| Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | |
|---|---|
The official parade logo in 2011 |
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| Format | Parade |
| Starring | Betty White (1962–1972) Lorne Greene (1962–1972) Pat Sajak (1983–1986) Willard Scott (1987–1997) Deborah Norville (1989) Katie Couric (1991–2005) Meredith Vieira (2006–2010) Matt Lauer (1998–present) Ann Curry (2011–present) Al Roker (1995–present) Other: Jean McFaddin (1977-2000) Robin Hall (2001–2010) Amy Kule (2010–present) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 85 (as of November 24, 2011) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Central Park to Macy's Herald Square New York |
| Running time | 3 Hours (with commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Macy's NBC Brad Lachman Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | November 24, 1932 – 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 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. The three-hour event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving Day.
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In the 1920s, many of Macy's department store employees were first-generation immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the United States parade of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.[1]
In 1924, the parade (originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade and later the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Christmas Parade[2]) was staged by the store. Employees and professional entertainers marched from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes.[3] There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo.[4] 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."[5] With an audience of over a quarter of a million people, the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event.
Large animal-shaped balloons, produced by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, replaced the live animals in 1927 when the Felix the Cat balloon made its debut. Felix was filled with air, but by the next year, helium was used to fill the expanding cast of balloons.
At the finale of the 1928 parade, the balloons were released into the sky where they unexpectedly burst. The following year they were redesigned with safety valves to allow them to float for a few days. [1] Address labels were sewn into them, so that whoever found and mailed back the discarded balloon received a gift from Macy's [2]
Through the 1930s, the Parade continued to grow, with crowds of over 1 million lining the parade route in 1933. The first Mickey Mouse balloon entered the parade in 1934. The annual festivities were broadcast on local New York radio from 1932 through 1941,[6] and resumed in 1945 through 1951.[7]
The parade was suspended 1942–1944 during World War II, owing to the need for rubber and helium in the war effort.[8][9] The parade resumed in 1945 using the route that it followed until 2008. The parade became a permanent part of American culture after being prominently featured in the 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street, which shows actual footage of the 1946 festivities. The event was first broadcast on network television in 1948 (see below). By this point the event, and Macy's sponsorship of it, were sufficiently well-known to give rise to the colloquialism "Macy's Day Parade".
Since 1984, the balloons have been made by Raven Industries of Sioux Falls, SD. [3]
Macy's also sponsors the smaller Celebrate the Season Parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, held two days after the main event. Other cities in the US also have parades on Thanksgiving, but they are not run by Macy's. The nation's oldest Thanksgiving parade (the Gimbels parade, now known as 6abc-IKEA) was first held in Philadelphia in 1920. Other cities include the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade of Chicago, Illinois and parades in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Houston, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and Fountain Hills, Arizona. A parade is also held at the two U.S. Disney theme parks. There is even a 2nd Thanksgiving balloon parade within the New York metropolitan area, the UBS balloon parade in Stamford, CT, 30 miles away. This parade is held the Sunday before Thanksgiving to not compete with the New York parade and usually does not duplicate any balloon characters.
2005 Marked the last time the classic "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" logo (seen on right) was used in 2006 a special variant of the logo was used but every year since then a new logo has been used every year for the parade. The Logos however are rarely if at all seen on television as NBC has used its own logo with the word "Macy's" in script and "Thanksgiving Day Parade" in a bold font. The Logos are assumed to be for Macy's use only for example the logo is on the Grandstand tickets, the ID badges worn by parade staff etc.) the Jackets worn by parade staff still bare the original classic Parade logo this is the only place where that logo can be found.
New safety measures were incorporated in 2006 to prevent accidents and balloon related injuries. One measure taken was installation of wind measurement devices to alert parade organizers to any unsafe conditions that could cause the balloons to behave erratically. Also, parade officials implemented a measure to keep the balloons closer to the ground during windy conditions. If wind speeds are forecast to be higher than 34 miles per hour, all balloons are removed from the parade.[10]
In 2007, the journal Puppetry International published a first person account of being a balloon handler.[11]
A falloon, (F), a portmanteau of "float" and "balloon", is a float-based balloon.
A balloonicle, (B), a portmanteau of "balloon" and "vehicle", is a self-powered balloon vehicle.
In addition to the well-known balloons and floats, the Parade also features live music and other performances. College and high school marching bands from across the country participate in the parade, and the television broadcasts feature performances by famous singers and bands. The Radio City Rockettes are a classic performance as well, as are cheerleaders and dancers chosen by the National Cheerleaders Association from various high schools across the country. The parade concludes with the arrival of Santa Claus to ring in the Christmas and holiday season.
On the NBC telecast from in front of the flagship Macy's store on Broadway and 34th Street, the marching bands perform live music. Most "live" performances by musicals and individual artists lip sync to the studio or soundtrack recordings of their songs, due to the technical difficulties of attempting to sing into a wireless microphone while in a moving vehicle; the NBC microphones used by performers on floats are almost always non-functioning props.
Every year, cast members from a number of Broadway shows (usually shows that debuted that year) perform either in the parade, or immediately preceding the parade in front of Macy's. The 2007 parade was notable as it took place during a strike by the I.A.T.S.E. (a stage hands' union), and as such, Legally Blonde, the one performing musical affected by the strike, performed in show logo shirts, with makeshift props and no sets. The other 3 shows that year performed in theaters which were not affected by the strike.
Along with the Broadway performances, The Rockettes have performed annually since 1957 as the last of the pre-parade acts to perform.
More than 44 million people watch the parade on television each year. It was first televised locally in 1939 as an experimental broadcast.[14] No television stations broadcast the parade in 1940 or 1941, but when the parade returned in 1945 after the wartime suspension, so too did local broadcasts.[15][16] The parade began its network television appearances on CBS in 1948, the year that regular television network programming began.[17][18] NBC has been the official broadcaster of the event since 1955, though CBS (who has a studio in Times Square) also carries unauthorized coverage under the title "The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS."[19] Since the parade takes place in public, the parade committee can endorse an official broadcaster, but they cannot award exclusive rights as other events (such as sporting events, which take place inside restricted-access stadiums) do. The planned rerouting of the parade (see below) would move the parade out of the view of CBS's cameras and thus make it significantly more difficult for them to cover the parade; CBS nevertheless plans on covering the parade to the same extent as in previous years.
CBS has often been criticised for its coverage of the parade. For many years (until 2002), CBS aired parades that had been taped a month before, along with the New York parade. Since then, the announcers that CBS has hired have been known to interview guests instead of paying attention to the parade. One of the main problems is that CBS broadcasts from the Hard Rock Cafe near Times Square. This location makes it difficult for CBS to interact with the parade. The Macy's parade is the only parade that CBS televises, since it dropped the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2004. The network also airs performances of Broadway musicals during breaks in the parade.
At first, the telecasts were only an hour long. In 1961, the telecast expanded to two hours,[20] then 90 minutes in 1962–1964, back to two hours in 1965, and by 1969, all three hours of it were being televised.[21] The broadcasts have been in color since 1960.[22] NBC tape delays the program so that it airs at the same time (9 a.m. to noon) in all four of the major time zones in the contiguous United States. CBS's unauthorized coverage airs live in most time zones (allowing viewers to see the parade as many as three hours before the official NBC coverage airs in their area).[19]
From 1962 to 1971, NBC's coverage was hosted by Lorne Greene (who was then appearing in NBC's Bonanza), and Betty White. Ed McMahon co-hosted in 1971, then hosted until 1981. Between 1987 and 1997, the NBC telecast coverage was hosted by The Today Show’s Willard Scott. During that period, their co-hosts were Mary Hart, Sandy Duncan, Deborah Norville, and Katie Couric; from the early 80s until circa 1994, the show was produced and directed by Dick Schneider; since circa 1994, the telecast has been executive produced by Brad Lachman, produced by Bill Bracken and directed by Gary Halvorson. In recent years, NBC's coverage has been hosted by Today anchors Matt Lauer, Couric, Meredith Vieira; and this year Ann Curry; with announcements provided by Don Pardo, followed by Linda Lopez, the telecast's first and only female announcer, who served during the decade wherein Willard Scott was parade host; and, since circa 1994, by Joel Godard of Late Night with Conan O'Brien fame. In 2011 Today announcer Les Marshak took over announcing duties. The musical director for the TV coverage is the veteran composer/arranger Milton DeLugg. NBC announced that there will be a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 85th Anniversary Primetime Special hosted by The Today Show’s Matt Lauer, November 24th at 10:00 p.m.
CBS's coverage was originally part of an "All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade," broadcast that included footage from multiple parades across the continent, including parades at Disneyland (later replaced by Opryland USA and after that Miami Beach), the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, and two month old taped footage of the Aloha Floral Parade in Honolulu. Beginning in 2004, however, CBS has focused exclusively on the Macy's parade, but avoids using the Macy's name due to the lack of an official license. To compensate for the fact that the Broadway and music performances can only appear on NBC, CBS adds their own pre-recorded performances (also including Broadway shows, although different from the ones that are part of the official parade) to fill out the special.
For the 1997 parade, MTV guest reporters, Beavis and Butt-head, with host Kurt Loder, provided their usual style of commentary on aspects of the parade, and of their take on Thanksgiving in general. The special, entitled Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, includes a balloon of Beavis and Butt-head spectating from their couch. The balloon was not participating in the parade, but stationed on top of a building along side the parade route.
In 2008, a Coca Cola CGI ad aired in the USA during Super Bowl XLII. The commercial's plot consisted of Underdog and fictional Stewie Griffin balloons chasing a Coke bottle-shaped balloon through New York City. The spot ended with a Charlie Brown balloon holding the Coke balloon. The advertisement won a Silver Lion Award at the annual Lions International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France that year, and the clip of the commercial with the Griffin balloon was featured in a Macy's commercial in October 2008 (along with clips of Miracle on 34th Street, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld and other media where the Macy's department store was mentioned).
Radio coverage is provided by WINS (1010). It is one of the few times throughout the year that station breaks away from their all news radio format.
The Parade has always taken place in Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs that make up New York City. Originally the parade started from 145th Street in Harlem and ended at Herald Square, a 6-mile route.
In the 1930s, the balloons were inflated in the area of 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue near St. John the Divine Cathedral. The parade proceeded South on Amsterdam Ave. to 106th Street and turned east. At Columbus Ave. the balloons had to be lowered to go under the 9th Avenue Elevated Subway tracks. Past the tracks, the parade proceeded through 106th street to Central Park West and turned South to terminate at Macy's Department Store.
A new route was established for the 2009 parade. From 77th Street and Central Park West, the route goes south along Central Park to Columbus Circle, then goes east along Central Park South. The parade then makes a right turn at 7th Avenue and goes south to Times Square. At 42nd Street the parade turns left and goes east, then at 6th Avenue turns right again at Bryant Park. Heading south on 6th Avenue, the parade turns right at 34th Street (Herald Square) and proceeds west to the terminating point at 7th Avenue where the floats are taken down.[23][24] The 2009 route change eliminated Broadway completely, where the parade has traveled down for decades. The City of New York said that the new route will provide more space for the parade, and more viewing space for spectators. Another reason for implementing the route change is the city's plan to turn Broadway into a pedestrian-only zone at Times Square. There are plans to eliminate Times Square altogether and reroute the parade down Sixth Avenue for 2011, a move that is being protested by the Times Square BID, Broadway theatre owners and other groups. The move is an effort to enforce some measure of exclusivity for NBC, the parade's official broadcaster, by moving the parade away from CBS's studios in Times Square.[25]
It is not advised to view the parade from Columbus Circle, as balloon teams race through it due to higher winds in this flat area.
New York City officials preview the parade route and try to eliminate as many potential obstacles as possible, including rotating overhead traffic signals out of the way.
Since 2001, Macy's Studios has partnered with the Universal Orlando Resort (owned by NBC Universal) to bring balloons and floats from New York to the theme park in Florida every holiday season. The parade is performed daily and includes the iconic Santa Claus float. Performers from the Orlando area are cast as various clowns, and the park invites guests to be "balloon handlers" for the parade.[26]
In 2006, parade organizers used fewer balloons in response to a worldwide shortage of helium. Organizers had talked of not using any balloons, but compromised due to public demand.[32]
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