The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’s response to national distress has been similar to its response to America’s participation in war.
During the Depression in the 1930s, when the country was preoccupied with surviving widespread destitution, the parade functioned as a catalyst to jump-start the economy and the morale of the people.
When, in 1963, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy cloaked the nation in grief, Macy’s, though hesitant to do so, continued with the parade in the interest of maintaining some semblance of normalcy while attempting to lift the spirits of the nation.
In November of 2001, when Macy’s held its annual parade just two months after the attacks of September 11th, the parade’s tenor was suffused with patriotism.
As in times of war, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has repeatedly answered national distress with symbols of American strength and unity.