New York has a slightly weird relationship with Thanksgiving. The current parade, long sponsored by the Macy’s store to mark the beginning of Christmas shopping, has never been the only parade on the holiday but it certainly is the showiest. New York State was the first outside of New England, in 1830, to have an official Thanksgiving holiday in the fall. And for maybe 70 years, from when the holiday went national on an annual basis in 1870 until around 1940, New York had first Ragamuffin Day and then Ragamuffin parades.
What, you may well ask, is that? Ragamuffin Day in New York involved people, mostly kids, dressing up in costume and going door to door to ask for candy. No, not Halloween – that came later. This was during Thanksgiving. Originally the kids’ costumes consisted of rags and worn-out clothing but later became all sorts of fancy dress. Eventually the costumes and socially-accepted begging moved to Halloween, leaving the family dinner and a few parades for Thanksgiving.
Here are a few examples of kids dressed up in 1933 and 1934, some in worn-out old clothing that might be approaching rag status, and some in other costumes, filed at that time under the heading “Thanksgiving Ragamuffins”:
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