The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade featured live animals (bears and elephants)

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been enjoyed by millions since it launched almost a century ago, but many may not know that the holiday staple initially featured live animals.

The parade began in 1924 as the Macy's Christmas Parade. The spectacle was put on by store employees in New York City with the hope that it would inspire people to shop – and yes, it featured animals from the Central Park Zoo.

The initial parade had a circus-like vibe with bears, elephants, camels and monkeys making their way down the 6-mile parade route from Harlem to Herald Square. The animals were followed by four bands and the parade also featured characters from popular nursery rhymes.

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When Macy's hosted the parade again the following year, they opted out of featuring the animals. According to History.com, the animals were not too thrilled to be paraded around. Their roars and growls scared many of the onlookers, especially kids.

Macy's then chose to have less frightening character balloons. Those balloons became a staple of the parade moving forward.

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How the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade evolved

It wasn't until 1927 that the large helium-filled iconic characters that we now know and love began to be implemented into the celebration. That year, artist and puppeteer Tony Sarg designed a Felix the Cat balloon.

Over the years, the parade has scaled back from the 6-mile route of the inaugural parade to the 2.5-miles-long stretch it is today. While the parade ditched the live animals, it grew to include intricate floats, celebrities, performances and marching bands and cheerleaders. Despite being held on Thanksgiving, a cheery Santa Claus still makes an appearance.

In 1934, Macy's marked it's first collaboration with Walt Disney by introducing a Mickey Mouse balloon.

The parade wouldn't be televised nationally until 1947.

The parade was only ever cancelled a handful of times including three years during World War II and in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While this year's parade won't feature any elephants or camels, it's set to feature 25 balloons, 31 floats, and 18 celebrities.

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