In honor of Thanksgiving, take a look at these photos from the early years of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! Macy’s lore indicates that the tradition was initiated by some of Macy’s employees, first-generation immigrants who wanted to continue their European traditions here. Take that with a grain (or a pound) of salt.
The first parade featured Macy’s employees in colorful costumes, floats, bands, and real live animals from the Central Park Zoo! More than a quarter of a million people came to the parade in 1924, at which point Macy’s declared it an annual celebration.
We can thank Tony Sarg for the introduction of colossal balloons into the parade. Sarg lived in London to start his own marionette business (!) before moving to New York City to perform with his puppets there. Macy’s asked Sarg to design a window display of a parade for the store, where he created scale model balloons. Felix the Cat was the first balloon in the parade in 1927 (at which point living animals no longer had to participate).
The most unbelievable fact about the first years of the Macy’s parade is that the balloons were released into the sky! After they unexpectedly burst in 1928, the balloons in subsequent years had safety valves so they could float for a few days. Address labels were sewn into them, so that whoever found and mailed back the discarded balloon received a gift from Macy’s.
My favorite thing about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is how changing the point of view creates super-bizarre (and menacing) scenes. Ghostbusters had it right, these are eerie!
Here are two by Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt.
Here’s another fantastic photo by Magnum photographer Eve Arnold.
So, happy Thanksgiving, y’all! However you celebrate, take lots of pictures!
