One on those all-American traditions, The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade started in 1924, was first televised in 1939 (by experimental NBC TV station W2XBS, now WNBC), and has been a national TV event since 1953, as a salve to the national psyche after the draw of the Korean War. Thanks to VCRs, some of these years were taped, and you get to see the glory first hand.
Above: The 1976 edition of the parade, hosted by "Laughing Boy" Ed McMahon and "Lt. Colonel Henry Blake" McLean Stevenson. NBC.
Below:The 1972 (!) edition, or at least a fragment of it. Chockablock with period ads. Recorded by a viewer in Los Angeles. Features material from ABC and NBC.
Below: The 1979 NBC edition of the parade. More of a highlights reel.
Below: Is it doubleplusungood* to skip the 1984 edition of the Macy's parade?
There are endless years worth of this show, if you know where to find them on YouTube. CBS has been kicked off the Macy's train (or did they exile themselves?) this year, so you might get a kick out of looking for the CBS version of parade coverage from years past.
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*For those that missed English Literature: The Principles of Newspeak
Archive dot org, the anti-memory hole.
