Whether you watch the parade on the TV right in the comfort of your own home, or actually go to New York City to watch it live, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade has become an iconic American tradition.

When the parade began in 1924. it took place on Christmas Day and was called “Macy’s Christmas Parade.” The idea behind the parade was to attract more shoppers to come into Macy’s. Macy’s store employees marched around 45th Street in Harlem to Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street with balloons, floats and animals from the Central Park Zoo. With such a big turnout, Macy’s announced it would become an annual event. Macy’s later decided that it would be a combined Thanksgiving and Christmas Parade to take place on Thanksgiving Day.

In 1927, Felix the Cat was Macy’s first ever giant balloon and filled with air, in 1928 Felix the Cat was inflated with helium but was let go and popped after the parade was over.  The first national radio broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was in 1932. In 1934 Disney released the Mickey Mouse balloon. In 1939, NBC began broadcasting the event on TV .  Over a million people had been coming into the city to view the event.  However, the parade was put to a halt in 1942-1944 due to the need for rubber and helium during World War II to help the U.S. In 1945 when the parade made it’s return, more than two million people came into New York to watch the parade.

A newer tradition has developed as well. The night before the parade people have the opportunity to watch the inflation of the balloons. The balloons can be viewed from 77th and 81st Streets, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.

Today more than 12,000 people participate in the parade with more than 3.5 million live viewers and over 44 million viewers watching on TV.