Because it has enjoyed such widespread popularity and attendance, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been the subject of attention in magazines, newspapers, and books throughout the decades.
Each year, articles appear in the New York Times and other newspapers and magazines forecasting details about balloons, floats and celebrities, thus stirring excitement and anticipation in parade-goers. Articles also offer reviews of the parade after the fact, summarizing the event and its highlights. In addition, ads appear within newspapers to remind potential-spectators of the event, and offering tips on when to arrive and how to select the best viewing locations. Article and ad coverage of the parade since its inception is available online via the New York Times Database. |
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Books have paid tribute to the parade in a variety of ways, from commemorative coffee-table volumes to illustrated children’s books.
LIFE magazine, which is known for recording great elements of America’s past and culture, has released two separate commemorative books on the parade, one at the time of the event’s 75 th anniversary in 2004.
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Also in 2004, Robert M. Grippo, with the help of photographer Christopher Hoskins, researched and produced a book entitled simply The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Featuring beautiful photos of past parades, Grippo’s work offers a glowing portrayal of the event and its history. He writes fondly of its origins as a “thank-you from a group of Macy’s employees” that was “proudly sponsored by the biggest department store in the world.” He summarizes the parade as “a truly wondrous and magical Macy’s miracle,” and states in reference to the early days of the parade that “for a couple of hours on Thanksgiving Day, even the most cynical became believers in fantasy.”[1] |
The parade is an event that explicitly caters to the appetites of children, and thus it is little wonder that it should be immortalized in children’s books.
One such book is entitled Milly and the Macy’s Parade, and was written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Brett Helquist in 2002. It tells the story of a fictional immigrant-girl named Milly whose father works for Macy’s. When the immigrant workers at Macy’s are saddened at the prospect of spending the holidays in America, Milly comes up with the idea of holding a parade like the ones they held in Europe. She bursts into Mr. Macy’s office to propose the idea and he loves it.[2] Ta da! —the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is born. Adults who encounter the book know the story to be false (Mr. Macy wasn’t even alive at the time), but it offers a romanticized view of the parade’s origins to children, and reflects the popular belief that the event sprang from the ideas of immigrant employees. |
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One popular children’s book is Macy’s on Parade: A Pop-Up Celebration of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade by Pamela Pease, a sixteen page book for children aged three to seven . This is a pop-up book that narrates the parade with pages of pop-up marching bands, floats and balloons. The book also discusses how Macy’s selects the marching bands and designs the floats, and pays tribute to NBC’s TV coverage of the event. [3]
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Book illustrations and photographs aren’t the only way art commemorates the parade. There are also many free-standing illustrations and photographs that capture the fantastic figures and bright colors of the parade. Much of this artwork takes the form of posters and other décor.
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[Images]
The New York Times: courtesy of: New York Herald Tribune, 24 November 1924 Susanah
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Book: courtesy of <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738535621/ref=pd_bxgy_img_a/103-1071940-8510263?%5Fencoding=UTF8> ©1996-2005, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Milly and the Macy's Day Parade: courtesy of <http://www.addall.com/detail/0439297540.html>Copyright 2002 by Brett Helquist.
Macy's on Parade: courtesy of <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0966943325/ref=pd_bxgy_img_b/103-1071940-8510263?%5Fencoding=UTF8>© 1996-2005, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Miracle on 34th Street bookcover: courtesy of: <ebay.com>
Parade illustration "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" by Kathy Jakobsen, 1988 : courtesy of <http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/exhibits/2001/jakobsen/images/large/MacyParade.html>
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[Citations]
[1] Robert M. Grippo and Christopher Hoskins, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Great Britain: Arcadia Publishing 2004, 2-6.
[2] Tina Velgos, "Milly and the Macy's Parade," The Review Zone, <http://www.thereviewzone.com/books/millyandmacysparade.html> (6 December 2005).
[3] Zarah
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