The Marathon of Mirth

The Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York looks to be a challenge this year as rainy and breezy conditions are forecast. Now watched by tens of millions of Americans on television, the cavalcade is celebrating its hundredth year.

The first parade, in 1924, was known as a “marathon of mirth.” The event replaced what had been the informal “ragamuffins parade” — children with painted faces and costumes trooping through the streets to beg pennies, apples and pieces of candy. Marathon was the word, as the first parade started at 145th Street and proceeded six miles to Macy’s Department Store at Herald Square.

The whole thing, which soon became an annual tradition, was intended to celebrate the unveiling of the store’s wildly popular decorated windows, which featured animated marionette characters acting out Mother Goose rhymes. Plus the arrival of Santa Claus, who was crowned “King of the Kiddies.” And, oh yeah, the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.

Later, the route was reduced to two-and-a-half miles. It stepped off from the area of the Museum of Natural History on 81st Street. For years, I lived just up the block from the museum. We would stroll over the night before the holiday to watch the balloons, spread out slack and shapeless on the roadway, as tanker trucks of helium pumped them full of the buoyant gas. Watching this behind-the-scenes event was an annual rite for New Yorkers.

The balloons had become the signature attraction of the parade. They were included to replace the live bears, elephants, camels and monkeys, borrowed from the Central Park Zoo, which were featured in early parades. “Felix the Cat,” the first balloon figure, debuted in 1927. At the parade’s end, the balloons were released and sailed into the heavens. An attached return address and the offer of a reward were meant to induce finders to return them

Weather has always been a factor. I can remember watching troops of baton twirlers from the Sun Belt weeping in their spangles as they endured icy gales while waiting to step off. More serious was an incident in 1997 when a gust of wind caught a six-story-high “Cat in the Hat” balloon, broke a light pole and injured a number of spectators, one of them seriously.

The parade has, of course, never been about Thanksgiving. The department store that has always sponsored the event was the creation of Rowland Hussey Macy, a nineteenth-century pioneer of retailing. A Nantucket native, Macy tried whale hunting before attempting to sell dry goods to California gold prospectors in the 1850s. He opened several stores in the East before finding success in New York City beginning in 1858. By the Roaring Twenties, Macy’s was the “World’s Largest Store,” covering an entire block along 34th Street at Herald Square.

Although Santa was always the parade’s climax, the rest of it was devoted to bringing to life the fantasies of children and adults alike. The Radio City Rockettes’ leg-swinging crew has been a fixture since 1958. Entertainers have ranged from Benny Goodman (“Let’s Dance”) to Sister Sledge (“We Are Family”) to Bo Diddley (“Who Do You Love”) to the cast of Sesame Street. All made the trek on elaborate floats. Beginning in 1948, NBC has broadcast the event live, allowing the nation to join in the fun.

I remember being impressed by a figure from my own childhood. There, in real life was the actual Lone Ranger! Clayton Moore had played the role during most of the 1950s. The year I saw him, he appeared without his signature mask. The producer of the show had sued Moore, who had retired years earlier, for trademark infringement. So, the 65-year-old lawman had to join the parade wearing sunglasses.

It’s not even, really, about Christmas. As we all know, the late-autumn holidays have origins far earlier than the celebration of the birth of Jesus — that only began in the fourth century A.D. The shrinking days and dark nights have always elicited mankind’s anxiety. After the solstice, the sun’s return sparks renewed hope. So we deck the halls with evergreens and holly to remind us of spring. We celebrate the end of the harvest with a feast. And we cheer ourselves with gift-giving, well-wishing, tinsel and lights.

Certainly, it’s a time to count our many blessings. To sing and dance, even if it’s in a cold rain. And to keep in mind the words of the angels: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

Have a happy Thanksgiving!