Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. is an American chain of combined restaurant and gift stores. The company was founded by Dan Evins back in 1969 with its first store was in Lebanon, Tennessee. The restaurants are built in a Southern country theme with décor and furniture meant to represent a rustic general store. Rocking chairs are an integral part of the chain, as every restaurant features a row along the front porch.
History in the Macy's Parade[]
Cracker Barrel made its Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade debut in 2019, with a new float titled "Home Sweet Home", as part of the company's 50th anniversary celebrations. The float is described as America's home away from home, as the float brings a sense of nostalgia, warmth and hospitality to the streets of New York City. Modeled after classic American memorabilia found in its stores, the float features its famous fireplace hearth, peg game, oil lamp, front porch, and rocking chairs. Over-sized turkey salt and pepper shakers, poster-sized stamps, a snow globe, a five-foot tall phonograph and larger-than-life versions of the restaurant's famous candy sticks and pies add to the decoration.
To coincide with the float's debut, Cracker Barrel also held sweepstakes on the Road to the Holidays website, with the grand prize being a chance to win grandstand tickets to the 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Cracker Barrel float was scheduled to appear in the reimagined 2020 Macy's Parade, with world-renowned Dolly Parton performing, but was removed from the line of march just days before filming began. Instead, the float was showcased through pre-taped footage from Press Day 2019 during a segment about the Macy's Parade Studio, and Parade viewers would be welcomed to Nashville, Tennessee, where Dolly would sing "Holly Jolly Christmas" on a seasonally-decorated stage. Akin to the previous year, Cracker Barrel held a sweepstakes that allows Parade viewers to enter a contest for a chance to win a copy of Parton's Christmas album, A Holly Dolly Christmas, two $100 gift cards (one to Macy’s and one to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store), and a limited-edition pink Cracker Barrel rocking chair, which was autographed by Parton herself.
The Home Sweet Home float would be retired and disposed of after the 2021 Parade.
Guest Stars[]
Listed below are the guest stars that have performed/appeared on the float, alongside the respective songs which they sang during the NBC Telecast.
- 2019 - Tenille Townes, sang "Somebody's Daughter"
- 2021 - Tauren Wells, sang "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"