The Parade: Commemorating the Past

Many of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parades have featured elements that commemorate particular moments in the nation’s past.

Henry Hudson's ship, the "Half Moon."

In 1938 there appeared in the parade a Half Moon Ship float. Sailing under the Dutch East India Company at the turn of the 17 th century, Henry Hudson navigated the Hudson River in a ship named Halve Maen (Half Moon). The Dutch later settled the land surrounding the mouth of the river and named it New Amsterdam.[1] Upon claiming it in 1664, the English renamed the area New York, the name of the city in which the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place.[2]

In 1970 the flags of the United Nations’ member nations were displayed in the parade in honor of the organization’s 25th anniversary.

Another parade feature commemorating America’s legacy that appeared in the parade intermittently for a number of years was a contingent of colonial costumed men or girls who often accompanied a float carrying the 48 or 50 flags of the various United States.

In 2004, a new trio of balloonheads joined the parade. Helium-inflated reproductions of three of the Founding Fathers’ heads: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin memorialized the nation’s birth. In addition to these, a recreation of the Uncle Sam balloon, a figure that has frequently enjoyed popularity throughout American history and that reigned in the parades of 1938-1940, made its debut in 2004.[3]

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[References]
[1] "Henry Hudson," Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 6 December 2005, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hudson> (November 2005).
[2] "New York: Early Settlement," Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 6 December 2005, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York#Early_settlement> (November 2005).
[3] "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Let's Talk Lift," NYCTourist.com, n.d. <http://www.nyctourist.com/macys_news_balloons.htm> (November 2005).
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[Images]
Half Moon Ship: courtesy of <http://www.oysterbayhistory.org/freejh1.html>
UN Symbol: courtesy of <http://www.maldencatholic.org/malden.aspx?pgID=952>
Founding Father Balloonheads: courtesy of <http://www.hicks-wright.net/cpg132/displayimage.php?pos=-73>