The History of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

HISTORY OF MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE BACKGROUND The Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade had it roots in 1924 when Macy's introduced a parade featuring Macy's employees and live animals from the Central Park Zoo. Three years later, the animals were replaced by balloons. Almost nine decades later, the parade became an icon of Thanksgiving and a a beloved event that captivates millions across the world. MACY'S THANKSGIVING PARADE 1924-2014 1920's 1924: The first Macy's Parade made their debut 1927: Felix that cat was the first giant balloon to appear in the Macy's Parade • The parade was renamed to the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" November 27,1924 as the "Macy's Christmas Parade" 1930's 1934: Mickey Mouse in Steam Boat Willie and Pluto in The Chain Gang made their first appearances 1933: The practice of letting the balloons float into the sky stopped after a pilot died crashing his plane into a balloon trying to win the $100. • The only year Santa Claus didn't end the parade, instead he led the parade 1940's 1942 -1944: The only years the parade did not take place due to helium and rubber shortages during World War II. 1946: The parade was first televised locally •The 1946 Poarade is featured in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street" 1947: The parade was televised nationally • Macy's first "falloon" appeared in the parade 1950's 1952: NBC became the official broadcasters of the parade 1958: Balloons were carried 1957: Popeye the Sailorman made his first debut and the first year the Radio City Rockettes appeared in the parade down Broadway on cranes because of another helium shortage. 1960's 1963: The parade was almost canceled due to the assassination of JFK just one week prior. 1968: Snoopy made his first- appearance. Snoopy has been the most featured balloon character with the fewest changes. 1970's 1971: Tom the turkey float was introduced •Balloons were not used due to 1977: Kermit the Frog made his first parade debut heavy winds and rain 1980: Broadway performances became a regular 1980's -1986: Big Bird made his first parade 1987: Ronald McDonald made his debut appearance 1989: The Parade took place during a snowstorm. 1990's 1993: The first flight of Sonic the Hedgehog 1996: Macy's started inflating ballloons publicly on the Upper West Side the night before the parade 1994: The debut of Barney 2000's 2003: The first appearance of Pokemon's Pikachu in the Thanksgiving parade -2004: Spongebob made his first appearance the year The Spongebob Squarepants Movie came out 2009: The parade route changed to completely eliminate Broadway. The change allowed for more viewers 2010's 2011: Paul Frank's Julius balloon had it's first flight -2005: Macy's classic parade logo was swapped out for a new logo each year 2012: Papa Smurf made his first flight 2014 (PRESENT): The the iconic Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, 5 other character balloons and 5 new floats will make their debut VIEWERS FUN FACTS IN PERSON V The original participants in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade were employees and family members of employees 1924 (250K) 2013 Currently more than 50 million viewers watch the parade on television Goats, camels, donkeys and elephants were part of the first parade (3.5M) -50,000 Each Balloon takes around 20-50 volunteers to carry and it's about 9 months to build each float 1XXXXIXXY (9) Emmy awards the parade has received In 1928 Parade organizers let Felix the Cat float up into the sky. There was a $100 reward given to the person who retrieved the floating balloon. NEW CHARACTER BALLOONS ADDED BY DECADE 25 2014 PARADE BY NUMBERS 20 27 floats 15 10 12 marching bands 1000 clowns 1300 cheerleaders and dancers 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 16 character ballloons 33 novelty balloons PRESENT 77th SI THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27,2014 @ 9AM This year's 88th Macy's Annual parade will feature almost 20,000 cheerleaders and four new floats, and will be watched by more than 50 million around the world The parade will start at Central Park West and West 77th Street, head down Central Park West and travel east along Central Park South to Sixth Avenue. From there the procession will move south from West 59th Street to West 34th Street, ending in front of the Macy's flagship store in Herald Square. 42nd St 34th S1. Mocy's Herdd Square TERMS TO KNOW: • Falloon: Macy's coined term for a float with a balloon character on it • Balloonicle: A cold-air balloon combined with a self-powered vehicle • Novelty Balloons: Smaller balloons that can fit onto a performer's head Character Balloons: Usually depict pop culture icons and are about 60 feet long and 30 feet wide Sources: http://social.macys.com/parode//cbout/history/1 https://blackfidoy.com/articles/67-mocy-sthanksgivng-dayparode http://www.ryctourist.com/moys_history 1.htm http://www.nyctourist.com/mocys news_balloors.htm http:/wiSud. ly/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-cbout-mocys-thonksgivng-day-pcrode http://www.rielsen.com/us/en/insghts/news/2011/mocys-day parode-tv-tradition-for-roughly-30-milli on-americars.html http://gonyc.cbout.com/od/tharksgving/tp/2011-Mocys-Thanksgiving-Day-Porode.htm http://mentalfioSs.com/a ticle/31575/11-focts-cbout-mocys-tharksgving-doy-parode-ballocns-and-what-it-tckes-inflate-them http://pecple.howstuffworks.com/cuture-traitions/holicays-othermocys-tnarksgiving-doy-parade2.htm http://www.nyctrip.com/poges/hdex.cspx?PagelD=1142 http://www.thedailybecst.com/aticles/2011/11/25/mocy-s-thanksgving-day-parade-flcats-balloors-more-stati stics.htmi http://www.businessinscer.com/mocys-thanksgiving-day-parade-history 2012-11?op=1 http://photos.prnewswire.com/prntul/2014I015/152233-INFO http://macyspoaodepress.com http://www.mustocheogency.com/MNR/MocysParade/doc/macysparodeoverview.pat Big Appled Created by bigoppled.com