Thanksgiving Day: How the Macy's parade came about

Macy's 99th annual Thanksgiving Day parade once again took to the streets of New York on Thursday. The event included performers such as Cynthia Erivo, Lainey Wilson and the stars of Netflix's hit KPop movie Demon Hunters.

In that regard, it was learned that this year's parade featured 34 balloons and 28 floats, with new balloons including Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Nintendo's Super Mario.

The parade first started being held on November 27, 1924, which at the time was called Macy's Christmas Parade. The intention of taking to the streets of New York City was to promote sales and kick off Christmas.

But the parade began in a very different way than how we know it today. The first route contained zoo animals, floats based on nursery rhymes and marching bands. More than 250,000 people attended the inaugural parade, according to the ILoveNY portal.

In 1927, the event was renamed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. For the first time, animal-shaped balloons paraded through the streets of New York with the parade, replacing the zoo animals. The balloons were only filled with air, so they were held up with sticks.

In 1928 helium was used for the first time to inflate the balloons during the parade. At the end of the event, following tradition, the balloons were allowed to rise and float. As part of Macy's promotional campaign that year, and until 1932, those who found a balloon when it returned to Earth could redeem it for a prize.