For millions of Americans, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is as traditional as eating candied yams and pumpkin pie. Its origins go back to 1924, when the first parade was held. But back then, it was feted as the Macy's Christmas parade, and like today, it heralded the beginning of the festive season.
In the 1920s, Macy's department store in New York employed many first-generation immigrants to the United States. They wanted to show their new-found love for all things American with an extravaganza rooted in European traditions. On Thanksgiving Thursday 1924, the first parade featured colourful horse-drawn floats, marching bands and elephants from the Central Park zoo.
In 1927, the animals were given the day off when the first giant floating balloons appeared – a hallmark of the celebrations to the present day. A giant Felix The Cat, made by Goodyear, floated above the cheering crowds. Past balloons have included Mickey Mouse in 1934, Popeye in 1957 and Betty Boop in 1985. Snoopy, sometimes accompanied by Woodstock, has made numerous appearances over the years and is perhaps the character most closely associated with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
These days, it takes about a year to design, model and build the balloons. Then all the balloons are brought together for “balloonfest”, when they are given a final test flight before the big day.
-
British Airways revamps Avios scheme bringing down flight prices to £1With the new Avios part-payments scheme you can now bag a British Airways flight for as little as £1
-
RBS to close a fifth of branchesRoyal Bank of Scotland plans to shut 18 branches across Scotland, resulting in the loss of 105 jobs. We have the full list of closures.
-
31 August 1957: the Federation of Malaya declares independence from the UKFeatures On this day in 1957, after ten years of preparation, the Federation of Malaya became an independent nation.
-
13 April 1960: the first satellite navigation system is launchedFeatures On this day in 1960, Nasa sent the Transit 1B satellite into orbit to provide positioning for the US Navy’s fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.
-
9 April 1838: National Gallery opens in Trafalgar Square
Features On this day in 1838, William Wilkins’ new National Gallery building in Trafalgar Square opened to the public.
-
3 March 1962: British Antarctic Territory is created
Features On this day in 1962, Britain formed the British Antarctic Territory administered from the Falkland Islands.
-
10 March 2000: the dotcom bubble peaks
Features Tech mania fanned by the dawning of the internet age inflated the dotcom bubble to maximum extent, on this day in 2000.
-
9 March 1776: Adam Smith publishes 'The Wealth of Nations'
Features On this day in 1776, Adam Smith, the “father of modern economics”, published his hugely influential book The Wealth of Nations.
-
8 March 1817: the New York Stock Exchange is formed
Features On this day in 1817, a group of brokers moved out of a New York coffee house to form what would become the biggest stock exchange in the world.
-
7 March 1969: Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Victoria Line
Features On this day in 1969, Queen Elizabeth II took only her second trip on the tube to officially open the underground’s newest line – the Victoria Line.
