Macy's Tradition Starts

I still can’t MOVE following Thanksgiving dinner yesterday!

Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, beans, rolls, jello, pumpkin pie and strawberry rhubarb pie! All of this—in quantities too embarrassingly large to divulge. Yes, I have much to be thankful for—blessed am I in all things---but restraint, apparently.

The Moore tradition starts with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade---which actually began on this date in 1924. Ironically, it was Gimbel’s Department store in New York that hosted the first parade, but Macy’s was not to be denied. The parade in 1924 was designed to boost sales at the new store at Herald Square. With a quarter of a million people lining the streets to see mostly Macy’s employees marching and riding in floats, the parade was such a success, it was declared an annual event!

Few commercial enterprises have woven their name inextricably into an event that symbolizes the holiday as has Macy’s. As I marketer, I greatly respect Macy’s ability to wrest away the parade from their competitor and make it bigger and better! Gimbels eventually gave up, ceding the image of the parade forever to Macy’s.

So part of the American holiday landscape, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade cemented it’s place when it was immortalized in the movie, “Miracle on 34th Street”-here’s a clip of the trailer-with a glimpse of the parade included :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfSzW6K9ZbA

Of course, perhaps the most thrilling aspect of the parade are the HUGE balloons that float between the skyscrapers! The first one, Felix the Cat, made his debut in 1927 in the parade’s 4th year. Stories abound of struggles against the elements, particularly wind that have made many years a true adventure! The lore of the Macy’s balloon prompted Coca Cola to come up with this clever ad:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMf5cCDy1I

Since 1950, the Macy’s parade has been televised nationally to an audience of millions, most of them still in their pajamas!

Have a great holiday weekend! If you’d like my weekday blog in your inbox, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com