Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? (Update)

Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner. Happy Thanksgiving. The episode you're about to hear was originally published in 2024 and it is about as Thanksgiving as it gets. We have updated facts and figures where needed. As always, thanks for listening.

I really only started paying attention to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade about 10 years ago when my family and I moved into the neighborhood where the parade starts and where the night before they stage everything. This is on the upper west side of Manhattan. They take over two extra wide streets to lay out the giant balloons. Each balloon arrives folded up flat.

in its own small rolling cart. It gets unpacked, unfolded, laid out on the pavement, and then comes the helium. There's a truck nearby with big helium canisters stacked horizontally on a rack. Up close, the balloons are really big. You see this as soon as they start drinking up some helium and puff up to full size.

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