Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
| Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | |
|---|---|
Official 2014 88th Annual Parade poster
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| Presented by |
Present: Matt Lauer (1998–present) Savannah Guthrie (2012–present) Al Roker (1995–present) Previous: Dave Garroway (1952–1961) Betty White (1962–1972) Lorne Greene (1962–1972) Ed McMahon (1971–1982) Bryant Gumbel (1982–1984) Pat Sajak (1983–1986) Willard Scott (1987–1997) Deborah Norville (1989–1990) Katie Couric (1991–2005) Meredith Vieira (2006–2010) Ann Curry (2011) |
| Starring |
Parade Executive Producer: Jean McFaddin (1977–2000) Robin Hall (2001–2010) Amy Kule (2010–present) |
| Composer(s) |
Macy's NBC Brad Lachman Productions |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 90 (as of November 24, 2016) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) |
Central Park to Macy's Herald Square, New York City, New York |
| Camera setup | Videotape; multi-camera |
| Running time | 3 hours (with commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | November 24, 1927 – November 22, 1951 (radio) November 25, 1948–present (television) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Macy's Ballonfest My Macy's Holiday Parade Lighting of the Macy's Great Tree Christmas in Rockefeller Center |
| External links | |
| Website | social |
The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, the world's largest parade, is presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). The three-hour Macy's event is held in Manhattan starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.
In 1924, the annual Thanksgiving parade started by Louis Bamberger in Newark, New Jersey at the Bamberger's store was transferred to New York City by Macy's. In New York, the employees marched to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes. There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square. At this first parade, however, the Jolly Old Elf was enthroned on the Macy's balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then "crowned" "King of the Kiddies." With an audience of over 250,000 people, the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event.
Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg loved to work with marionettes from an early age. After moving to London to start his own marionette business, Sarg moved to New York City to perform with his puppets on the street. Macy's heard about Sarg's talents and asked him to design a window display of a parade for the store. Sarg's large animal-shaped balloons, produced by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, replaced the live animals in 1927. A popular belief was that a balloon version Felix the Cat balloon was the first ever character balloon in the parade back in 1937, with Macy's also claiming that too, but Felix actually made his first appearance in 1931.
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