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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade • Vol. 19: #44 • (10-29-2023) Tidbits of Coachella Valley
In the fall of 1920, Gimbel’s Department Store in Philadelphia sponsored a Thanksgiving parade that meandered several blocks through downtown and ended at the front door to their store. It was all a gimmick designed to promote their new “Toyland” display, and it worked. But little did they know that their clever publicity stunt would lead to a celebration that would become an annual event and a prominent part of our American culture.
• The success of the Gimbelʼs parade did not go unnoticed by executives at New Yorkʼs newly opened Macyʼs Department Store. The director was impressed by the excitement the Gimbel’s parade generated, and felt that a Thanksgiving Day Parade would be the ideal way to publicize the Macy’s brand. It would show off their rapidly expanding store chain and draw in holiday shoppers by the droves. After all, they were at the time the largest retailer in the country.
• Named after early partner Rowland Macy, Macy’s Department Store had prospered during the Civil War and had since become a nationwide chain of outlets. In 1924, Macy’s flagship location on Herald Square in New York City became the largest freestanding store in the world, taking up an entire city block.
PARADE PREMIER
• The first Macy’s Day Parade took place that same year. About 150 store employees marched to Macy's flagship store at Herald Square, all dressed in vibrant costumes. There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. The marchers followed a mile-long route lined with over 250,000 enthusiastic spectators.
• The long entourage ended at Macy’s main entrance on 34th Street, with Santa Claus bringing up the rear. Santa was welcomed into Herald Square with great fanfare and was crowned “King of the Kiddies.” He was enthroned on an ornate seat upon the balcony overlooking the store entrance. Fans and followers eagerly flocked inside.
• The event was so successful that the director soon announced that a larger and even more exciting parade would be held the following year.
BIGGER AND BETTER
• In 1927, a puppeteer was hired to design Macy’s store-front window displays. With the help of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, he also created colorful animal-shaped rubber balloons for the parade. They were filled with air and store employees held them high above the crowds using long sticks. The balloon animals soon became a main attraction, gradually increasing in size and with various themes. The giant balloons became more elaborate and eventually had to be filled with helium, requiring them to be held down with tethers.
• Between 1929 and 1931, the massive balloons were released at the end of the parade route and allowed to simply fly away. The heliumfilled spectacles often stayed aloft for up to ten days, returning to earth many miles away. A tag attached entitled the bearer of the remains to redeem a reward at Macy’s, usually in the form of a gift certificate. This idea was scrapped when one landed in the East River, another drifted out to sea, and another wrapped around an airplane wing causing it to go into a tailspin. Today the balloons are outfitted with deflation valves and stored in a large warehouse in nearby New Jersey, along with all the other parade accoutrements.
• The only years when the parade was canceled were the war years 1942-1944 when both rubber and helium were in short supply.
• The parade’s popularity got a big boost when the 1947 blockbuster hit film “Miracle on 34th Street” featured actual footage of the parade, and Santa waving from the balcony over Macy’s 34th Street entrance. The following year the parade was televised for the first time. It has attracted ever-increasing nationwide viewership since.
BALLOONING BEHEMOTHS
• Just how big are the modern balloons? Kermit the Frog holds 5,220 cubic feet of helium, enough to fill 10,440 average-size 18-inch Mylar balloons. The arm on the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger was the size of a school bus. If the Kool-Aid Man was full of the sweet drink, it would be over 10,000 gallons worth. Four million crescent rolls could be made from the 54-foot-tall Pillsbury Doughboy if the boy was really made of dough.
• The most popular balloon has been the Peanuts character Snoopy, who first appeared in the 1968 parade. Since then, Snoopy has enjoyed eight different re-designs and has participated in 42 parades, more than any other character. When a poll for “favorite balloon” was held after the 2022 parade, Snoopy garnered 93% of the vote.
• The helium used in the balloons comes from the world’s second-largest helium plant, located in Otis, Kansas. The gas is purified and then compressed into giant high-pressure tubes which are shipped to New York City on semitrucks. Specialized lines the size of fire hoses are fitted with nozzles that fill each balloon. Although it takes several hours to inflate each balloon, it only takes about 15 minutes to deflate them. The escaping helium is not recaptured during deflation, but harmlessly escapes into the atmosphere.
• In 1989, New York City had its first white Thanksgiving in 51 years. Central Park received 4.4 inches of snow, a record amount for that day. Still, nearly two million people turned out for the parade, undaunted.
EXPENSIVE ENTERTAINMENT
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become the biggest and most expensive annual parade in the world. The cost of producing the parade is upwards of $14 million per year, and rising, and entering as a parade participant is not cheap.
• Companies sponsoring balloons have to pay for their construction, done at the New Jersey warehouse. There’s also the parade entry fee of $190,000 for newcomers, but only $90,000 for repeat entrants. The company must also pay for its own helium and ground crew. In return, each balloon is guaranteed a full two minutes of national TV coverage as the parade passes by the NBC “Today Show” studios, where the announcers extoll the virtues of the corporate sponsor. Consider that an average 30-second ad on a national network runs upwards of $100,000 and the deal isn’t so bad.
• Generally, around 700 people riding on floats need costumes, so 200 costume fitters are on hand. When the parade ends, costumes are packed into ten trucks and sent back to the New Jersey warehouse for storage.
• Between 8,000 and 10,000 people are participants in the parade, usually consisting of around 800 clowns, 12 marching bands, 28 floats with cast and crew, nine performance groups, various celebrities, the Rockettes precision dancers, and the entire cast of various Broadway shows.
• About 3.5 million people see the parade in person, packing the streets over the 2.5-mile route. That works out to 132 spectators per foot along the route, packed in sardine style and stacked up on grandstands. Attendance at the parade is approximately equal to the entire population of Connecticut.
• If you want to volunteer to work at the parade, you’re out of luck. Only city employees, Macy’s employees and their families, and employees of the corporate sponsors are allowed.
STAN SMITH’S TENNIS CLASS
