November 25, 1920: The 1st Thanksgiving Day Parade

Judging by the cars in the background,

this is an old parade in Philadelphia, but not the first one.

November 25, 1920: The 1st Thanksgiving Day Parade in America is held. It goes down Market Street in Center City Philadelphia, sponsored by Gimbels department store.

In the modern era, Philadelphia's parade begins on John F. Kennedy Boulevard at 20th Street, goes down JFK Blvd. to Penn Square, around City Hall, then up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (You know: The Rocky Steps.) That's where the "big production numbers" are held for the TV broadcast.

Gimbels would sponsor the parade every year until 1986, going out of business the next year. WPVI-Channel 6, Philadelphia's ABC affiliate, which had broadcast the parade since 1966 (it was WFIL until 1971), took over sponsorship, partnering with another department store, Boscov's.

Boscov's is still in business, but ended their co-sponsorship after the 2007 Parade. IKEA did it the next 3 years. Since 2011, "6abc" has done it with Dunkin'. Being a restaurant chain, Dunkin' teams up with 6abc to run a holiday food drive every year.

In 2020, due to COVID, the Parade "went virtual." It was the 1st cancellation of a full parade: Even the Great Depression and World War II couldn't stop it. Fortunately, in 2019, the 100th Parade was celebrated, so the 100th Anniversary was not ruined.

New York would get into the act in 1924, with Macy's holding the Parade. It starts at 77th Street and Central Park West, across from the American Museum of Natural History, goes down Central Park West to Columbus Circle, then down Central Park South (59th Street), then down 6th Avenue to Macy's flagship store at Herald Square: 34th Street, 6th Avenue and Broadway. (It used to turn from Central Park South to 7th Avenue, then down Broadway at Times Square, to Herald Square. The route was changed in 2009, to provide more room for the floats and balloons.)

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade became a legend in 1947, with the release of the holiday film Miracle On 34th Street, which has been remade in 1973 and 1994. In the 1st 2 versions, Macy's and Gimbels permitted the use of their names, because it was good publicity. By 1994, Gimbels was gone, and Macy's did not give permission, so fictional store names were used.

NBC has broadcast the Macy's Parade nationally since 1953. CBS also does so. Like the one in Philadelphia, it features high school marching bands from around the country. Since the Parade is literally on Broadway, stars of Broadway musicals participate, doing their production numbers in front of Macy's front entrance.

Large balloons in the shape of popular children's characters are used, including, at various times, cartoon characters like Popeye and Underdog, Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Muppet characters like Kermit the Frog and Big Bird (even when characters from Sesame Street, including the Muppets used on the show, participate), and superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man.

The Macy's Parade always begins with a large animatronic turkey, flapping its wings and raising and lowering its head and eyelids; and, like the one in Philadelphia, always ends with a float containing Santa Claus' sleigh, to signal that, yes, the Christmas season -- and, more importantly from the sponsors' standpoint, the Christmas shopping season -- has begun in earnest. In New York, a small building representing Santa's Workshop is part of the float, and Mrs. Claus waves from it. In Philadelphia, Mrs. Claus rides in the sleigh with Santa.

McDonald's, headquartered in Chicago, sponsors that city's Thanksgiving parade. Other cities with them include Detroit, Houston and Seattle. Pittsburgh hosts a Celebrate the Season Parade on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

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November 25, 1920, like all Thanksgiving Days, was a Thursday. Up until 1938, it was celebrated on the last Thursday in November, which might be the 4th one in the month, or the 5th one. Since 1939, it's been officially the 4th Thursday in November, meaning it can fall on the 22nd, the 23rd, the 24th, the 25th, the 26th, the 27th or the 28th.

Two prominent actors were born on this day: Ricardo Montalbán, who starred as Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island and as the villainous Khan Noonien Singh on both an episode of Star Trek and one of the movies based on the series; and Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane on the 1950s TV series The Adventures of Superman.

The American Professional Football Association was founded in 1920, and became the National Football League in 1922. Games on Thanksgiving Day are almost as old as the sport of American football itself, although the tradition of doing so in high school has significantly shrunk, due to State governing bodies wanting to make more money by expanding State Playoffs.

But on that 1st Thanksgiving Day in what is now NFL history, there were 6 games involving teams in the league:

* The Decatur Staleys beat the Chicago Tigers, 6-0 at Cubs Park. The Decatur Whats? The Chicago Who? Which Park? The Tigers went out of business after that 1st season. The Staley Starch Company sponsored a football team, and got former University of Illinois end George Halas to play, coach and manage it. The following season, he moved it to Cubs Park, renamed it the Chicago Staleys, and won the NFL Championship. The season after that, he renamed them the Chicago Bears. In 1926, Cubs Park was renamed Wrigley Field.

* The Chicago Boosters beat the Hammond Pros, 27-0 at DePaul University Field in Chicago. The Pros, from the Chicago satellite city of Hammond, Indiana, went out of business after the 1925 season. The Boosters were never an APFA/NFL member, were playing their 1st season, played 1 more, and folded.

* The Dayton Triangles beat the Detroit Heralds, 28-0 at Triangle Park in Dayton, Ohio. Both of these teams, despite Detroit being in Michigan, were members of the Ohio League, the NFL's predecessor as the leading league in professional football. The Heralds played 1 more year and folded. In 1934, the Portsmouth Spartans of southern Ohio became the Detroit Lions, and founded the tradition of Detroit playing at home on Thanksgiving.

The Triangles were charter APFA/NFL members, and folded after the Crash of 1929. But, in a way, they still exist. Bill Dwyer, a Prohibition bootlegger who owned the NHL's New York Americans, bought the rights to the Triangles, and established a football team named the Brooklyn Dodgers.

That team lasted until 1945, merging with the team with the oddest name in NFL history: The Boston Yanks. In 1949, that team became the New York Bulldogs. In 1951, they became the New York Yanks (not "Yankees," although they did play at Yankee Stadium).

They folded, but the rights to their players were bought by a Texas group that moved them, to become the Dallas Texans. No, this is not the team that founded the AFL and became the Kansas City Chiefs. This Texans team lasted just 1 season. Their rights were sold to the men who owned the Baltimore Colts from 1947 to 1950, and they became the new Baltimore Colts. In 1984, they became the Indianapolis Colts.

So, while the NFL, and the Colts themselves, do not consider them to be a corporate continuation of the Dayton Triangles -- which would lead them back to 1913, making them the 2nd-oldest franchise in the League, behind the Arizona Cardinals, who trace themselves back to Chicago in 1898 -- they are now playing just 117 miles from their "birthplace." And they've never missed a season, which is not something that can be said by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Philadelphia Eagles (who merged for the 1943 season), the Los Angeles Rams (who suspended operations for 1943), or the Cardinals (who merged with the Steelers for 1944).

* The Akron Pros beat the Canton Bulldogs, 7-0 at League Park in Akron. Both of these teams came from the Ohio League. The Pros, led by player-coach Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard, the 1st black head coach in any sport, and the only one until 1966 and the only one in the NFL until 1989, won the league's 1st title in 1920.

The Bulldogs were led by Jim Thorpe, who soon left to start a team of all Native Americans in Marion, Ohio: The Oorang Indians. Without him, the Bulldogs won the title in 1922, 1923 and 1924. However, the Pros folded after the 1926 season, and the Bulldogs only lasted 1 more year. 

* The Columbus Panhandles and the Elyria Athletics played to a 0-0 tie, in Elyria. Both teams came from the Ohio League, which Elyria won in 1912. But the Athletics never joined the proto-NFL, and folded after this season. The Panhandles joined the NFL, but folded after 1926.

* And the All-Tonawanda Lumberjacks beat the Rochester Jeffersons, 14-3 at the Bay Street Baseball Grounds in Rochester, New York. The Jeffersons were charter APFA/NFL members, but folded after the 1925 season.

The Lumberjacks, employees of American Kardex, based on Tonawanda, outside Buffalo, joined the APFA in 1921, under the name Tonawanda Kardex, but only played 1 game before dropping out, making them the briefest-existing team in NFL history.

There were also college football games played on this Thanksgiving Day:

* Georgia beat Clemson, 55-0 at Sanford Field in Athens, Georgia. Georgia Tech beat Auburn, 34-0 at Grant Field in Atlanta. Usually, Georgia plays Georgia Tech during Thanksgiving Weekend, although the day varies from year to year.

* Virginia beat North Carolina, 14-0 at Lambeth Field in Charlottesville, Virginia. Usually, Virginia plays Virginia Tech during Thanksgiving Weekend, while North Carolina wraps up its schedule against Duke the preceding Saturday.

* Alabama beat Mississippi A&M, later known as Mississippi State, 24-7 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. Usually, Alabama plays Auburn during Thanksgiving Weekend, although the day varies from year to year. Mississippi State plays the University of Mississippi, a.k.a. Ole Miss, usually on Thanksgiving night. Ole Miss did not play on Thanksgiving in 1920.

* Tulane beat Louisiana State, 21-0 at State Field in Baton Rouge.

* The Big Ten wrapped up its games the preceding Saturday but one of its teams was in action: Michigan Agricultural College, who became Michigan State in 1925, lost to Notre Dame, 25-0 at College Field in East Lansing.

* Washington State beat Nebraska, 21-20 at Nebraska Field in Lincoln.

* Oklahoma beat Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa, 44-7 at Boyd Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* USC beat Oregon, 21-0 at Tournament Park in Pasadena, where the Rose Bowl was played before the stadium of the same name was built.

Back East:

* Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh played to a tie, 0-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* Maryland beat Johns Hopkins, 24-7 at College Field in College Park.

* Penn beat Cornell, 28-0 at the original Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* And Rutgers went to the University of Detroit, and lost, 27-0 at Drinan Field in Detroit. 

June 11, 1947: "Miracle On 34th Street" Premieres

June 11, 1947: Miracle On 34th Street premieres, released by 20th Century Fox, directed by George Seaton, based on a story by Valentine Davies. Why a Christmas movie was released when Summer was just around the corner, perhaps only that era's Fox executives at the time knew.

A man known only as Kris Kringle (played by Edmund Gwenn) is hired to work as Santa Claus at the main Macy's store in New York's Herald Square, facing Broadway between 34th and 35th Streets. One thing leads to another, and he is committed, and his lawyer, Fred Gailey (John Payne), can find only one way to get this harmless, if apparently delusional, old man out of the psych ward: By proving to a court that, just as Kris claims, he really is Santa Claus.

It works, and Fred wins the heart of Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), who had hired Kris, and her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood, 8 years old at the time of filming, but playing 6).

Miracle On 34th Street was remade in 1973 and 1994. In those versions, Santa was played by Sebastian Cabot and Richard Attenborough, respectively; the lawyer by David Hartman and Dylan McDermott (by then starring as a lawyer on the ABC TV drama The Practice); Mrs. Walker by Jane Alexander and Elizabeth Perkins; and Susan by Suzanne Davidson and Mara Wilson.

For the 1973 version, the lawyer's name was changed to Bill Schafner, and Mrs. Walker's name was changed from Doris to Karen -- definitely not to be confused with the Karen Walker played by Megan Mullally on Will & Grace!

For the 1994 version, the lawyer is named Bryan Bedford, Mrs. Walker goes back to being named Doris (or, rather, "Dorey"), and, this time, fictional store names had to be used: Macy's had refused to give permission to use their name, and became "Cole's" (not to be confused with the real-life chain Kohl's); while Gimbel's had gone out of business in 1987, so the scriptwriters used "Shoppers Express."

And the scriptwriters decided to add the wrinkle of the U.S. military "proving" that there is no Santa Claus, citing their vast technological expertise which had proven that there's no Santa's Workshop at or near the North Pole, thus forcing Bedford to figure out a way around that.

The film's title has been adapted for sports purposes. When the New York Mets won the 1969 World Series, Shea Stadium's Queens address was invoked as "Miracle On 126th Street." When the New York Knicks won the 1970 NBA Championship, the address of Madison Square Garden, 1 block west of Macy's Herald Square, was invoked as "Miracle On 33rd Street." Baltimore's Memorial Stadium was also on a 33rd Street, and the title was used when the Baltimore Orioles won the 1966 World Series. And when the New York Yankees came from 14 games back to win the 1978 World Series, Yankee Stadium's Bronx address was invoked as "Miracle On 161st Street."

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June 11, 1947 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Don Kolloway led off the bottom of the 11th inning with a triple off Frank "Spec" Shea, and George Dickey, no relation to recently-retired Yankee catcher Bill, singled him home with the winning run. Shea and ChiSox pitcher Joe Haynes had both gone the distance. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4.

* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-7 at the Polo Grounds. Billy Cox, whom the Dodgers would acquire the next season along with pitcher Preacher Roe, hit a home run. Ralph Kiner went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs, although neither hit was a home run. Hank Greenberg, in his last season, did not get into the game.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson went 4-for-4 with an RBI. Another rookie, Duke Snider, went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. And Johnny "Spider" Jorgensen went 3-for-5. But all that wasn't enough.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Boston Braves, 4-0 and 5-2 at Braves Field. Doyle Lade pitched a 7-hit shutout to beat Warren Spahn in the 1st game.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Mickey Harris went 7 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 6-hit shutout. Ted Williams went 1-for-4.

* A doubleheader was split at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 7-1. The Philadelphia Athletics won the nightcap, 4-0. Carl Scheibe allowed 7 hits and walked 7 batters, but, somehow, still kept a shutout.

* And the Washington Senators beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

April 5, 1973: The Brunswick Square Mall Opens

April 5, 1973: The Brunswick Square Mall opens in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, at the intersection of New Jersey Route 18 and Rues Lane (County Route 617).

The 1st anchor store, the New Jersey institution Bamberger's, had already been open since September 10, 1970. The new Mall opened with just 16 stores. Among the few debut stores were Walden Books, pharmacy CVS, and clothing stores Jeans West and Chess King. Eventually, they would be joined by Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shop, McCrory's, Kinney Shoes, The GAP Store (the first one to open in New Jersey), record stores Sam Goody and Harmony Hut, Spencer Gifts (the oldest store left in the Mall presently, but now its 5th different location), and many more tenants. JCPenney opened in the Autumn of that year, as the Mall's 2nd anchor store.

In the early days, the Mall had a tropical paradise-themed atmosphere, with many trees planted throughout the building, as well as fountains near the entrance. In 1975, Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor opened as the Mall's 1st major restaurant tenant, following smaller stores such as Bun-n-Burger, Orange Julius, Bresler's Ice Cream (advertising themselves as having 33 flavors, as opposed to Baskin-Robbins' 31), and Hot Sam pretzels, where my mother worked for a time.

The tunnel that led from the Mall concourse to Farrell's

Farrell's was followed by a cheap steak place called the Highlander, replaced by a York Steak House. On the grounds, but not attached to the main building, there would be a British railroad-themed restaurant called Victoria Station, which was eventually replaced by an Olive Garden. The only major burger chain ever to call the Mall home was Roy Rogers.

Aside from shopping and eating, the Mall provided some amenities to keep the experience a satisfying one, such as the two-screen Brunswick Square Cinema, as well as its ever-popular arcade, Fun-N-Games. The Mall was basically the anchor for much of the Route 18 corridor.

Both films on this marquee opened on June 12, 1981.

So did Raiders of the Lost Ark, the 1st Indiana Jones film.

Unfortunately, this was also a day when a baseball strike began.

I grew up a mile down the hill from the Mall. If I had back half the quarters I pumped into the arcade games at Fun-N-Games... I could probably afford dinner and a movie at the Mall now.

In 1986, after just 13 years, the golden age came to an end, as far as I was concerned, when Bamberger's was absorbed by parent company Macy's. I was between my junior and senior years at East Brunswick High School, and the Mall was a convenient halfway point between school and home. If I left the Mall at sunset, the orange glow from the Bamberger's sign would match the color of the sky perfectly. But when that sign was replaced by a Macy's sign, lit up in white, the effect just wasn't the same.

On May 6, 1993, the two-screen Brunswick Square Cinema shut down after General Cinema Corporation decided not to renew its lease. It then became the five-screen Movies at the Brunswick Square. Also, that same year, Ruby Tuesday opened, replacing Farrell's. By that point, Fun-N-Games and Kay-Bee were also gone. If there were truly glory days at Brunswick Square, they were irrevocably over.

The Mall was built, owned and operated by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, based in Youngstown, Ohio. Edward DeBartolo Sr. owned the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, and his son Eddie owned the NFL's San Francisco 49ers.

In 1996, the EJD Corporation was bought by the Simon Property Group, owned by brothers Melvin and Herbert Simon, who owned the NBA's Indiana Pacers. (As of April 5, 2022, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. is still alive, but had to sell the 49ers to his sister, Denise DeBartolo York; while Herbert Simon is still alive, and the sole owner of the Pacers.)

In 1999, an expansion took place, which added eight extra screens to the movie theater that became Mega Movies. A third anchor store was added, which was Barnes & Noble, which was necessary, since both Walden Books and B. Dalton Bookseller had gone out of business. In 2000, the physical interior of the Mall was renovated, which added new flooring, new skylights, and a mini-food court that was formerly occupied by Kinney Shoes.

In 2011, Mega Movies was bought out by Starplex Cinemas, which has been bought out by AMC Theaters. This theater includes new recliner seating. Starplex was also the first movie theater in New Jersey to test out seats that would move along with the action of the film.

In 2013, a new entrance was added, which opened up a Panera Bread, Tilted Kilt, and GoWireless. In 2016, Ruby Tuesday closed, and in its place are the restaurants Bar Louie and Red Robin. Also, that same year, Simon Property Group sold the mall to WP Glimcher. Tilted Kilt -- a weak knockoff of Bennigan's Irish pub theme and Hooters' skimpy-outfits-on-the-waitresses theme -- was a victim of COVID, and was replaced by The Twisted Crab.

Brunswick Square has never been a top-tier mall -- and not just because, as a single-level facility, it doesn't have a top tier. (Macy's has 3 floors, and Penney's 2, but the rest of the Mall, only 1.) It has never been the equal of Middlesex County's other 2 malls, Menlo Park in Edison and Woodbridge Center. But for people in East Brunswick, South River, Old Bridge, Spotswood, Monroe, North Brunswick and Milltown, it has been an inescapable part of public life for half a century.

UPDATE: In 2025, as more and more stores, including the restaurants Red Robin and Bar Louie, left due to rising rents, the Township of East Brunswick approved a plan to redesign the Mall, giving it a more open feel, with residential buildings on the grounds. A similar plan is currently under construction with the Monmouth Mall, 25 miles to the southeast in Eatontown.

Ironically, Monmouth, Menlo Park, and Garden State Plaza in Paramus all had that original idea, but each replaced it with a fully-enclosed mall. The idea is to give Brunswick Square a "downtown shopping district" feel. East Brunswick has never really had a downtown. It has a Main Street, but it's hardly a main street, the way it is further down for the Boroughs of Spotswood and Helmetta.

On January 10, 2026 -- 52 years, 9 months and 5 days after the complex as a whole opened -- the Mall's interior closed. The conversion is underway. During it, Macy's, JCPenney, Barnes & Noble, and the theater will remain open.

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April 5, 1973 was a Thursday. Music producer Pharrell Williams was born.

It was the Opening Day of the baseball season. The traditional National League opener in Cincinnati was held at Riverfront Stadium. The host Cincinnati Reds lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. Pete Rose went 2-for-4, Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk, and Joe Morgan went 1-for-4. For the Giants, Willie McCovey went 1-for-3.

Football was out of season. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs: The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 113-93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Oscar Robertson scored 34 points.

There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association Playoffs. The New York Nets lost to the Carolina Cougars, 112-108 at the Nassau Coliseum. And the Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 97-95 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver. The Rockets, renamed the Nuggets for the 1974-75 season, got 41 points from Ralph Simpson, to no avail.

There were 4 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 7-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

There was 1 game in the World Hockey Association Playoffs: The Houston Aeros beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 7-2 at the Sam Houston Coliseum.