1931

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual event presented by the
department store chain Macy’s. The tradition started in 1924. Live animals
were borrowed from the Central Park Zoo to entertain the crowd at that first
parade, but were replaced with the giant balloons in 1927. Pictured above,
an alligator balloon in the 1932 parade.

The three-hour Macy’s parade is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m.
EST and has been televised nationally on the NBC-TV network since 1952.

2015