I’ve always loved that “Macy’s Day” is a short way of referring to Thanksgiving Day. It’s even a Greenday song http://www.greenday.com/site/music.php.
The parade that started as a promotion to announce the opening of the Macy’s Herald Square store in 1924 has become a cultural icon and a part of families’ holiday traditions. (See the Wikipedia link below.) Started in the day when department stores put on spectacular events to draw customers, the parade is best-known of several spectaculars the store produces. In San Francisco, where I did my training, the annual flower show http://www.macys.com/campaign/flowershow/index.jsp transformed the Union Square store into a wonderland.
Now that Macy’s is a national chain, and working on localizing their brand, (the pictures here are of is this year’s decorations at their Chicago flagship—always known as Marshall Field’s) the annual Thanksgiving parade becomes even more important component of their identity. Say what you will about their day-to-day operations (last time I was in the Easton store here in Columbus, it was a mess) but you cannot deny that Macy’s is part of our culture that transcends mere retail.
Or is it that retail is part of our culture that we cannot deny? Hmm.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
See you at the store on Friday!
Here’s the bit from Wikipedia:
In the 1920s many of Macy's department store employees were first-generation immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the United States holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.[citation needed]
In 1924, the inaugural parade (originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade[2]) was staged by the store. Employees and professional entertainers marched from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes.[3] There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo.[4] At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square. At this first parade, however, the Jolly Old Elf was enthroned on the Macy's balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then "crowned" "King of the Kiddies."[5] With an audience of over a quarter of a million people,[citation needed] the parade was such a success that Macy's declared it would become an annual event. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy%27s_Thanksgiving_Day_Parade
The spectacular Tiffany Dome ready for Holidays 2009.
The Tiffany Dome atrium from above. Remember this is only a quarter of the infamous Marshall Field’s State Street store in Chicago.
View of Macy’s State Street Holiday 2009 display, with the iconic Marshall Field’s Clock on the corner.
I had to include this one. My wife and I met while we were both working at Marshall Field’s in Columbus and we traveled to the State Street store to register for our wedding gifts (we made it to Crate & Barrel to register that weekend, too).
