The 59th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The 58th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The 59th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The 60th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The 59th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on November 28th, 1985 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 Pat Sajak, Bert Convy and Phylicia Ayers-Allen. Participating celebrities included Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Peter Marx, Lee Greenwood and Daniel Jenkins.

Parade Lineup

Listed below are the various Parade units that appeared in the 1985 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,* indicates a retired Parade unit, underline signifies an element that returned to the lineup after an absence and s~~trikethrough~~ indicates a Parade unit that was removed from the Parade.

Balloons

Giant Balloons

Raggedy Ann (Macmillan Inc.) - 2nd time
Yogi Bear* (Hanna-Barbera) - 3rd time
Garfield (United Feature Syndicate) - 2nd time
~~Superman~~ (DC Comics) - 6th time
Snoopy* (United Media) - 7th time^[1]
Betty Boop (King Features) - 1st time
Kermit the Frog (Henson Associates) - 9th time
~~Olive Oyl~~* (King Features) - 4th time
Woody Woodpecker (Walter Lantz Productions) - 4th time

Novelty Balloons

Lollipops (Macy's) - 1st time
Ice Cream Cone (Macy's) - 1st time
Pennsylvania Dutch Ornaments (Macy's) - 1st time
Flower Ornaments (Macy's) - 1st time
American Star Ornaments (Macy's) - 1st time
White Macy's Stars* (Macy's) - 1st time
Geometric Ornaments (Macy's) - 1st time
Poinsettias (Macy's) - 1st time

Floats

Turkey (Macy's) - 13th time
Monopoly Game Train* (Parker Brothers) - 1st time
Care Bears* (American Greetings) - 2nd time
Showboat (Macy's) - 17th time
Great American Dog* (Purina Dog Chow) - 3rd time
Robotman & Friends* (United Feature Syndicate) - 1st time
Big Apple (The New York Daily News) - 4th time
Masters of the Universe (Mattel) - 1st time
Salute to the Statue of Liberty* (Oscar Mayer) - 2nd time
Light of Liberty* (New York Power Authority) - 1st time
Cabbage Patch Kids (Coleco Industries) - 2nd time
Trolley Express* (Macy's)
Disney's Celebration* (Walt Disney Productions) - 2nd time
Rainbow Brite* (Hallmark Properties) - 1st time
Doodlebug (Macy's) - 5th time
Santa's Sleigh (Macy's) - 8th time

Specialty Units

Airplane* (Trans World Airlines) - 18th time
Christmas Wagon (Macy's) - 18th time

Toy Floats

Rocking Tortoise (Macy's) - 7th time
Snail (Macy's) - 10th time
Rocking Kangaroo (Macy's) - 7th time
Rocking Lobster (Macy's) - 6th time
Rocking Horse (Macy's) - 12th time

Marching Band

Concord Community High School Marching Minutemen (Elkhart, IN)
Wheeler High School Wildcat Pride Marching Band (Marietta, GA)
Lake Howell High School Silver Regiment (Winter Park, FL)
Oak Grove High School Marching Band (San Jose, CA)
Corning-Painted Post West High School Viking Marching Band (Corning, NY)
W.T White High School Longhorn Marching Band (Dallas, TX)
Indian Hill High School Marching Band (Cincinnati, OH)
McDonald's All-American High School Band (Nationwide)
Toms River High School East Marching Raiders (Toms River, NJ)
Northern Lebanon High School Band (Fredericksburg, PA)
Boston University Marching Band (Boston, MA)

Guest Stars

Parade Official Jean McFaddin
Janie Fricke, sang "If the Fall Don't Get You" (Turkey)
Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, performed "Apple Honey" (Monopoly Game Train)
Miss America 1986 Susan Akin, sang "Nobody Cares Like A Bear" (Care Bears)
Stars of "Big River", sang "Muddy Water" (Showboat)
Betty Thomas (Great American Dog)
New Edition and Tada!, sang "A Little Bit Of Love" (Robotman & Friends)
Philip Michael Thomas, sang "Just the Way I Planned It" (Big Apple)
James Coco, sang "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" (Airplane)
Lee Greenwood, sang "God Bless The U.S.A." (Salute to the Statue of Liberty)
Allison Smith, Brian Bloom and Frederick Koehler, sang "Welcome Christmas" (Cabbage Patch Kids)
Tony Bennett, sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" (Trolley Express)
Steven Furst, sang "Sing" (Rocking Lobster)
Disney Characters (Disney's Celebration)
Rue McClanahan and William Daniels (Cinderella)
Shannon, sang "Let the Music Play" (Rocking Horse)
A Show of Hands, USA, performed "Rainbow Brite and Me" (Rainbow Brite)
Phylicia Ayers-Allen, sang "When There's Love" (Doodlebug)
The Cosby Show Kids (Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale Wagon)
Rosemary Clooney, sang "White Christmas" (Christmas Wagon)
Santa Claus (Santa's Sleigh)

Specialty Characters

Trivia

This would be a memorable Thanksgiving Day for Phylicia Ayers-Allen, as shortly after the parade's conclusion; NBC sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, covering the Thanksgiving Day game between the Detroit Lions and New York Jets for NBC's "NFL '85" pregame show, proposed at the end of Rashad's pregame report.

Incidents

Aviator Snoopy's Christmas list fell off the balloon after arriving on 34th Street.
Kermit the Frog's stomach was torn by trees along Central Park West. Although the balloon remained in the lineup, it was flown very close to the ground due to the loss of helium.
Olive Oyl and Superman suffered damages before the Parade began and were unable to be repaired in time.
Woody Woodpecker tore a hole in his coxcomb the night before the parade, but the hole was repaired in time. His legs, however, deflated during march.

Notes

↑ The 1985 Macy's Parade marked the Aviator Snoopy balloon's first apperance since 1982.

[1] The 1985 Macy's Parade marked the Aviator Snoopy balloon's first apperance since 1982.

[1]