The first Macy's holiday parade in 1924 was held on Thanksgiving, but it was called Macy's Christmas Parade. After all, the whole point of staging the parade was to invite people to do their Christmas shopping at the department store! The first big balloon, Felix the Cat shown here, was introduced two years later. It was an idea that snowballed, and every year since then it's been a tradition for both New Yorkers and eventually for folks around the country on Thanksgiving morning. Every year? No, there have been exceptions, which is part of the post Everything You Didn’t Know About The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade at Buzzfeed.
(Image credit: Macy's)