With Thanksgiving quickly approaching so are all the great traditions that come with the food filled holiday. One tradition that has been around since 1924, is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. More than 3.5 million people watch the parade live and more than 50 million TV viewers watch nationwide. Over 10,000 people participate in the parade and the entire parade process takes more than 13 months of advance planning.
As with most things, intellectual property is a part of this parade as well. Macy’s has a federal trademark registration for the phrase MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE that was issued on December 1, 1998 (U.S. Registration No. 2206890).
This year will be a special year for the parade as it marks the 90th anniversary. This will be the 90th parade since 1924. During the years of 1942-1944 the parade was temporarily suspended due to World War II. The rubber that would have been used for the balloons was donated to the American Military to help America’s cause.
The first character balloon to be displayed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was that of Felix the Cat (Registration No. 1327241) in 1927, three years after the first parade. The balloons at that time were filled with oxygen not helium and were propped up by a team of puppeteers. In 1928, the balloons were filled with helium; the parade organizers did not have a plan for the balloons when the parade was over so in 1928 the parade organizers decided to just let Felix the Cat go. Unfortunately, Felix did not make it far as he popped shortly thereafter. The releasing of the balloons became a tradition for some years after. The balloons had a return address listed on them and if the balloon was returned, the returnee received a gift from Macy’s. Some other balloon characters to follow Felix were Bullwinkle, Underdog (Registration No. 2145933), and Mickey Mouse.
One cartoon character that has made more appearances in the parade over any other character is Snoopy (Registration No. 1300520). Snoopy first appeared in 1968, and has had more than seven balloons created for him. 2015, marked Snoopy’s 39th appearance in the parade but this year, it looks like Charlie Brown will be stealing the spotlight.
In 2008, Macy’s put its Thanksgiving parade in the hands of its fans by a flip book created by Flippies Inc. Today’s reengineered flip books have advanced 
significantly since their introduction by Henry Van Hoevenbergh in 1882 (U.S. Patent No. 258,164). The patent pending technology of Flippies Inc.’s new flip book plays live-action video clips with crystal clear imaging with the flip of a thumb. “What’s old isn’t just new again, it’s also improved” said Jeffrey Kay, President of Flippies. The books feature two favorite parade scenes, the pilgrimage of Tom Turkey and the finale of the parade, Santa’s arrival.
One company that has had a float for the past decade is Balsam Hill, a company that brings the special holiday feeling to many with their highly-realistic Christmas trees. Balsam Hill has a number of patents for their special trees such as INVERTIBLE CHRISTMAS TREE (U.S. Patent No. 8,993,077) and COLLAPSIBLE ARTIFICIAL TREE (U.S. Patent No. 9,040,130). This year, the company is planning on creating something unique and special for the 90th anniversary. They will dawn a 30 foot float with all things that embody Christmas.
The 90th Anniversary Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationwide on NBC-TV, on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016 from 9 a.m. – noon in all time zones.