Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – 1940
Annual Macy Parade For Thanksgiving
New York: Photo shows “Uncle Sam” as it passed through 34th Street, in front of Macy’s. photo: Acme 11/21/1940
As isolationists wanted the United States to stay out of World War II, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1940 had a patriotic balloon of Uncle Sam. The balloon was not a statement of being pro-war, but a display of patriotism.
The parade began at 106th Street and Central Park West and would conclude in front of Macy’s at 34th Street and Sixth Avenue. The parade route back then was so long that the helium balloons had to stop at 53rd Street and Broadway for re-inflation. It is estimated that one million people lined the streets to witness the event.
In 1940, 32 states including New York held Thanksgiving celebrations on the third Thursday of the month, November 21. 16 states would celebrate Thanksgiving on the traditional date, the following Thursday, November 28.
A little over a year after this photograph was taken, the Japanese would launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor pushing the United States into the conflict.
