would release some of the balloons into the air with attached instructions for how onlookers could exchange...
In its 90-year-plus history, the parade has gone from a regional attraction featuring live animals and Macy’s employees to a time-honored tradition attended by 3.5 million people and watched by tens of millions more on TV and YouTube.
1924: The First Parade
Macy’s
The annual holiday parade got its start in 1920, featuring Macy’s employees in costume and animals from the Central Park Zoo. Animals were banned from participating in 1926, reportedly because they were frightening the children. The company then recruits puppeteer Tony Sarg to design the giant balloon characters the parade has been known for since.
1932: Balloon Meets Airplane
For the first few years of the parade, organizers would release some of the balloons into the air with attached instructions for how onlookers could exchange...
- 11/23/2020
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
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