What was Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade originally called?

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was originally called the Macy’s Christmas Day Parade.

The first parade took place in New York City on Thanksgiving Day in 1924, but Macy’s promoted it under the Christmas Day name. The event was designed as a holiday-season spectacle leading shoppers toward the company’s Herald Square department store, where Santa Claus appeared at the conclusion.

Macy’s changed the name to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1925, aligning the event more directly with the holiday on which it was held. The inaugural parade featured store employees in costumes, floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. More than 250,000 people reportedly attended.

The parade’s famous balloons arrived in 1927, replacing the live animals. The event was suspended from 1942 through 1944 because rubber and helium were needed for the war effort, then returned in 1945. National television coverage helped turn it into an enduring American tradition.