The story behind the Thanksgiving Day Parade

The History of the Parade

I

t's hard to believe but when the very first Thanksgiving Day Parade was staged in 1920, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway had just been finished and construction on the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the parade ends, had just begun.

It wouldn't be finished until 1929.

• 6abc/Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade Website - Information and Celeb Lineup

The Parade marched on through the Great Depression and World War II but it almost met its end in 1986.

• Parade on 6abc Guide 2019: Here's what you need to know

Rick Williams takes a look back at the history of the day.