--The first parade took place in 1924. It began at 145th and Convent Avenue and marched over 5 miles south to Herald Square. The participants were immigrant employees of Macy's who wanted to recreate the parades they had in Europe. The first parade included animals that they borrowed from the Central Park Zoo--elephants, camels, and goats.
--The second parade, in 1925, featured lions, tigers and bears. (Oh, my!) Because children were a bit frightened by these parades, balloons were introduced in 1927. That was also the year that the parade was renamed the Thanksgiving Day Parade (instead of the Christmas Parade which you see in the original advertisement).
--The balloons in 1928 were filled with helium and released at the end of the parade. They almost immediately exploded.
--Safety valves were introduced the following year and subsequent balloon releases were accompanied by a contest--whoever returned a balloon would win a reward from Macy's. 1933 was the last year they held that contest--a pilot's engine stalled while going after one of these balloons and two tugboats in the East River crashed racing each other for the dachshund balloon.
----The second-largest Thanksgiving parade in the United States takes place in Stamford, Connecticut on the Sunday before Thanksgiving and features retired balloons from the Macy's parade in New York.
--After the U.S. government, Macy's is the second biggest helium consumer in the country.
--The balloons and floats are designed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
--The most dangerous parade was in 1997 when winds almost reached 40mph. The Cat in the Hat crashed into a lamppost, which fell into the crowd, leaving one of the four injured with permanent brain damaged. To prevent further calamities, both the Pink Panther and Barney (who were threatening the crowds) were slashed and stomped to death in front of crying children and cheering New Yorkers.
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