Happy Thanksgiving!

On By Carole @ From My Carolina HomeIn Holiday

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday weekend!  I wanted to share again my Thanksgiving post from two years ago about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, as the great majority of readers haven’t seen it.  It really feels like the holidays are beginning when this day comes each year, my favorite holiday. I always wake up with much anticipation for the day. After making a pot of coffee, I’ll enjoy it while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I have been spending the holiday morning doing this for many years. Seeing Tom Turkey kick off the parade is exciting every time!

TomTurkey©Macy’s, Inc

Did you know that they use the same floats year after year as well as balloons? Each year, some are the same, and some are reworked into something new. I think my favorite float would have to be the Marion-Carole Showboat float which has been in the parade more than 35 years. It is one of the few times I have seen my name on something spelled with the E! Usually the performer on that float is one I like to see. The Big Apple float is also a favorite.

MarionCarole BigApple

©Macy’s, Inc

Sometimes the balloons get a change of clothes. In 1946 Harold was a baseball player, and had a role in the 1947 release of Miracle on 34th Street. At another time, the same balloon was a Harold the Fireman. The Macy’s Parade website says this was 1948. But, the same site says the baseball player was 1949, when we know it was 1946 because of the movie.

HaroldBallplayer HaroldFireman

©Macy’s, Inc

The scenes of the parade in the movie were made in 1946, the year before it was released, with the actual parade seen through the window! They had to time the scene to correspond with the appearance of the baseball player to match the script. Plus, all the parade scenes had to be shot that morning, as doing them over wasn’t possible.

Natalie-Wood-and-John-Payne-watching-parade©Twentieth Century Fox

Edmund Gwenn was really the Macy’s Santa Claus in 1946 so the scenes could be shot with him in them. I love this version of Miracle on 34th Street, and I’ll watch it sometime this weekend. None of the remakes have even come close.

EdmundGwynn©Macy’s, Inc

Santa©Twentieth Century Fox

Snoopy is a classic too.

snoopy ©Macy’s, Inc

They even have floats perfect for foodies! The one on the left is by Lindt called The Enchanting World of Chocolate. And on the right is Domino Sugar’s Stirrin’ Up Sweet Sensations.

WorldChocolate Sugar

©Macy’s, Inc

And more floats!!

Celebearation CentralPark

Sesame 83rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

©Macy’s, Inc

A couple of years ago I started a Pinterest board to save pictures of the iconic parade – Thanksgiving Parade!! I wish I could share more of them on the blog, but you’ll just have to go to the link to see them. There are images pinned from before WWII, modern images, and even some from Miracle on 34th Street. Images I have used here are from the Macy’s media release, and are used with permission.

The holidays are now officially on, so I wish you all a very merry season!  Happy Thanksgiving!

18 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving!”

  5. Laurie Brown

    Happy Thanksgiving Carole! 🦃🍁🦃🍂I thought about you when the parade came on! I know it’s your favorite time of year!

  8. Brenda Ackerman

    Happy Thanksgiving Carole! Thanks for sharing the photos and the history, very interesting. I hope that your day is filled with happiness! My laptop stopped working so I will only be on the main computer off and on. Just letting you know . Happy Thanksgiving!

  10. dezertsuz

    That was my routine for decades, too! Now, I don’t have broadcast tv, and I haven’t seen it in a number of years. Thanks for the great pictures which remind me of how wonderful it always was. The other one I always watched was the Rose Parade.

  11. Laura Puckett

    My granddaughter’s band marched in Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade in 2014, her senior year. They also played at Carnegie Hall with Marie Osmond while they were in New York. Her son was in the band. Happy Thanksgiving.

  16. Susan

    I love going to the Macy’s parade. I first went in the early 60s- I was about 6 or 7. We could sit on the curb. I went again 10 or 15 years ago and streets are roped off. The crowds are crazy and it’s hard to see BUT There is nothing like the sight of those big balloons coming down the avenue.

  17. Phyllis Smith

    My gracious,

    What a delight to remember some of the older parades. Being as old as I I remember them all with a great fondness. I’m so glad we can remember these times and see the newest {Sylvester the cat}and so many of the older balloons you and I have enjoyed over the years.

    I just stayed home and was a couch potato to recoup some more from the pneumonia. Never want to ever have this again! Put off making the pumpkin dump dessert till Christmas, just too tired and weary to stand

    While making it, looking forward to making it, it sounds so delicious..

    Have a great shopping spree if you were brave enough to get out in the mad rush.

    Phyllis Smith

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