A Post-Thanksgiving Tradition is Preserved

Last year word here in Tinsel Town was that the Hollywood Christmas Parade—an annual tradition since 1931— was to be discontinued because of mounting costs, and in fact the parade was officially canceled as of March. But a last ditch, last minute effort has saved the holiday pageant, and the newly renamed Hollywood Santa Parade will march down Hollywood Boulevard this year after all, as always on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is of course tomorrow, November 25th. To read the full story (and see historic photos) from the Los Angeles Times, go here. There you will see a reference to the connection between the parade—which used to be known as the Santa Claus Lane Parade—and the famous holiday song, “Here Comes Santa Claus”. Singing cowboy Gene Autry was inspired to create the song while riding his horse Champion Jr. in the 1946 parade and heard the children excitedly shouting, “Here comes Santa Claus!” as they spotted St. Nick. And to paraphrase another Gene Autry Christmas hit, the resulting song went down in history. In fact, 2007 is the 60th anniversary of the "Here Comes Santa Claus" song's debut.