Macy’s made its historic move 20 blocks uptown to New York City’s Herald Square in 1902. By this time, Rowland H. Macy, who had founded R.H. Macy & Co. as a dry goods store in 1858, had been dead for 25 years. Macy’s was one of the country’s first department stores. In fact, all of America’s earliest department stores had begun as dry goods stores (Macy called his products “fancy goods”). The move to Herald Square was costly: $4.8 million. That was half of the company’s annual sales.
Furthermore, this cost didn’t include the “13,000 tons of structural steel, 1,000 tons of ornamental iron and bronze, 33 hydraulic elevators, 18 miles of brass tubing for a pneumatic tube system, 1,400 Jandus enclosed arc lamps, 15,000 incandescent lamps, 42 miles of wiring, 6 massive iron and marble stairways leading to the upper selling floors, 4 Otis mahogany and steel escalators, 6 160-inch ventilating fans, 6 large power generators driven by 6 Corliss-type steam engines totaling 3,040 horsepower, and a built-in vaccum [sic] cleaning system.”
‘The Largest Store in the World’
The company purchased nearly “the entire block bounded by Broadway on the east, Seventh Avenue on the west, 34th Street on the south, and 35th Street on the north.” It would undergo its largest project yet: a new 20-story section. The construction lasted from 1922 to 1924. When construction was complete, it was heralded as “the largest store in the world” at 1 million square feet.The new massive section of the store opened on Sept. 8, and, with the holidays right around the corner, it was decided to continue the celebration for the rest of the year. The employees of Macy’s began organizing a holiday parade. The parade would cover more than six miles beginning on 145th Street in Harlem and ending at the newly constructed entrance to Macy’s on 34th Street in Herald Square. Although the parade was scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, it would be called Macy’s Christmas Parade.
The employees constructed floats, coordinated with the Central Park Zoo to borrow animals, hired performers and four marching bands, and planned to dress up as knights, cowboys, and clowns. Some of the floats resembled Mother Goose characters, like Little Red Riding Hood, Little Miss Muffet, and The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. The animals from the zoo included bears, camels, elephants, and monkeys. The final portion of the parade would be Santa Claus guiding his reindeer sleigh.
The First Parade
It was 100 years ago during this week in history, on Nov. 27, 1924, that Macy’s conducted its first annual New York City holiday parade. There were approximately 250,000 spectators stacked four to five people deep lined along the parade route. When Santa Claus arrived at the 34th Street entrance of Macy’s, he was greeted by 10,000 cheering New Yorkers. The Macy’s Christmas Parade was an absolute success, resulting in the company proclaiming to its customers and New Yorkers in general that they “did not dare to dream its success would be so great,” but since it was, “such a parade will hereafter be an annual feature of Macy’s Christmas program for the people.”
The First Balloons
Tony Sarg played an important role in the inaugural 1924 parade. Sarg was an illustrator and puppeteer, ultimately being bestowed the title of “Father of Modern American Puppetry.” He had designed “The Fair Frolics of Wondertown,” which sat behind a 75-foot-long window. “Wondertown,” with its castle background, housed miniaturized Mother Goose characters that danced along moving belts. Sarg’s greatest contribution, however, came in 1927, when he designed and created a massive helium-filled balloon in the shape of Felix the Cat. It was the beginning of the parade’s iconic fixture; and it also replaced the loud, boisterous, and, at times, frightening zoo animals.Over the years there have been countless character-themed balloons, like Santa Claus, Mighty Mouse, Popeye, Smokey the Bear, Spider-Man, Pink Panther, Yogi Bear, and Superman. Mickey Mouse made its debut in 1934. Snoopy made its debut in 1968 as the Flying Ace, and the “Peanuts” character has more appearances in the parades to date than any other.
A Surge in Popularity
The parade and its balloons witnessed a surge in popularity after the release of the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street,” which is centered around the parade. The film used actual footage from the 1946 parade. The 1947 parade was the first to be televised nationally. Two years prior—1945—was the year the parade was renewed after a war-time hiatus. From 1942 to 1944, there was no Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. When it returned, it was met with great enthusiasm as more than 2 million people filled the streets to spectate. This explains why although this is the 100-year anniversary of the start of the Macy’s Parade, it will not be the 100th parade.
Although the parade has grown exponentially over the years, the parade route itself is much shorter. Originally more than six miles long, the route was shortened to around two and a half miles, starting on 77th Street, but ending at the same location on 34th Street.
It seems fitting that the business that claimed the title of “the largest store in the world” located in the country’s largest city would host the world’s largest parade (or at least the world’s largest Thanksgiving Day parade).
