On Nov. 27, 1924, the now-nostalgic parade began. It was called the Macy’s Christmas Parade then, and they staged it on the streets of New York City as a sales promotion. It was also a fine way to welcome Santa Claus (or at least his avatar) to New York.
The first parade route ended at Macy’s and contained zoo animals, floats based on nursery rhymes, and brass bands – at least one of which we hope was led by 76 trombones with 110 cornets close at hand.
Having committed the unforgivable sin of being a popular attraction, of course it came back the next year, and the next, until tradition was born of a publicity stunt.
In 1927, it was renamed the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and that was the first time the iconic balloon animals walked down the streets of New York instead of zoo animals. Those balloons were filled only with air, and thus had to be held up with sticks.
The first balloon animal in a Macy’s parade was none other than cartoon character Felix the Cat.
1928 was the first year when balloons were ever filled with helium in the parade. At the end of the parade, in fine American fashion, they just let all the balloons float away. As part of the Macy’s promotion that year, and until 1932, anyone who found a balloon when it came back to Earth could turn it in for a prize.
In 1932, reports indicate an inexperienced pilot saw one of the balloons during a training flight and immediately dove to try to capture it with her plane. A Nov. 25 newspaper article from that year reports that the pilot was a 22-year-old woman named Annette Gibson.
The balloon – which is only reported as “shaped like a cat” – may or may not have been a helium-filled Felix. The material was 60 feet long. It wound around the wing of the plane and put the aircraft into a tailspin.
Fortunately, her flight instructor, Hugh Copeland, took control and managed to pull the plane out of its uncontrolled dive somewhere under 80 feet from the ground.
The Macy’s parade was canceled for a few years during World War II due to helium and rubber shortages.
In 1947, the Macy’s parade was finally seen by people who were not in New York on Thanksgiving Day, thanks to the movie Miracle on 34th Street.
In 1948, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was broadcast on television for the first time.
Since Mr. Peabody & Sherman are firing up the Wayback Machine for this article, it seems fitting to end with the words of ABC New Radio Broadcaster Paul Harvey: “And now you know the rest of the story. Good day!”