| The history of America's legal holiday of Thanksgiving | | | | floats, bands, and helium balloons depicting well |
| is not complete without mention of the Macy's | | | | known cartoon characters. A lot of press is given to |
| Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tradition has this and other | | | | the helium balloons which take a long time to make |
| parades scheduled in the morning while the holiday | | | | and require and entire team of ground personnel |
| meal is being prepared. Whether by design or | | | | (called balloon wranglers) to pull with ropes through |
| accident, the parade distracts family members from | | | | the streets of New York. These are numerous and |
| the kitchen where the mammoth project is | | | | each year brings new versions. The first of these |
| underway. | | | | was Felix the Cat in 1927. No one has ever failed to |
| The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was devised by | | | | be impressed by the sight of these gliding past high |
| a large department store in New York City in 1924 as | | | | rise buildings. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade |
| a way to kick off the Christmas shopping season | | | | was only interrupted a few years during WWII but |
| which begins the day after Thanksgiving. Christmas | | | | started up again in 1945. |
| shopping is worth every bit of the effort to draw | | | | Macys was once limited to the downtown area of |
| crowds downtown. This single scant month of | | | | New York but now has stores in many malls |
| retailing pays the bills and makes the profit for the | | | | throughout 45 states. They were founded in 1858 |
| entire year in many retail stores. The parade began | | | | and now are part of the larger federated |
| being carried by television in the 1950's so that it | | | | department stores group. They sell primarily clothing, |
| gained the national spotlight. | | | | jewelry, beauty products, furniture and house wares. |
| The parade is a very long and elaborate one with | | | | |