Category Archives: Celebration

Celebration – Mall Scavenger Hunt Birthday Party

Posted on by

My teenager daughter’s birthday is this month and she wanted to dress-up with her girlfriends and have a limo take them to a fancy dinner.  Well, my husband and I decided to add a little fun and have the girls make a quick trip to our local mall for a scavenger hunt before dinner at a restaurant nearby.  After the party, our daughter said it was the best birthday she had ever had!  My husband and I actually enjoyed this party, too.  In this post, I will discuss what it takes to have a scavenger hunt party at the mall!!

Planning a Mall Scavenger Hunt

The basic idea for a scavenger hunt at the mall is really very simple and it was the perfect birthday party to have for our teenaged daughter and her group of friends.  The 10 girls that attended the party were divided into 5 teams, two girls to each team.  (Party Tip:  I would not recommend this party idea for girls that are younger and need to be supervised by their parents)

To start the process of planning the party, we took a quick trip to our local mall to gather ideas and suggestions for the scavenger hunt.  Our first stop after arriving at the mall was the customer service desk which quickly referred us to the mall administration office. This was a good idea because it is important to confirm the rules and regulations of the mall and another reason is that the mall security team should be notified of the party is case there are any problems or concerns.  (Party Tip:  When we were writing the scavenger hunt list, we made sure to include a friendly reminder to the girls about having good manners and to behave properly while participating in the scavenger hunt)

Another great reason for stopping by the mall office is to inquire about any free gift items that were available for the scavenger hunt participates.  At our local mall, we were able to get a free “leather” shopping bag for each of the girls.  This worked out wonderful for our party because each team had a bag to put all the items that they were gathering during the game.  (Party Tip: My suggestion is when planning a mall scavenger hunt is to visit the mall office to inquiry about your local mall’s policies and procedures for parties and maybe if you are lucky you can score some free items, it doesn’t hurt to ask … you never know what they will do for you!)

The Mall Scavenger Hunt List

Our scavenger hunt was divided into three different sections and each section had a list of several different tasks:

  1. The “find” section – a list of items that needed to be found
  2. The “photo” section – a list of photos that needed to be taken
  3. The “quiz” section – a list of questions that needed to be answered

(For some specific items or tasks that we used for each section, please see the scavenger hunt list that we used for our daughter’s party at the end of this post)

Once we determined the tasks for each section, we printed out the scavenger hunt list for each team.  Shown in the photo below is our printed scavenger hunt list for my daughter’s party.  We decided to make it into a booklet form instead of one printed page.  I bought some inexpensive blank cards and envelopes at my local craft store, printed out the rules and scavenger hunt list in booklet form and stapled it to the inside of the blank card.  Next, I decorated the front of the card with strips of black crystals and added self-adhesive glitter stickers to identify the different teams.

Mall Scavenger Hunt List

Also, in the photo shown below, is the scavenger hunt package that each team was given before the game started.  As you can see, the black “leather” bag that the mall provided had a pocket which was the perfect place to store the scavenger hunt list and a map of the mall.  We also proved two pens for each team in case they lost one they would have a spare.  (Party Tip:  If your mall doesn’t provide any shopping bags don’t worry because you can purchase inexpensive gift bags from your local craft store!)

Mall Scavenger Hunt team packet

Before sending the girls out into the mall, we met inside at the mall entrance and quickly went over the rules and confirm the finish line and designated time that the game needed to be completed.  We allowed an hour and a half for the scavenger hunt, we expected the girls to take longer but most teams were done within an hour because our  scavenger hunt list was fairly easy.  (Party Tip:  Each mall has different stores and your scavenger hunt list should be altered to fit with those stores within your mall)

Here is a sample of our Mall Scavenger Hunt list:

Rules

  • The Mall Scavenger Hunt will be a timed one hour event.  The start time is 6:00 P.M. and the finish time is 7:30 p.m.  Finish line is the same mall entrance as the start of game.
  • The game is divided into three sections: Find, Photo, and Quiz.  Please try to complete each section. Each task is worth one point.
  • Bonus points can also be earned and are noted in the game.
  • Points are given to teams that complete the game and return to the finish line sooner but points are also taken away for teams that arrive after the designated time.
  • Please be polite to other shoppers and store staff while participating in the game.
  • Please be safe and follow the rules of the mall, no running, blocking store entrances, etc.
  • The team with the most points earned at the end of the game will win the grand prize!
  • Call us if there are any questions about the game or other concerns or problems.

Find

Please collect the following items:  (use the black tote to store the items)

  • A perfume sample (any store)
  • A business card from two different stores (usually found on the check-out counter)
  • A napkin from Elevation Burger
  • A “Paint & Play” vinyl sampler  sheet from Sephora with your favorite nail polish color
  • A small sample spoon from PinkBerry
  • An employee application (any store)
  • An unused ketchup packet
  • A store catalog (any store)
  • A Starbucks straw
  • A found receipt with today’s date
  • A plastic fork
  • A take-out menu (any restaurant)
  • A make-up sample (any store)
  • A store credit card application (any store)
  • An unused sugar packet

Photo

Using your cell phone, please take a photo of the following: (please save the photos for proof!!)

  • A photo with a car (bonus point if sitting in the driver’s seat)
  • A photo of team wearing hats
  • A photo of  a fire extinguisher
  • A photo of the team wearing sunglasses
  • A photo of a sale sign (10% = 1 point , 20% = 2, 30% = 3, etc.)
  • A photo with a butterfly
  • A photo of team in one bathroom stall (bonus point for a photo of team washing hands in one sink)
  • A photo of team riding the escalator
  • A photo of team wearing tiaras
  • A photo of team trying on red shoes
  • A photo of team reading a book
  • A photo in front of the team’s favorite store
  • A photo of team cuddling a teddy bear
  • A photo of team with a cute guy
  • A photo of team in front of store that begins with a C

Quiz

  • Please answer each of the following questions: What is the flavor of the month at Pinkberry?
  • What is the name of a candy store in the mall?
  • In the women’s bathroom near the food court, how many bathroom stalls are there? (Bonus points – how many children sized sinks?)
  • What is the name of the store that is opening soon in the mall?
  • What is the store with a compass direction in the name?
  • What is the cheapest item you can buy at Chipotle?
  • How many colors of a Tesla car are available?
  • What store in the mall that is named after a fruit?
  • Name an optional Elevation burger topping that starts with the letter “J”.
  • What store has a color in the name?

Thanks for playing the game!  When every task is completed, please return to the same mall entrance as the start of game.

For more themed ideas and additional information on children’s birthday parties, please click on the following links – Children’s Birthday Parites Part One and Part Two.

Celebration – The Academy Awards

Posted on by

Gold TrophyOn March 2, 2014, the 86th Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.  This annual ceremony honors the outstanding achievements in the film industry and the top awards include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.  It is one of the most exciting nights in Hollywood and it seems like everyone is watching the show to see if their favorite movie, actor or actress wins the coveted Oscar but most importantly everyone loves to see what the stars are wearing on the famous red carpet! 

In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was established by Louis B. Mayer along with Douglas Fairbanks, Sid Grauman, Mary Pickford and Joseph Schenck.  At the time, Mayer owned Louis B. Mayer Pictures which would later become part of one of Hollywood’s major studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).  The idea behind the creation of the Academy Awards ceremony was to unite the five creative services of the film industry (actors, directors, producers, writers and technicians) by gathering them together and acknowledging the best achievements for the year in those different categories.

The first Academy Awards ceremony took place on May 16, 1929 during a private AMPAS dinner held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.  The dinner was attended by 270 people and during the brief ceremony the awards were given for outstanding achievements for the films of 1927 and 1928 in twelve categories.  Douglas Fairbanks, the president of the AMPAS, announced the following winners: “Wings” for Best Picture, Emil Jannings for Best Actor and Janet Gaynor for Best Actress.  Two special awards were also given that evening to Charlie Chaplin who was nominated for multiple awards including Best Actor, Best Writer and Best Director for “The Circus”.  The other special award was given to Warner Brothers Studios for their major contribution to the film industry of the first talking picture, “The Jazz Singer”.

1929 Academy Awards

There have been many changes to the Academy Awards selection process over the years.  For the first four Academy Awards the winners received acknowledgement for all their work done during the specified time period but since 1933 the nominees were selected for their work in only a single film.  Another change concerned the way the winners were announcement to the press and public.  For the first Academy Awards, the winners were notified three months prior to the ceremony, so there was very little surprise to the event.  Then, during the next 10 years the winners names were withheld from the press until 11 PM the night of the ceremony.  In 1941, when the names of the winners were leaked by the Los Angeles Times, the process changed yet again and the winners names for each category were sealed in envelopes and not revealed until the actual ceremony which added to the anticipation and the drama of the event.  Still another change to the Academy Awards was the eligibility period, for the first six ceremonies the time period spanned two consecutive calendar years and then starting in 1935 the time period changed to January 1 to December 31 of a single year with the winners being announced at the ceremony held a few months later. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences currently has a membership of over 6,000.  The membership is divided into several different branches representing all the professions involved in film production.  Members from each branch vote to determine the nominees in their categories, such as actors nominate actors, etc.  All members are eligible to choose the best picture nominees.  Once the final nominations are made all the voting members vote for the winners in their specific categories.  The animated short film, live action short film, documentary feature, documentary short and foreign-language film are voted by all members attending special screenings. 

The road to the Academy Awards starts with the nomination process.  The nomination ballots are mailed to members in December and must be returned by the specified date, usually two weeks later.  The ballots are returned directly to PricewterhouseCoopers which is the accounting firm in charge of tabulating the votes. Then the final nominees are announced in January and the voting process starts over again.  Once the final ballots are return to the accounting firm they are counted to determine the winners in each of the categories.  The results are kept secret and only two of the partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers know the winner until the sealed envelopes are opened during the Academy Awards ceremony. 

The first Academy Awards dinner was a private event so the press and the public did not have access to the ceremony but it received such interest that a local Los Angeles radio station decided to broadcast a live one hour show that continued annually for several years.  The ceremony continued as a dinner event until 1942 when the meal was completely omitted and the event was moved to a more formal setting in a theater.  Then in 1953, the Academy Awards was televised allowing millions to see the ceremony for the first time.  In 1966 the ceremony began to broadcast in color and in 1969 the show started broadcasting internationally and currently is seen in over 200 countries.  In 1999, the day of the week that the ceremony was held changed from Monday to Sunday nights as a way to make the broadcast available for even more viewers.  For more than 60 years the Academy Awards have been held in late March or early April usually six weeks after the announcement of the nominees.  Then in 2004, the decision was made to move the ceremony to an earlier time in the year to late February or early March as a way to shorten the intense and competitive lobbying and ad campaigns by the film studios during the time before the actual ceremony. 

Roosevelt HotelThe venue where the Academy Awards ceremony has taken place has also changed numerous times over the years.  As mentioned previously the first ceremony took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in 1929.  After that first year the venue alternated between the Ambassador Hotel and the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles during the years 1930 to 1943.  Then from 1944 to 1946 the awards ceremony was held at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, followed by the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1948.  For one year in 1949 the ceremony took place at the Academy’s headquarters in Hollywood. Then, once again the venue changed to the Pantages Theatre and the awards ceremony took place there from 1953 to 1957 while it was televised simultaneously with an additional location in New York City. In 1961, the Academy Awards ceremony moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium followed by another move of venue in 1969 to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles Music Center.  Finally in 2002, the award ceremony found a permanent venue at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood but the name of the building changed several times until 2012 when it was renamed the Dolby Theatre.   

Pantages Theatre    Kodak Theatre - red carpet   

Academy Awards Trivia

  • Three movies have tied for being awarded the most Oscars with 11 each – “Ben Hur” (1959), “Titanic” (1997) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003).
  • Two movies have tied for the most Oscar nominations with 14 each – “All About Eve” (1951) and “Titanic”  (1997)
  • The youngest person to receive an Oscar was Shirley Temple; she was 5 years old when she received her honorary Oscar in 1934.
  • The youngest actress to win an Oscar was Tatum O’Neal; she was 10 years old when she won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Paper Moon” in 1974. 
  • The oldest person to win an Oscar was Christopher Plummer; he was 82 years old when he won the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Beginners” in 2012.
  • The oldest person to win an Oscar for Best Actor was Henry Fonda; he was 76 when he won for his performance in “On Golden Pond” in 1982.
  • The oldest person to be nominated for an Oscar was Gloria Stewart who was 87 years old for her performance as the older Rose in “Titanic” in 1997.
  • The actor with the most Best Actor awards is Daniel Day-Lewis; he won three Oscars for his performances in “My Left Foot” (1989), “There Will Be Blood” (2007), and most recently “Lincoln” (2012).
  • The actress with the most Best Actress awards is Katherine Hepburn; she won four Oscars for her performances in “Morning Glory” (1932), “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), “The Lion in Winter”  (1968) and “On Golden Pond” (1981).
  • The actor with the most Oscar nominations is Jack Nicholson who was nominated 12 times.  He won three times – twice for Best Actor for his performances in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “As Good As It Gets” (1997 ), and once for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Terms of Endearment” (1983).
  • The actress with the most Oscar nominations is Meryl Streep who was nominated 18 times.  She won three times – twice for Best Actor for her performances in “Sophie’s Choice” (1982), “The Iron Lady” (2011) and once for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “Kramer vs Kramer” (1979).
  • The director with the most Oscars is John Ford; he won for “The Informer” (1935), Grapes of Wrath” (1939), “How Green Was My Valley” (1941) and “The Quiet Man’ (1951).
  • The person awarded the most Oscars was Walt Disney, he won 26 Academy Awards during his lifetime – 22 Oscars and 4 honorary ones.  He also received an astounding 64 Oscar nominations.
  • The Oscar statuette is made of gold plated britannium sitting on a black metal base and weighs 8.5 pounds and is 13.5 inches tall, the statuette is an Art Deco design depicting a knight holding a crusader’s sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes.  The five spokes are symbolic to represent the original branches of the Academy – actors, directors, producers, writers and technicians.
  • The original Oscar mold was cast in 1918 by the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois.  Since 1983, the Oscars have been made by the R.S. Owens & Company in Chicago, Illinois. 
  • During World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster in support of the armed services which were in desperate need of metal materials for guns and ammunitions.  Later, after the war the statuettes were replaced for the normal gold ones.
  • There are several stories as to how the Oscar statuette received its name.  One story dates to 1931 when Margaret Herrick, the Academy librarian, remarked that the statuette looked like her Uncle Oscar Pierce.  Another story is credited to Bette Davis who named her award Oscar after her first husband the band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson.  The award was officially named “Oscar” by the Academy in 1939.           
  • Since 1950, the Oscar statuettes that is awarded is legally the property of the Academy and the rules state that the winner or their heirs may not sell the statuette without first offering to sell the statuette back to the Academy for $1.  If the winner refuses to agree to this then the Academy will keep the statuette.  Of course this rule has been questioned most recently as 2004 when the heirs of Orson Welles took the matter to court and won the case because the Oscar was originally awarded to Welles in 1941 prior to the rule.  Subsequently, the Best Original Screenplay for “Citizen Kane” was sold in December 2011 at auction for $861,542.     

Celebration – Sock Party

Posted on by

If you are looking for a theme for a fun party, here is a wonderful idea … a sock party!!  The theme can be used for a birthday party for teenagers or during any time of year for a party with family and friends.  Socks, all different kinds of socks, are very popular right now and having a sock party is also a great opportunity to go on a shopping spree!  Socks can be used to make party invitations, decorations, party favors and even socks can be used for games at the party.

Invitations

Here is a clever way to send the invitations for the Sock Party.  Purchase inexpensive white baby socks. Then, print the following on light-weight cardstock and attach to a pair of socks. To mail, send in an envelope that fits the size of the socks and extra postage may be required.

You are invited to a Sock Party!

Where:

When:

Time:

Prizes will be given for the prettiest, craziest,

funniest and most colorful ones!!

Decorations

Hang a clothesline across the room from one corner to the other corner, crisscrossing in the middle of the room and then attach some colorful socks with old-fashioned clothespins.  More socks can be scattered around the room by hanging them from the lampshades or the chandeliers.

Make a banner using socks.  Cut some paper letters spelling out “Welcome to the Sock Party” or “Happy Birthday to _______” and using straight pins attach the letters to the socks.  Add pieces of cardboard into the socks so they lay better.

For the food table, make a centerpiece using socks.  Using solid colored socks roll each sock individually and secure with pins, these with be the flowers for the centerpiece.  Next, attach the sock flowers to long sticks and arranged in a vase with some artificial greenery.  The result should resemble a floral centerpiece.

Games

What is a party without games, so here are a few suggestions!

 “Smelly Sock” –

This is a great game for the younger guests and it can get rather silly.  The game is played like musical chairs.  One sock is deemed the “smelly sock”. Start by gathering the guests in a circle; begin by playing some music as the guests pass the sock around.  When the music stops whoever has the sock takes a whiff and then pretends to swoon from the smell.

“Pile the Socks On” –

Divide the guests into teams.  Start the game with a pile of socks in the center of the group.  One team member is selected as the one to “dress”.  After a countdown, team members race to the pile to pick up a sock and hurry back to the designated team member and “dress them with a sock, it could be on the feet or hands and it could be tied to the elbow or hung on the ear.  After a predetermined time is up – the team with the most socks wins!

“Sock Hop Race” –

Divide the guests into teams.  Start the game with a pile of socks on one side of the room and line the teams on the other side of the room.  After a countdown, one team member races to the sock pile and puts a sock on one of their feet and hops back to their group of team members.  They tag the next team member who repeats the same routine until everyone has gone twice and the quickest team wins!

Party favors

“Sock cupcakes” – For this craft project buy a selection of really nice colorful socks, the number of socks should equal the number of guests.  Individually roll the socks tightly to resemble cupcakes.  Roll the socks into a normal sock ball and with the rolled part facing up then place it in a paper cupcake holder.  To display at the party, arrange the sock cupcakes on a tiered stand.     

Charles Schultz’s Birthday

Posted on by

Charles M. SchulzGrowing up as a child of the 60s, I have wonderful memories of spreading out the comic section of the newspaper flat onto the floor in our family’s living room and reading the comics lying on my stomach every Sunday morning.  One of my favorites was the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schultz which features the characters of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and a dog named Snoopy.  I also remember watching the animated television specials “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” every holiday season when I was a little girl.  Later, when they were available on video and DVD, I made a family tradition of watching those animated specials with my children every year.  Charles Schultz brought such humor and fun to our family and the world!

Charles Schulz (born: November 26, 1922 died: February 12, 2000) was one of the most famous American cartoonists of our time.  Schultz was born in Minneapolis and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota.  He was the only child of European immigrates, Charles Schultz from Germany and Dena Halverson from Norway.  As a child he was known as Sparky, a nickname he received from an uncle, and he loved to draw mostly pictures of his dog, Spike.  Spike was an unusual dog that ate pins, tacks and razor blades and for this reason one of Schulz’s first published drawings was a sketch of Spike that he submitted to “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”.

Schultz was a good student, he skipped grades at the local St. Paul elementary school and as a result he was a shy, timid teenager and one of the youngest in his graduating class from Central High School.  In February 1943, Schultz mother died from cancer a long illness and he was greatly affected by the loss.  Shortly after this time, Schultz was drafted into the United States Army and he went to Europe to fight in World War II.  He became a staff sergeant and squad leader of his machine gun unit.  He was discharged after the war and returned to Minneapolis.

He took several jobs working for different companies after returning from the war.  One of those jobs was working at the Art Instruction, Inc. which was an art school that Schultz had been taking a correspondence course to further his artistic talent before being drafted.  He worked part-time there for a few years while he was developing his style of drawing comic book characters.

Scultz’s first full-time job was drawing a regular weekly one panel cartoon called “Li’l Folks” which was published by the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1947 to 1950.  In 1950, Schultz submitted his work to the United Feature Syndicate for a four panel comic strip series, this type of comic strip would later become the industry’s standard.  “Peanuts” first appeared on October 2, 1950 in nine newspapers and in January 6, 1952 the strip made its debut in the Sunday editions.  Ironically, Schultz always disliked the name of “Peanuts” for the comic strip; he said in a later interview that he thought it lacked dignity.  After a slow and steady start, “Peanuts” went on to be published daily in 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries making it the most popular and influential comic strip in history.

Peanuts first comic strip - October 2, 1950

Throughout most of his long career, Schultz always kept to the same daily routine that started in the morning with a jelly donut breakfast, then going through his mail and correspondence and finally sitting down to draw his daily comic strip.  On the average, it took him about one hour to draw the daily comic strips and three hours for the Sunday edition strips.  During his 50 year Schultz drew nearly 18,000 comic strips, he always produced the work by himself, only employing a secretary to help with office work and never hiring any assistants to draw or “ink” the comic strips.  Remarkably he only took one vacation during that time when he took a five week break in 1997 to celebrate his 75th birthday; it was the only time reruns of the strip were used while Schultz was alive.

After his initial success with the comic strip, Schultz branched out into other media, such as a collection of the “Peanuts” comic strips published as a book in 1952 and later with the first “Peanuts” animated television special in 1965, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, which won an Emmy award.  Schultz also wrote and oversaw the production of all the numerous TV specials that followed.  Over the years other books, associated merchandise and product endorsements produced over $1 billion in revenues annually, with Schultz earning an estimated $35 million each year.

A Charlie Brown Christmas    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Throughout his career Schultz received numerous awards and honors; such as the 1962 National Cartoonist Humor Comic Strip Award and in 1996 he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, appropriately located next to Walt Disney’s star.  He also received the Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award for his service to the youth of America.  Schultz very interested in the United States space program and in 1969 he received the honor of having the Apollo 10 command module named Charlie Brown and the lunar module named Snoopy.  In 1974, he was the Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.  Schultz was also an avid ice sports fan, both hockey and figure skating, he was very active in the Senior hockey league and was the owner of the Redwood Empire Ice Arena located in Santa Rosa, California.  In 1981, he received the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to the sport of hockey and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in1993.  Finally, in 2001, he posthumously received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor of the United States.

Charles Schulz star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

 In regards to his personal life, Schultz had moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1951 and married Joyce Halverson; they had four children.  Eventually they moved back to Minnesota and stayed there until 1958 when they moved to Sebastopol, California.  Schultz was very pleased when he was able to build his first studio, prior to that time he had worked from home or in a small rented office.  Then in 1969, the family moved to Santa Rosa, California where Schultz lived and worked for the remainder of his career.  After divorcing his first wife in 1972, Schultz married Jean Forsyth Clyde in 1973; they were married for 27 years.

By the 1980s, Schultz heath was becoming an issue when he began experiencing tremors in his hands, eventually it was controlled by medication.  In July 1981, he underwent a heart bypass surgery.  By late 1999 Schultz had suffered several small strokes with a blocked aorta and then colon cancer was diagnosed and had metastasized and with the chemotherapy treatment his vision had worsened.  In December 1999, Schultz announced his retirement and the final “Peanuts” comic strip had already been drawn.  Schultz died in at home on February 12, 2000 from complications from the colon cancer.  He is buried at Pleasant Hills Cemetery in Sebastopol, California.

The last “Peanuts” comic strip was published on February 13, 2000.  As a fitting tribute, Charlie Brown was the only “Peanuts” character to appear in both the first strip in 1950 and the last strip in 2000.  When he was asked earlier in his career if Charlie Brown would finally get to kick that football someday, Schultz responded to the question, “No, definitely not!”  Sadly, many years later when he was interviewed in December 1999 after announcing his retirement and shortly before he died, Schultz emotionally commented, “You know that poor kid never even got to kick that football.  What a dirty trick!”

Peanuts final comic strip - February 12, 2000

Celebration – The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Posted on by

When I was child, I loved waking up in the morning on Thanksgiving Day and turning on the television to watch the Macy’s Parade from New York City.  The truth is … I still like watching the parade and I’m … hey I’m not giving away my age!!  The thing I enjoy about the Macy’s Parade that makes it so different from the Rose Parade and any other parade is that at a certain times during the parade it will stop and have a musical performance from a recording artist or a Broadway show right there on 34th Street in front of Macy’s Department store and then afterwards the parade continues until the finale with Santa Claus.

The History of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

1924 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - advertisementThis year the Macy’s Parade will be celebrating 89 years of the annual Thanksgiving Day tradition which originally started in 1924.  Back then, the majority of the employees at Macy’s Department Store were immigrants who were very proud of being new citizens of the United States and they wanted to celebrate the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving with a festive event.  The Macy’s employees dressed in costumes and with the addition of some professional entertainers, bands, decorated floats and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo the parade traveled 6 miles from 145th Street in Harlem to the Macy’s store located on 34th Street and Broadway in New York City.  The first parade was advertised in the local newspaper before the scheduled date and had a crowd of over a quarter of a million people.  It was a great success and Macy’s decided to make the parade an annual event.

Soon after that first parade Macy’s hired Anthony Sarg who was famous in New York City for his use of marionettes and small balloons.  He had come to the attention of Macy’s and they requested that Sarg make his puppets into an animated window display they were planning to promote their annual parade.  Later in 1927, Sarg used a large animal-shaped balloon made by the Goodyear Tire Company specifically for the parade.  Basically he took the concept of his marionettes literally upside down and the balloon had the controls underneath that were operated by several Macy’s employees instead the controls on the top like a traditional marionette.  This first balloon in the Macy’s parade was Felix the Cat, a popular cartoon character.  In the following years, several more large balloons were added to the Macy’s Parade, such as a new cartoon character named Mickey Mouse in 1934.  These newer balloons were filled with helium to make them float. Also, at the end of the parade the balloons were released into the sky with an address label sewn into the material with a message that if they were found to return the deflated balloons safely to Macy’s for a special gift.

1927 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Felix the Cat    1934 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Mickey Mouse

The Macy’s Parade continued to grow in the size over the years with more participants and performers and even more balloons.  The parade was starting to attract crowds of over 1 million people along the parade route and the annual event was now being broadcast on a local New York radio station from 1932 to 1951. During the years of 1942 to 1944 the parade was not held because of World War II.  The reason for this was that the military needed the rubber and helium for the war effort that used the materials for the balloons.  The Macy’s Parade gained national attention when the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street” was released and featured actual filmed footage from the 1946 parade.  The title of the movie refers to the location of Macy’s flagship store which plays a significant role in this charming movie featuring Natalie Wood as the adorable but precocious little girl who does not believe in Santa Claus!

Miricle on 34th Street movie

The Macy’s parade was first televised locally in New York City in 1939.  The first national broadcast was in 1948 on CBS.  Since 1952, NBC became the official network to cover the event.  Originally the program was only an hour long but currently the coverage has expanded to three hours, including the pre-show portions of the program.  Since 1960, the parade coverage changed from a black and white broadcast to color version when this technology became available on television sets.

More balloons were added to the parade over the years and they were always familiar characters from television or movies, such as Superman and Spiderman, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Donald Duck and Kermit the frog and even one year an astronaunt.  Since 1984 the balloons are made by Raven Industries located in South Dakota.  By 2006, in response to previous accidents and balloon related injuries, new safety standards and restrictions were implemented.  Along the parade route wind measurement devices were installed to alert the parade organizers to unsafe conditions.  Some actions taken in response to high winds are that the balloons are kept closer to the ground by the handlers and if the wind speeds are predicted to exceed 34 miles per hour the balloons are removed from the parade.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Spiderman    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Kermit the Frog

In addition to the world famous balloons, the parade also features musical performances that will stop on the street in front of the Macy’s store located on 34th Street and Broadway.  College and high school marching bands perform live music and recording artists perform from their floats or Broadway shows take to the street to lip-sync to prerecorded music.  Other performers include the world famous Radio City Rockettes and also college or high school cheerleader and dance squads from around the country. Of course the highlight and the grand finale of the parade is the arrival of Santa Claus.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Santa
 

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Rockettes    Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Rockettes 1