History of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade
112 years ago, The Toronto Santa Claus Parade first came to the big smoke and put smiles on all ages of spectators. The year was 1905 and the population was 5,827 but really there was only one person in the parade at that time and that was jolly old St. Nick. It pre-dated the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City by almost 20 years. He arrived at Union Station atop a horse-drawn Eaton’s delivery wagon and walked with the Eaton family to their store. The Eaton’s Department Store was their sponsor until 1982. In 1913, Santa journeyed down Yonge street by eight live reindeer. In 1917, floats were introduced and in 1919 Santa arrived by plane. The parade was first aired on the radio in the 1930s and viewed on TV for the very first time in 1952.
My memories of attending The Santa Claus parade was during the 80’s. My family would take the subway down with lawn chairs and blankets. We would joyfully watch the floats go by and excitedly anticipate Santa’s arrival with much excitement. My other memories were taking my nephews down in the 90’s and letting them sit on a snowbank.
In this day in age, there are dozens of floats, clowns and bands winding through the streets of Toronto spreading holiday joy and entertaining kids of all ages.
Toronto Santa Claus Parade 2016
When Santa arrives in Toronto on November 20th, that means the holiday season is officially upon us. Tis The Season!
If you can’t make it down to see the parade in person at 12:30 today, don’t forget to watch it on T.V. at 4:30 on CTV.
Don’t forget that this is just the beginning of Holiday celebrations in Toronto. There are many more events and activities to do besides the obligatory Christmas shopping.
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