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The 16th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1939) | The 17th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1940) | The 18th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1941) | ![]() |
The 17th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 21, 1940 in New York City, and was shown to viewers live on some local NBC radio stations and early television systems that same day.
Parade Lineup[]
NOTE: Bold indicates a new Parade unit and * means a retired unit.
Balloons[]
- Uncle Sam* (Macy's) - 3rd time
- Hippopotamus (Macy's) - 1st time
- Laffo the Clown (Macy's) - 1st time
- Superman* (Detective Comics, Inc.) - 1st time
- Santa Claus (Macy's) - 2nd time
Floats[]
- Babar the Elephant* (Macy's) - 2nd time
- The Thief of Bagdad* (United Artists) - 1st time
- Jack the Giant Killer* (Macy's) - 1st time
- Neptune and the Mermaids* (Macy's) - 1st time
- Toy Train* (Macy's) - 1st time
- Santa's Sleigh* (Macy's) - 5th time
Specialty Units[]
- NYPD Mounted Unit - 17th time
Toy Floats[]
- The Alphabet* (Macy's) - 1st time
Guest Stars[]
- Eddie Cantor
- Santa Claus (Santa's Sleigh)
Trivia[]
- 1940 was the only time the Parade was held on November 21. Congress passed a law in 1942 that officially named the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving, and as such every Parade from thereon was held between November 22 and November 28.