November has a lot of events, from Thanksgiving, Voting, and National Calzone Day! One of the most important events is the Macy’s Day Parade. This nearly 100-year-old parade gets over 3 million viewers (5 Macy’s Day tips), and 13 million dollars are spent (How much does Macy’s Day cost?)! With that much money, you could own several private islands! The Macy’s Day Parades route is all along 77th Street to 65th Street. They bring out large balloons and floats as their main attractions.
The Macy’s Day Parade started in 1924 when Macy Day employees brought their European parades here to America, where there were costumes and professional bands that sang down 34th street (NYC data). Fun fact: they also used real-life animals from the local zoo instead of floats at the start, but they had to change as people started getting ethical concerns for the animals. (Macy’s Day Parade over the Years). The author of that is Ana Yglesias, they talk about how in 1927 the first-ever balloon debuted as Felix the Cat! When making the balloons they had no plan to release them, so they were released to fly away. The parade would continue for years until WW2’s helium and rubber shortage paused the festival for 3 years. But luckily they were able to continue when the country had recovered from that aspect. Fast forward to 1968 and floats join the parade, though they only implemented the smallest out of all of the year.
As the years went by the parade has become more of what we recognize. Every year companies grab the most iconic characters to use balloons.
The Macy’s Day Parade is also known for its accidents. In the article “Infamous Balloon accident” the author Aj Willingham describes the events of the Cat in the Hat Balloon “High winds caused the Cat in the Hat balloon to strike a lamppost, and part of the post came crashing down on the head of a bystander. The woman suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for a month.” The parade officials made stricter requirements afterward, but the accidents still didn’t stop. According to “Biggest Balloon Blunders”, in 2008 a balloon crashed into the broadcasting and took them off the air.
This parade has a unique history, which makes it a very unique parade. In the article “Macy’s Day Parade over the years,” Yglesias states something that perfectly captures this parade: “Each parade is a pop culture time capsule.” That is what makes this parade so unique: each year is a different experience.
