Incredible photos from the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade
The parade became an annual tradition.
The parade ended at the Macy's store in Herald Square on 34th Street, where the Santa climbed a short ladder resting against a new Christmas window display called "The Fair Frolics of Wondertown." He drew a curtain to unveil it.
The last float, decorated like a sleigh, had a Santa Claus who waved to spectators.
The company threw the parade to draw more holiday shoppers into New York's Macy's, which touted itself as the "world's largest department store" in 1924. It included 1 million square feet of retail space. (The store is only slightly larger today.)
Source: Macy's
Macy's employees wore costumes to look like clowns, cowboys, and knights.
In the first parade, some of the floats matched Macy's Christmas window display themes. The participants dressed up like characters from Mother Goose stories, including the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet, and Little Red Riding Hood.
In 1927, Marionette maker Tony Frederick Sarg's large animal-shaped balloons replaced the animals. The first flying balloon, filled with air, was Felix the Cat. That year, the event was also renamed the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
Source: Business Insider
The parade featured elephants, monkeys, camels, and bears borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Live animals made appearances for just two more parades after 1924.
Source: History
The performers marched 6 miles, starting from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue in Upper Manhattan.
Source: The New York Times
On Thanksgiving morning in 1924, Macy's procession launched as the Christmas Parade.
Macy's was not the first company to have a parade like this. In 1920, Philadelphia’s Gimbel Brothers Department Store staged a Thanksgiving parade with 50 people, 15 cars, and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus.
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