(Photo credit: nytstore.com)
Global — The 84th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is right around the corner and although I have never had the pleasure of participating (besides gathering with the family around the tube on turkey day), it has made me quite nostalgic. Not often do we sit back and reflect on the history of our favorite shopping haunts and their origins or secret pasts. But many of them do, that is, have a past, an intriguing one at that! Macy’s is one such store.
Macy’s is more than 150 years old and has probably been mentioned (or seen) in more movies and television shows than any other store, from “Miracle on 34th Street” and “King Kong” to “I Love Lucy” and “Project Runway,” as well as in music videos and in comedy skits. In many ways, Macy’s is a pop culture icon.
(Photo credit: straushistoricalsociety.org)
Macy’s history and pop culture facts you may not know:
- Owners Isidor and Ida Straus perished on the RMS Titanic in 1912. When they began boarding the women, Ida refused to leave her husband saying, “I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die together.” The couple were depicted in James Cameron’s famous “Titanic” film (1997).
- The original “Miracle on 34th Street” (1994) was filmed in Macy’s but the remake in 1994 was set in a fictional store called Cole’s because Macy’s did not want their name used.
- “Heard ‘Em Say” video featuring Kanye West and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 was filmed in Macys Herald Square.
- The famous parade was originally known as the Macy’s Christmas Parade.
- Macy’s is known for having the most amazing balloons in their parade each year, but between 1942-1944, Macy’s donated their parade balloons to the war effort because rubber and helium were scarce.
Check out the Macy’s 150 anniversary commercial. There are many familiar faces!
Chicly Yours,
The Chic Spy
