The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day Parade). The three-hour parade is held in Manhattan, ending outside Macy's Herald Square, and takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and it has been televised nationally on NBC since 1953. The Parade's workforce is made up of Macy's employees and their friends and family, all of whom work as volunteers.
Balloons[]
The balloons were introduced in 1928, replacing live zoo animals. Sarg's large animal-shaped balloons were produced by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio from the 1920s through 1980.[1] That year there was no procedure to deflate the balloons, and they were simply released. In 1928 five of the giant balloons were designed and filled with helium to rise above 2,000 feet (610 meters) and slowly deflate for whoever was lucky enough to capture the contestants in Macy's "balloon race[s]" and return them for a reward of $100 (equivalent to more than $1,600 with inflation as of 2021), this lasted until 1932.[2]
The balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade have had several varieties. The oldest is the novelty balloon class, consisting of smaller balloons ranging widely in size and handled by between one and thirty people (the smallest balloons are shaped like human heads and fit on the heads of the handlers). The larger and more popular class is the character balloons, primarily consisting of licensed pop-culture characters; each of these (16 in 2019)[3] is handled by exactly 90 people. From 2005 to 2012, a third balloon class, the "Blue Sky Gallery", transformed the works of contemporary artists into full-size balloons; after a five-year hiatus, the Blue Sky Gallery returned in 2018.
Paramount Global-owned Character balloons[]
| Year | Balloons | Copyright |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Mighty Mouse | Terrytoons |
| 1984 | Garfield | Paws, Inc. (Nickelodeon Group) |
| 1997 | Rugrats | Nickelodeon Group |
| 1999 | Blue from Blue's Clues | Nickelodeon Group |
| 2001 | Jimmy Neutron from the Jimmy Neutron franchise | Nickelodeon Group |
| 2003 | Garfield (second version) | Paws, Inc. (Nickelodeon Group) |
| 2004 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nickelodeon Group |
| 2005 | Dora the Explorer | Nickelodeon Group |
| 2013 | SpongeBob SquarePants (second version) | Nickelodeon Group |
| 2017 | Chase from PAW Patrol (second version) |
|
Paramount Global-owned Character falloons[]
A falloon, a portmanteau of "float" and "balloon", is a float-based balloon. They were introduced in 1986.
| Year | Falloons | Copyright |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Blue's Clues & You! | Nickelodeon Group |
References[]
- ↑ "SEE IT: Rare footage of Underdog, Donald Duck, famous balloons of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade". pix11.com. Scripps Media, Inc..
- ↑ "47 Fun Facts About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - 7. For A Few Years, There Were "Balloon Races."" (November 20, 2019).
- ↑ Hughes, Clyde (November 27, 2019). "Decision for balloons at Macy's Thanksgiving parade coming Thursday".
External Links[]
