Believed to date to 1939, this silent home movie shows views of Manhattan and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, as seen by the cameraman from his (or her) fifth-or-sixth story vantage point. The line-up for the parade that year included many floats, some of which you will see here.
At 00:00 are views of Manhattan from across the Hudson River. At 1:08 is what appears to be the Upper West Side, with Central Park visible. At 1:33, the Chrysler Building (left) and Empire State Building (right) loom in the distant skyline. At 2:20 is a shot of the Washington Square Arch and at 2:35, busy New York traffic as seen from above. Pedestrians seem to be lined up along the sidewalks, and some open-air luxury cars are visible, indicating that perhaps dignitaries are present and that this is some prelude to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. At 3:40 is a brief shot of airplanes flying in formation followed by a shot of the sunset at 4:40.
At 5:04 is footage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade, again we believe 1939 (but could be 1938). The first balloon appears to be a Colonial, perhaps George Washington or Father Knickerbocker. At 5:29, a horse drawn trolley car or Toonerville Trolley is visible, with a more modern counterpart on the rails next to it. At 5:44, a Gulliver’s Travels balloon makes its way down the street. A Gulliver balloon debuted in 1933. However, in 1939, the Fleischer Studios released a feature-length animated Gulliver cartoon, and this balloon seems to possibly be a promotional for that film. Many of the other balloons seen in the film also seem to have a connection to the Max Fleischer animation style. At 5:50, an American Indian balloon, at 6:17 a turkey balloon, and at 6:25 a sensational dragon ballon is visible. At 6:40 a policeman balloon — known as the Officer SOS 13 — and a marching band come down the street, followed at 7:05 by Morton the Nantucket Sea Monster, a trapeze artist at 7:10, at 7:26 / 8:06 Uncle Sam, and at 8:25 a strong man. At 8:35 an incredible Pinocchio balloon comes down the street. At 8:41, Ferdinand the Bull brings up the rear of the parade.
The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, the world’s largest parade, is presented by the U.S. based department store chain Macy’s. The parade started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day Parade).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
