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The Hollywood Christmas Parade, formerly the Santa Claus Lane Parade, is an annual parade that takes place on the weekend after Thanksgiving in Hollywood. The parade's 3.5-mile route follows Hollywood Blvd. and features various celebrities among its participants.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce created th parade in 1928 to boost shopping. Originally called the Santa Claus Lane Parade, the inaugural event featured only Santa Claus and the actress Jeanette Loff being driven in a sleigh (on wheels) being pulled by two reindeer. .

The parade continued to grow in scale with the help of local businesses and the community. In 1931 Santa Claus rode a truck-pulled float instead of the reindeer-pulled carriage of previous years. American Legion Post 43 marched with a color guard, drum line and bugle corps.

The Parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, but the parade reopened in 1945 with record attendance.

In 1946 Gene Autry rode his horse in the parade and was inspired by the children yelling 'Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus,' to write the song 'Here Comes Santa Claus' along with Oakley Haldeman.

The parade continued to grow throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, adding floats, animals, bands and celebrities. The parade, at that time was held about a week before before Christmas day.  Over the years, hundreds of celebrities have participated in the parade, including such stars as Jayne Mansfield, The Three Stooges, Roy Rogers, Francis X Bushman, Lassie and Johnny Grant.  The line of participants was always followed by the large float carrying Santa Claus.  Each Year, news broadcaster, Bill Welsh would interview the celebrities as they passed the KTLA booth on Hollywood Blvd.  View some photos of these stars on hollywoodphotographs.com. 

By 1978, the parade had been renamed the Hollywood Christmas Parade in order to attract more celebrities, and was broadcast locally on Ktla with the help of Johnny Grant. In 2007, the City of Los Angeles created a new parade to replace the Hollywood Christmas Parade, entitled the Hollywood Santa Parade and staged it on the weekend after Thanksgiving (the original parade had traditionally been held on the Wednesday evening before the holiday). Participation in the new parade became by invitation only, and Bob Barker, fresh from his farewell tapings as host of The Price is Right, was that year's Parade Grand Marshal. 

The largest collection of Santa Claus Lane Parade is hollywoodphotographs.com