Here’s How the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Looked the Year You Were Born

1925

The first-ever Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in 1924. Even in the ’20s, Macy’s was proud to present a holiday spectacle! Create your own holiday spectacle with these 1920s Christmas recipes.

P.S. Here’s how to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 2022.

1929

You’ll be blown away by what used to happen with the balloons at the end of the parade.

1931

The floats have changed a lot over the decades.

1933

Look at the crowds lining the streets to see this crocodile float. (Or is it an alligator?)

1940

Look carefully at the marquee in the background—Charlie Chaplin’s film The Great Dictator premiered in 1940.

1941

After the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1941, the event went on hiatus when Macy’s “enlisted” in the war effort. The rubber used to make the balloons was donated to make tires for tanks and life rafts.

1945

This teddy bear floats along the parade route in 1945, the first parade to return after World War II.

1949

Macy’s giant character balloons are traditionally flown by 80 to 100 handlers!

1950

Macy’s marched this toy solider down the street for the parade in 1950. This year, look for the Pillsbury Doughboy, SpongeBob SquarePants and a rescue pup from Paw Patrol.

1951

Mighty Mouse powered his way down the route in rough weather.

1955

This futuristic float is a perfect fit for the dawn of the Space Age.

1956

The iconic turkey float will definitely make an appearance on your Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade bingo card. Learn more about parade bingo and other unusual Thanksgiving traditions.

1958

The parade is an annual “love letter and gift” from Macy’s to the City of New York. Look at the crowds lining the street in this vintage Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade photo!

1959

Shirley Temple Black was the “Princess” of 1959’s parade.

1960

The parade host in 1960? None other than Bob Hope!

1961

The giant floats were an iconic part of every vintage Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, but there were plenty of other performers, as well.

1962

The parade added new character balloons to its lineup in the ’60s, including Bullwinkle J. Moose from The Bullwinkle Show.

1963

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated just four days before 1963’s parade. But the Kennedy family called Macy’s to ask that the show still go on—for the children.

1974

The tortoise float slowly but surely made its way along the parade route.

1980

Each enormous inflatable has a “flight team” to lead the balloon along the parade route. That team includes balloon handlers, a captain who coordinates the costumes and a pilot who walks backward for the entire parade route to make sure the balloon is flying at the right height.

1982

The show won its second Daytime Emmy for the 1982 NBC broadcast. About 80 million viewers watched the parade on TV that year!

1986

This iconic Pink Panther float is more than 100 feet tall.

1988

This Days Inn float, designed to look like a cartoon dreamland, only ever appeared in the 1988 parade.

1995

Roughly 8,000 people work together each year to put on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

1997

Peter Rabbit debuted in the ’90s, along with the trend of watching workers inflate the balloons on New York’s Upper West Side the night before the parade.

1998

This 67-foot-tall Big Bird float has been a regular on the parade route since the ’70s. See how the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will look in 2021.