# 4417-20 PB - 2009 44c Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thanksgiving Day Parade
Issue Date: September 9, 2009
City: New York, NY
New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the “longest-running show on Broadway.” Alongside turkey dinner and pumpkin pie, it is one of the holiday’s best-known traditions.
An idea that began in 1924 with a group of Macy’s department store employees has grown into an American custom. Today, more than 3.5 million live spectators and 50 million television viewers are entertained by the pomp and pageantry that is the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Every year, the best high school and college bands in the country march down Broadway on Thanksgiving morning. The heartbeat of the parade, marching bands get the crowd moving to their rhythmic beats.
Giant balloons are also crowd pleasers. The balloons first appeared in the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927, replacing the live zoo animals that frightened some children. Larger than life and lighter than air, these soaring giants enchant children of all ages.
The grand finale of every New York City Thanksgiving Day Parade is the float carrying Santa Claus. His arrival signals to everyone that the holidays have arrived. As his reindeer lead the sleigh into Herald Square, they usher in the transition to the Christmas season.
Washington & Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Celebrations
Though colonists had held harvest celebrations of thanks since the 1600s, it wasn’t an official holiday celebrated everywhere at the same time. Rather, it was celebrated in different places, at different times, and for different reasons.
In the years that followed, Presidents John Adams and James Madison issued similar proclamations, but none were permanent. In 1817, New York officially established an annual Thanksgiving holiday. Other northern states followed suit, though they weren’t all on the same day. Some presidents, such as Thomas Jefferson, opposed the proclamations. He believed it was contradictory to the nation’s beliefs in the separation of church and state.
On October 3, Lincoln issued his own proclamation, establishing the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving. In particular, to pray for those who lost loved ones in the war and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” (You can read Lincoln’s proclamation here.) The first Thanksgiving celebrated under Lincoln’s proclamation was that year on November 26.
Thanksgiving Day Parade
Issue Date: September 9, 2009
City: New York, NY
New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is the “longest-running show on Broadway.” Alongside turkey dinner and pumpkin pie, it is one of the holiday’s best-known traditions.
An idea that began in 1924 with a group of Macy’s department store employees has grown into an American custom. Today, more than 3.5 million live spectators and 50 million television viewers are entertained by the pomp and pageantry that is the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Every year, the best high school and college bands in the country march down Broadway on Thanksgiving morning. The heartbeat of the parade, marching bands get the crowd moving to their rhythmic beats.
Giant balloons are also crowd pleasers. The balloons first appeared in the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927, replacing the live zoo animals that frightened some children. Larger than life and lighter than air, these soaring giants enchant children of all ages.
The grand finale of every New York City Thanksgiving Day Parade is the float carrying Santa Claus. His arrival signals to everyone that the holidays have arrived. As his reindeer lead the sleigh into Herald Square, they usher in the transition to the Christmas season.
Washington & Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Celebrations
Though colonists had held harvest celebrations of thanks since the 1600s, it wasn’t an official holiday celebrated everywhere at the same time. Rather, it was celebrated in different places, at different times, and for different reasons.
In the years that followed, Presidents John Adams and James Madison issued similar proclamations, but none were permanent. In 1817, New York officially established an annual Thanksgiving holiday. Other northern states followed suit, though they weren’t all on the same day. Some presidents, such as Thomas Jefferson, opposed the proclamations. He believed it was contradictory to the nation’s beliefs in the separation of church and state.
On October 3, Lincoln issued his own proclamation, establishing the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving. In particular, to pray for those who lost loved ones in the war and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” (You can read Lincoln’s proclamation here.) The first Thanksgiving celebrated under Lincoln’s proclamation was that year on November 26.