Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (partially found NBC broadcasts of parade; 1953-1980)
TheMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of the world's most iconic events. Originally created as a Christmas pageant in 1924, it evolved into an annual tradition comparable to the Super Bowl. Over 170 giant balloons have been created for the parade since the fourth parade in 1927, most based off of media icons.
Since 1952, NBC has held the telecast rights to the parade. Hosts of the telecast have included such personalities as Lorne Greene, Betty White, Ed McMahon, Bryant Gumbel, Willard Scott, Katie Couric, and Al Roker. Prior to obtaining the rights, CBS broadcasted the parade.
Availability
It should come as no surprise that many of the telecasts from the 1950's are lost, but only one pre-1980 parade exists in full. Due to the fact that the parades are only broadcasted once (with an encore since 2012), it is not likely that all of the telecasts will be uploaded. Video recording softwares were first released in 1971, making the 1971-1979 parades more likely to be found than the 1952-1970 parades. Certain footage from old telecasts have been shown in anniversary specials, showing that some still exist.
During the first television years, the parade went through changes. Many of the parade's most iconic balloons were introduced in this period, such as Popeye, Bullwinkle, the Happy Dragon, Underdog, Smokey Bear, Linus the Lionhearted, Sinclair's Dino, and the first two Snoopy balloons. The toy float concept was introduced in the 1960's, with a turkey-shaped one, introduced in 1973, eventually becoming parade mascot Tom Turkey.
A few notable lost parades include the 1956 parade (when Mighty Mouse crashed at Herald Square), 1965 (the debut of Underdog), and 1971 (when all the balloons had to be removed due to bad weather).
Of note, one other parade, the 1982 parade, is also lost and has a separate article, due to it's high demand. At least one copy is believed to exist of it.
Below, you can find the 1959 parade and surviving parts of various parades from the 1960's and 1970's.