Today found us heading out for a field trip to The Parade Company in Detroit.
We saw where they build floats and big heads for America’s Thanksgiving Parade; it is the third biggest Parade in America–behind the Rose Parade on January 1st and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
It started in 1924 as the JL Thanksgiving Day Parade. Employees from Hudson’s were in the parade–but only men–they pulled the floats. A couple of years later women were allowed to be in it and all were paid for doing so. The parade was not held in 1943 and 1944 as the parade supplies were donated for the war effort.
The Parade Company employs artists and has 4,500 volunteers that put on the parade each year. People 14-years-old and up can walk in the parade. Wearing a Big Head or being a clown is an option for those making a donation of various sizes.
We saw a styrofoam culture being crafted, floats from previous years that will be reused, and a float being dismantled that is being taken out of service.
Can you find the first ethnic float character or the handpainted Petoskey stone?
