America's Thanksgiving Parade
Encyclopedia
America's Thanksgiving Parade, is an annual parade
held on Thanksgiving
Day in downtown Detroit, Michigan
. The tradition started in the city in 1924 by the J.L. Hudson Company department store. It shares the title for the second oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
in New York City
, and is four years younger than the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia.
in Toronto
. In addition to the usual floats and bands, Wendel obtained large papier-mâché heads
similar to those he saw during a recent trip to Europe. The heads are made in Viareggio
, Italy
and remain a fixture of the parade to the present.
The parade was suspended in 1943 and 1944 due to material shortages caused by World War II, but Hudson's resumed the event in 1945 and continued sponsorship of the parade until 1979 when the costs became burdensome. It turned the parade over to the Detroit Renaissance Foundation who produced it for four years. In 1983, Detroit Renaissance tranferred control of the parade to the newly-created Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation. America's Thanksgiving Parade is a registered trademark of the Michigan Parade Foundation.
.
In 1959, the parade came to television on WWJ-TV
and WXYZ-TV
. The WXYZ program was hosted by Shari Lewis
and Lamb Chop
and carried nationally on ABC
. In 1960, CBS began to air portions of the parade and continued to do so for for the next 25 parades. After a brief break in the mid-1980s, CBS returned to cover the parade through 2002 as part of its All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade compilation show. Over the years, several other well-known personalities were commentators for the Detroit parades including, Esther Rolle
, John Amos
, Linda Lavin
, Kathy Garver
of Family Affair
, Ned Beatty
, Captain Kangaroo Bob Keeshan
and Andrew Stevens
/
After being broadcast on WWJ, later WDIV
, for over 20 years, local coverage switched to WXYZ for several years in the 1980s before returning to NBC
affiliate WDIV in the mid-1990s. It is currently televised on other stations around Michigan and across the US, as well as through Internet television
. The coverage of the parade typically includes a preshow featuring a variety of musical acts, often with celebrity performers. The coverage concludes with the Mayor of Detroit giving Santa Claus the key to the city.
. From Foxtown, the parade passes through Grand Circus Park then into the business district where it then enters the TV coverage area near Grand River and Gratiot Avenues. The route was from this route for several years during the construction of Campus Martius Park
and realignment of Woodward Avenue and other adjacent streets. The construction was completed in 2004.
For many years, ending with Hudson's withdrawal in 1979, the parade began at Woodward and Putnam near the Detroit Public Library
and ended at Hudson's Marquee near Gratiot where Santa alighted his sleigh received the key to the hearts of children of Detroit from the Mayor. In 1979, the route was moved several blocks north beginning at Antoinette Street and ending at Adams Street near Grand Circus Park. During this period, Santa alighted on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts
to be welcomed by the Mayor, then remounted to travel the remainder of the parade route.
For a period, the parade route was moved to Second Avenue because electrical wires which powered the Woodward Avenue streetcars posed a hazard to floats and their riders. Streetcars ceased operating on Woodward in 1956 when the Detroit Department of Street Railways converted switched to an all motor bus fleet.
In addition to the Thanksgiving Parade, The Parade Company assumed responsibility for organizing the annual Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival
in 1989 and helped to plan Stanley Cup
victory parades for the Detroit Red Wings
in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
held on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
Day in downtown Detroit, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The tradition started in the city in 1924 by the J.L. Hudson Company department store. It shares the title for the second oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and is four years younger than the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia.
History
The idea came from Hudson's display director Charles Wendel after the success of the Eaton's Santa Claus ParadeToronto Santa Claus Parade
The Toronto Santa Claus Parade is a Santa Claus parade held annually in mid-November in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. More than a half million people attend the parade every year. The parade starts at 12:30pm and ends approximately 3:30pm...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. In addition to the usual floats and bands, Wendel obtained large papier-mâché heads
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
similar to those he saw during a recent trip to Europe. The heads are made in Viareggio
Viareggio
Viareggio is a city and comune located in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. With a population of over 64,000 it is the main centre of the northern Tuscan Riviera known as Versilia, and the second largest city within the Province of Lucca.It is known as a seaside resort...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and remain a fixture of the parade to the present.
The parade was suspended in 1943 and 1944 due to material shortages caused by World War II, but Hudson's resumed the event in 1945 and continued sponsorship of the parade until 1979 when the costs became burdensome. It turned the parade over to the Detroit Renaissance Foundation who produced it for four years. In 1983, Detroit Renaissance tranferred control of the parade to the newly-created Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation. America's Thanksgiving Parade is a registered trademark of the Michigan Parade Foundation.
Parade details
The Parade features a variety of floats, marching bands, and balloons with the climax being the arrival of Santa Claus who appears at the end to hearald the arrival of the Christmas season. Unique to the parade are The Big Head Corps, featuring a large collection of Papier-mâché heads, and the Distinguished Clown Corps, which features local corporate and community leaders dressed as clowns. The parade is made possible through the efforts of over 4500 volunteers.Broadcasts
The parade was first broadcast in 1931 on Radio Station WWJWWJ (AM)
WWJ is Detroit, Michigan's only 24-hour all-news radio station. Broadcasting at 950 kHz, the station is owned and operated by CBS Corporation subsidiary CBS Radio. The station first went on the air on August 20, 1920 with the call sign 8MK...
.
In 1959, the parade came to television on WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV, virtual channel 62 , is the CBS-owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan. It is co-owned with Detroit's CW station, WKBD-TV , and the two stations share a studio in Southfield, Michigan, a Detroit suburb....
and WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property...
. The WXYZ program was hosted by Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s...
and Lamb Chop
Lamb Chop (puppet)
Lamb Chop is a sock puppet sheep created by comedian and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. In 1957, Lamb Chop, a ewe, first appeared with Lewis on Hi Mom, a local morning show that aired on WNBC in New York....
and carried nationally on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. In 1960, CBS began to air portions of the parade and continued to do so for for the next 25 parades. After a brief break in the mid-1980s, CBS returned to cover the parade through 2002 as part of its All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade compilation show. Over the years, several other well-known personalities were commentators for the Detroit parades including, Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle was an American actress. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans on the CBS television sitcom Maude and its spin-off series Good Times.-Biography:...
, John Amos
John Amos
John Amos is an American actor and former football player. His television work includes roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Good Times, the miniseries Roots, and a recurring role in The West Wing. He has also appeared on Broadway and in numerous motion pictures in a career that spans four decades...
, Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
, Kathy Garver
Kathy Garver
Kathleen Marie "Kathy" Garver is an American film, television, voice-over and character actress of stage, most widely known for playing Uncle Bill Davis's teenaged niece, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s sitcom, Family Affair. Before that, she played a slave in The Ten Commandments...
of Family Affair
Family Affair
Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966 to September 9, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis as he attempted to raise his brother's orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis' traditional...
, Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
, Captain Kangaroo Bob Keeshan
Bob Keeshan
Robert James "Bob" Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He is most notable as the title character of the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which became an icon for millions of people during its 30-year run from 1955 to 1984.Keeshan also played the original...
and Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens is an American executive, film producer, director and former actor.-Early life:Andrew Stevens was born Herman Andrew Stephens in Memphis, Tennessee...
/
After being broadcast on WWJ, later WDIV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...
, for over 20 years, local coverage switched to WXYZ for several years in the 1980s before returning to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WDIV in the mid-1990s. It is currently televised on other stations around Michigan and across the US, as well as through Internet television
Internet television
Internet television is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet...
. The coverage of the parade typically includes a preshow featuring a variety of musical acts, often with celebrity performers. The coverage concludes with the Mayor of Detroit giving Santa Claus the key to the city.
Parade route
Since 2006, the parade has taken place on Woodward Avenue, starting near Woodward and Mack Avenues, and ending at Congress Street. This is the route the first parade followed in 1924. The parade travels toward downtown from Mack Avenue, after crossing over I-75 it enters Foxtown, near Detroit's Fox Theatre, the Hockeytown Cafe, and Comerica ParkComerica Park
Comerica Park is an open-air ballpark located in downtown Detroit, Michigan. It serves as the home of the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball's American League, replacing historic Tiger Stadium in 2000....
. From Foxtown, the parade passes through Grand Circus Park then into the business district where it then enters the TV coverage area near Grand River and Gratiot Avenues. The route was from this route for several years during the construction of Campus Martius Park
Campus Martius Park
Campus Martius Park is a re-established park in downtown Detroit, Michigan. After the fire of 1805, Campus Martius was the focal point of judge Augustus Woodward's plans to rebuild the city. It is where the "point of origin" of Detroit's coordinate system is located...
and realignment of Woodward Avenue and other adjacent streets. The construction was completed in 2004.
For many years, ending with Hudson's withdrawal in 1979, the parade began at Woodward and Putnam near the Detroit Public Library
Detroit Public Library
The Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in Michigan by volumes held , and is the 20th largest library system in the United States. It is composed of a Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses DPL administration offices, and twenty-three branch locations across the city...
and ended at Hudson's Marquee near Gratiot where Santa alighted his sleigh received the key to the hearts of children of Detroit from the Mayor. In 1979, the route was moved several blocks north beginning at Antoinette Street and ending at Adams Street near Grand Circus Park. During this period, Santa alighted on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
to be welcomed by the Mayor, then remounted to travel the remainder of the parade route.
For a period, the parade route was moved to Second Avenue because electrical wires which powered the Woodward Avenue streetcars posed a hazard to floats and their riders. Streetcars ceased operating on Woodward in 1956 when the Detroit Department of Street Railways converted switched to an all motor bus fleet.
Parade foundation
The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation was begun in 1982 to manage, organize, and raise funds for America's Thanksgiving Parade. In 1990, The Parade Company was founded as a division of The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation to oversee operations and marketing activities.In addition to the Thanksgiving Parade, The Parade Company assumed responsibility for organizing the annual Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival
Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival
The International Freedom Festival is a multi-day celebration in early July marking Canada Day on July 1 and the American Independence Day on July 4. Detroit, Michigan, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada jointly celebrate the multi-day festival which draws about 3.5 million visitors. The...
in 1989 and helped to plan Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
victory parades for the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.