A Long Walk, a Moving Show
Two accounts describe a New York City store's first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924, comparing its planning with the sights and sounds enjoyed by the crowd.
Play the quiz as a gameThe two accounts below describe the same event: a New York City store's first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924. An account is a description of something that happened.
Text One: Planning the Long Walk The parade took place on Thanksgiving morning. It started near 145th Street and traveled south to the large store at 34th Street. That was a long route, or path, through the city.
How could the store make a long walk into a show? Store employees helped. Some wore costumes and marched. Bands played music, and floats rolled along. These decorated platforms carried scenes for people to see. Live animals from a zoo joined the parade, too. The moving show brought attention to the store.
Text Two: Watching from the Sidewalk Crowds gathered beside New York City streets on Thanksgiving Day in 1924. They had come to watch the store's first parade. From the sidewalk, people could see costumed marchers and hear bands. The music gave the moving show a lively sound.
The animals were another big sight. Elephants and other live zoo animals walked in the parade. Floats gave watchers more to look at as the show passed. Today's parade is known for giant balloons shaped like characters, but those balloons were not in the first parade. That day, the animals were real, not filled with air!