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The 46th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1972) | The 47th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1973) | The 48th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (1974) | 
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The 47th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 22nd, 1973 in New York City, and shown to viewers live on NBC that same day from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST. It was hosted by Kent McCord, Martin Milner, and Pat Boone. Participating celebrities included the likes of Johnny Whitaker, Evel Knievel, The 5th Dimension, Kathleen Freeman, Johnny Nash, and Judi Rolin.
Parade Lineup[]
Listed below are the various Parade units that appeared in the 1973 line of march. Each unit is listed in several categories and sub-categories, in addition to the unit's sponsor.
Bold indicates a new Parade unit, underline indicates a unit that was brought back after an absence, strikethrough indicates a removed Parade unit, and * indicates a retired Parade unit.
Balloons[]
- Bullwinkle Moose (Macy's) - 13th time
- Linus the Lionhearted (Macy's) - 10th time
- Happy Dragon (Macy's) - 13th time
- Smokey Bear (Macy's) - 8th time
- Underdog (Macy's)- 9th time
- Dino the Dinosaur (Macy's) - 11th time
- Snoopy the Astronaut (United Media) - 6th time
- Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney Productions) - 3rd time
Floats[]
- Turkey (Macy's) - 1st time
- Story Book Train* (Western Publishing) - 3rd time
- Showboat (Macy's) - 5th time
- Snow Mountain (Budweiser) - 2nd time
- Woman in the Shoe (Macy's) - 5th time
- Cinderella's Carriage* (Macy's) - 6th time
- Alphabet Blocks* (Collins & Aikman) - 2nd time
- Mother Goose (Macy's) - 1st time
- Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Productions) - 1st time
- Captain Hook's Pirate Ship (Walt Disney Productions) - 5th time
- The Walt Disney World Castle (Walt Disney Productions) - 3rd time
- Santa's Holiday Home (Macy's) - 2nd time
Specialty Units[]
- NYPD Mounted Unit - 47th time
- "Holiday Treat for Children Everywhere" Banner - 10th time
- Doodlebug (Macy's) - 4th time
- Alli the Alligator (Macy's) - 5th time
- "If You Haven't Seen Macy's, You Haven't Seen New York" Banner - 10th time
- Royal Lipizzan Stallions (Myakka City, FL) - 1st time
- Disney Wagon (Walt Disney Productions) - 9th time
Toy Floats[]
- The Tortoise and the Hare (Macy's) - 6th time
- Airplane (Macy's) - 7th time
- Rocking Horse* (Macy's) - 16th time
- Rocking Giraffe (Macy's) - 4th time
- Humpty Dumpty (Macy's) - 1st time
- Clown Shack (Macy's) - 6th time
- Snail (Macy's) - 6th time
- Bear Bee* (Macy's) - 5th time
Marching Bands[]
- Hawthorne Caballero Drum & Bugle Corps (Hawthorne, NJ)
- Mainland High School Marching "Buccaneer" Band (Daytona Beach, FL)
- Highland Park High School Marching "Polar Bears" Band (Highland Park, MI)
- Cisco Jr. College "Wrangler" Band and Belles (Cisco, TX)
- Wintersville High School "Blue and Gold" Band (Wintersville, OH)
- Washington High School "Little President" Marching Band (Washington, PA)
- George Washington High School "Patriots" Marching Band (Charleston, WV)
- McDonald's All-American High School Marching Band (Nationwide)
- Chambersburg Area Senior High School Marching Band (Chambersburg, PA), performed "Jingle Bells", "Joy to the World", "March of the Three Kings", and "Deck the Halls"
- Wauwatosa East High School "Red Raider" Marching Band (Wauwatosa, WI)
- Mohawk Musical Corps (Garrettsville, OH)
- The New York Police Department Emerald Society Pipes and Drums (New York City, NY)
- Trinity High School Marching Band (Washington, PA)
- Santa Monica Jr. College Marching Band (Santa Monica, CA), performed "Celebrate", "Turkey Lurkey Time", "Here Comes Santa Claus", "O Come All Ye Faithful", and "Listen to the Music"
Guest Stars[]
- Johnny Whitaker (Doodlebug)
- George Jones & Tammy Wynette, sang "We're Gonna Hold On" (Turkey)
- Evel Knievel
- The 5th Dimension, sang "Flashback" (Showboat)
- Mr. Chuck the Parade Clown (Alli the Alligator)
- Kathleen Freeman (Woman in the Shoe)
- John Davidson (Cinderella's Carriage)
- Johnny Nash (Alphabet Blocks)
- Judi Rolin, sang "Come Out, Wherever You Are" (Snail)
- Santa Claus (Santa's Holiday Home)
Specialty Characters[]
- Mighty Mouse
- Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto (Disney Wagon)
- Alice, The White Rabbit, and The Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Peter Pan, Wendy Darling, John Darling, Michael Daring, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Tinker Bell, & Tick Tock the Crocodile (Captain Hook's Pirate Ship)
- Robin Hood, Little John, and Prince John (Walt Disney World Castle)
Pre-Parade Acts[]
- The Broadway Cast of "Seesaw"
- Disney's "Robin Hood"
- Mike Curb Congregation sang "It's A Small World"
- Dance Theater of Harlem (Harlem, NY)
- Radio City Music Hall Rockettes
Clowns[]
- Skating Clowns - 6th time
Trivia[]
- The 1973 NBC broadcast was the first since 1962 to not feature Betty White or Lorne Greene as hosts.
- The progressive rock band Genesis would pay a visit to the deflation area before their 11/22/1973 show at Madison Square Garden. They would take a few pictures of them posing with the Mickey Mouse balloon.
- One of these pictures would later be used on a 1987 bootleg entitled A Piece of the Action. While unofficial, this is the earliest known instance of a giant balloon being used for an album cover.