Santa waves to the crowd at Pahīatua's Christmas parade 2023. Photo / Leanne Warr
Santa waves to the crowd at Pahīatua's Christmas parade 2023. Photo / Leanne Warr
As Christmas Day gets closer, communities around the country and the world, herald the approaching holiday with a parade.
Out of curiosity, the Bush Telegraph went on a hunt for information about the origin of the parade tradition.
In North America, it’s often called the Santa Claus parade, according to Wikipedia, and is a bit of a throwback to a revival of Roman pomp and ceremony and pageantry.
The date of the first-ever parade isn’t known, but the website notes one of the biggest was in Toronto, Canada in 1905, although this was held in mid-November. It should not be confused with Thanksgiving, which is held in Canada in October and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. That holiday includes the Macy’s (department store) parade in New York.
The longest-running parade in the US was in the state of Illinois, in 1887.
In New Zealand, records show parades started in the early 20th century, although a specific year is not known.
It is known many department stores would advertise “Mother and Father Christmas” and a search on Papers Past reveals an advertisement in the Whanganui Chronicle in 1905, proclaiming Santa Claus has arrived at The Economic, which was, apparently, a drapery store.
A Christmas parade from the 1950s, taken at the junction of Miller and High Sts, Dannevirke. Photo: Dannevirke Gallery of History
Santa, complete with 'reindeer' in a parade in Dannevirke, 1952. Photo / Dannevirke Gallery of History
It wasn’t until a couple of decades later, according to the website NZ History, that department stores began to promote Santa’s “arrival” with the method of doing so becoming more elaborate and even in some cases courting disaster.
An advertisement in the Timaru Herald notes a “telegram” from Santa, announcing he would arrive at Pleasant Point on December 23, 1934, and to arrange a street parade.
The NZ Herald advertised the Farmer’s Santa Parade in November 1934, noting the year before he arrived by aeroplane, and that year would arrive by horse-drawn carriages.
Christmas parades were cancelled during World War II and again during the height of Covid.
Many parades are now run by organisations or charitable trusts and sponsored by local businesses, but some centres also have other Christmas attractions, such as the Santa’s Cave in Palmerston North, which has been open for more than 100 years and is now at Te Manawa, the pop-up Fantasy Cave in Dannevirke, and Christmas concerts or festivals.
Santa Claus is always a big hit. A parade in 2003 in Napier.
And here’s a joke published in 1902.
Johnny: I don’t think Santa Claus is married. His father: Why not? Johnny: Because Mrs Santa Claus wouldn’t let him stay out all night.
