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Info on Tony's life.

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Tony Sarg | Ballard Institute and Museum

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Tony Sarg (1880 - 1942) Born to a German father and English mother, Tony Sarg learned creative skills from both of his parents. He rebelled against his military training to seek his dream of becoming an illustrator. Then, to distinguish himself as an artist and to promote his career, he took up ...

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Here is another website on the history of Tony Sarg

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Tony Sarg - Nantucket Historical Association

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and...More Read more from Tony Sarg

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Facts about the L in NYC.

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See next departure times, schedules, route maps and all stop locations for the L train

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History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accidents

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Each Thanksgiving Day in New York City since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the biggest event on the calendar. It's only been cancelled three times in its 95 year history, due to helium shortages during the WWII years. And in 2021 with Covid changing all sorts of events the world over.

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information on the macys day parade mishaps

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balloon mishaps at macy's parade: the most infamous accidents - cnn

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The most infamous balloon mishaps from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Since the Thanksgiving Day Parade started marching balloons around Manhattan in 1927, the massive floating figures have occasionally come untethered, blown clear away or been punctured.

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Info on balloon designs.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’s Iconic Balloons Through the Years

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Iconic balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, from the first balloon of Felix the Cat in 1927 to SpongeBob & more.

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Here's a website about the ballons over the years.

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Up, up and away! See 10 decades of Thanksgiving Day parade balloons

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CNN floats down memory lane with some of the iconic balloons, and how the New York landscape has changed, alongside the beloved American holiday event.

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They are puppets controlled by above with strings made of strings or threads connecting to the linbs.

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These are full-length figures controlled from above. Normally they are moved by strings or more often threads, leading from the limbs to a control or crutch held by the manipulator. Movement is imparted to a large extent by tilting or rocking the control, but individual strings are plucked when a decided movement is required. A simple marionette may have nine strings-one to each leg, one to each hand, one to each shoulder, one to each ear (for head movements), and one to the base of the spine (for bowing); but special effects will require special strings that may double or treble this number. The manipulation of a many-stringed marionette is a highly skilled operation. Controls are of two main types-horizontal (or aeroplane) and vertical-and the choice is largely a matter of personal preference.

The string marionette does not seem to have been fully developed until the mid-19th century, when the English marionettist Thomas Holden created a sensation with his ingenious figures and was followed by many imitators. Before that time, the control of marionettes seems to have been by a stout wire to the crown of the head, with subsidiary strings to the hands and feet; even more primitive methods of control may still be observed in certain traditional folk theatres. In Sicily there is an iron rod to the head, another rod to the sword arm, and a string to the other arm; the legs hang free and a distinctive walking gait is imparted to the figures by a twisting and swinging of the main rod; in Antwerp, Belgium, there are just rods to the head and to one arm; in Liège there are no hand rods at all, merely one rod to the head. Distinctive forms of marionette control are found in India: in Rajasthan a single string passes from the puppet's head over the manipulator's hand and down to the puppet's waist (a second loop of string is sometimes used to control the arms); in southern India there are marionettes whose weight is supported by strings attached to a ring on the manipulator's head, rods controlling the hands.

In European history the marionette represents the most advanced type of puppet; it is capable of imitating almost every human or animal gesture. By the early 20th century, however, there was a danger that it had achieved a sterile naturalism that allowed no further artistic development; some puppeteers found that the control of the marionette figure through strings was too indirect and uncertain to give the firm dramatic effects that they required, and they turned to the rod puppet to achieve this drama. But, in the hands of a sensitive performer, the marionette remains the most delicate, if the most difficult, medium for the puppeteer's art.

Flat figures

Hitherto, all the types of puppets that have been considered have been three-dimensional rounded figures. But there is a whole family of two-dimensional flat figures. Flat figures, worked from above like marionettes, with hinged flaps that could be raised or lowered, were sometimes used for trick transformations; flat jointed figures, operated by piston-type arms attached to revolving wheels below, were used in displays that featured processions. But the greatest use of flat figures was in toy theatres. These seem to have originated in England by a printseller in about 1811 as a kind of theatrical souvenir; one bought engraved sheets of characters and scenery for popular plays of the time, mounted them and cut them out, and performed the play at home. The sheets were sold, in a phrase that has entered the language, for "a penny plain or twopence coloured," the colouring by hand in rapid, vivid strokes of the brush. During a period of about 50 years some 300 plays-all originally performed in the London theatres-were adapted and published for toy-theatre performance in what came to be called the "Juvenile Drama," and a hundred small printsellers were engaged in publishing the plays and the theatrical portraits for tinseling that often went with them. It was always a home activity, never a professional entertainment, and provided one of the most popular and creative fireside activities for Regency and Victorian families. Although few new plays adapted for the toy theatre were issued after the middle of the 19th century, a handful of publishers kept the old stock in print until the 20th century. After World War II this peculiarly English toy was revived. Toy theatres also flourished in other European countries during the 19th century: Germany published many plays; Austria published some extremely impressive model-theatre scenery; in France toy-theatre sheets were issued; in Denmark a line of plays for the toy theatre remains in print. The interest of these toy-theatre plays is largely social, as a form of domestic amusement, and theatrical, as a record of scenery, costume, and even dramatic gesture in a particular period of stage history.

These are a special type of flat figure, in which the shadow is seen through a translucent screen. They may be cut from leather or some other opaque material, as in the traditional theatres of Java, Bali, and Thailand, in the so-called ombres chinoises (French: literally "Chinese shadows") of 18th-century Europe, and in the art theatres of 19th-century Paris; or they may be cut from coloured fish skins or some other translucent material, as in the traditional theatres of China, India, Turkey, and Greece, and in the recent work of several European theatres. They may be operated by rods from below, as in the Javanese theatres; by rods held at right angles to the screen, as in the Chinese and Greek theatres; or by threads concealed behind the figures, as in the ombres chinoises and in its successor that came to be known as the English galanty show. Shadow figures need not be limited to two dimensions; rounded figures may also be used effectively. A particular type of shadow show that was conceived in terms of film is the silhouette films first made by the German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger in the 1920s; for these films, the screen was placed horizontally, like a tabletop, a light was placed beneath it, the camera was above it, looking downward, and the figures were moved by hand on the screen, being photographed by the stop-action technique. The shadow theatre is a medium of great delicacy, and the insubstantial character of shadow puppets exemplifies all the truest features of puppetry as an art form.

Other types

These five types by no means exhaust every kind of figure or every method of manipulation. There are, for instance, the puppets carried by their manipulators in full view of the audience. The most interesting of these are the Japanese bunraku puppets, which are named for a Japanese puppet master, Uemura Bunrakuken, of the 18th century. These figures, which are one-half to two-thirds life size, may be operated by as many as three manipulators: the chief manipulator controls head movements with one hand by means of strings inside the body, which may raise the eyebrows or swivel the eyes, while using the other hand to move the right arm of the puppet; the second manipulator moves the left arm of the puppet; and the third moves the legs; the coordination of movement between these three artists requires long and devoted training. The magnificent costumes and stylized carving of the bunraku puppets establish them as among the most striking figures of their kind in the world.

Somewhat similar figures, though artistically altogether inferior, are the dummies used by ventriloquists; ventriloquism, as such, has no relation to puppetry, but the ventriloquists' figures, with their ingenious facial movements, are true puppets. The technique of the human actor carrying the puppet actor onto the stage and sometimes speaking for it is one that has been developed a great deal in some experimental puppet theatres in recent years. The human actor is sometimes invisible, through the lighting technique of "black theatre," but is sometimes fully visible. This represents a total rejection of much of the traditional thinking about the nature of puppetry, but it has become increasingly accepted.

Another minor form of puppet representation is provided by the jigging puppets, or marionnettes à la planchette, that were, during the 18th and 19th centuries, frequently performed at street corners throughout Europe. These small figures were made to dance, more or less accidentally, by the slight variations in the tension of a thread passing through their chests horizontally from the performer's knee to an upright post. Similar were puppets held by short rods projecting from the figures' backs, which were made to dance by bouncing them on a springy board on the end of which the performer sat. The unrehearsed movements of figures like these, when loosely jointed, have a spontaneous vitality that more sophisticated puppets often miss. Another interesting, if elemental, type of puppet, the "scarecrow puppets," or lileki, of Slovenia, is constructed from two crossed sticks draped with old clothes; two of these figures are held up on either side of a bench draped with a cloth, under which the manipulator lies. The puppets talk with each other and with a human musician who always joins in the proceedings. The playlets usually end with a fight between the two puppets.

Still another minor puppet form is the finger puppet, in which the manipulator's two fingers constitute the limbs of a puppet, whose body is attached over the manipulator's hand. An even simpler finger puppet is a small, hollow figure that fits over a single finger.

The giant figures that process through the streets of some European towns in traditional festivities are puppets of a kind, though they do not normally enact any plays. The same applies to the dragons that are a feature of street processions in China and are to be found in some places in Europe-as, for example, at Tarascon, France. Indeed, when a man hides himself within any external frame or mask, the result may be called a puppet. Many of the puppet theatres in Poland today also present plays acted by actors in masks; the Bread and Puppet Theatre in the United States is another example of the same tendency. The divisions between human actors and puppet actors are becoming increasingly blurred; if, in the past, many puppets tried to look and act like humans, today many human actors are trying to look and act like puppets. Clearly, puppetry is being recognized not merely as a particular form of dramatic craft but as one manifestation of total theatre.

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Puppetry - Marionettes, Strings, Puppets

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Puppetry - Marionettes, Strings, Puppets: These are full-length figures controlled from above. Normally they are moved by strings or more often threads, leading from the limbs to a control or crutch held by the manipulator. Movement is imparted to a large extent by tilting or rocking the control, but individual strings are plucked when a decided movement is required.

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facts you would want to know

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The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will march its two-and-a-half-mile route from Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square on Nov. 23, spreading holiday cheer in New York. This year's special guests include a star-studded lineup featuring performances from Cher, Jon Batiste, En Vogue, Brandy, Enhypen and more. Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke, U.S. Olympic silver medal gymnast Jordan Chiles and others will also join the festivities.

The 2023 parade will include 16 character balloons, 32 heritage and novelty balloons and 12 marching bands. Ahead of the annual holiday celebration, WWD takes a look back at the parade over the years - how it's changed, grown and maintained traditions.

The Macy's "Christmas" Parade

The first event was started by Macy's employees on Thanksgiving Day 1924, on Nov. 27, to promote holiday sales and the retailer's newly expanded Herald Square store - then the largest in the world. Macy's was established in 1858 and is considered one of the country's oldest and biggest department store chains. It opened at Herald Square in 1902.

The first parade was such a success that it was declared an annual tradition from there on out. The big event was originally called the Macy's Christmas Parade (the name was changed in 1927), and featured real elephants and other animals from the Central Park Zoo. Macy's employees, professional entertainers and the animals walked six miles from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's, as over 250,000 onlookers watched.

The Big Balloons made their debut in 1927

The large balloons associated with the parade debuted in 1927, replacing the zoo animals. Felix the Cat had the honor of being the first-ever parade balloon. The original balloons had a short life span as they didn't have release valves, so they were released into the sky to pop in the air. They were also filled with regular air, not helium, back then, meaning they didn't float quite so high.

In 1928, valves were added to the balloons that allowed the helium to slowly escape once they were freed into the sky at the end of the parade. They included a return address and a reward to encourage the return of balloons, but not all of them made it back. One landed in the East River and another in the sea. By 1934, Macy's stopped the process of releasing balloons into the air.

Mickey Mouse joined the fun in 1934

In 1934, Mickey Mouse made his Thanksgiving Day Parade debut with a balloon that Walt Disney himself helped design. His balloon handlers were also dressed like the famous mouse. Mickey was first introduced to the world in 1928 in the animated short "Steamboat Willie." Thus, this balloon looked like the original renderings of the Disney star. New versions of Balloon Mickey were introduced over the years- 1977, 2000 and 2009 - to keep up with his evolution.

The three years with no parade: 1940s

The parade was canceled from 1942 to 1944 due to rubber and helium shortages during World War II. The event resumed in 1945, fittingly featuring an Uncle Sam balloon, and hasn't missed a year since. The classic Christmas film "Miracle on 34th Street," released in 1947, featured footage from the 1946 Macy's parade, making it a household name outside New York City.

In 1948, the parade was broadcast on national TV for the first time. There was another helium shortage in 1958, so the balloons were filled with normal air and hung from construction cranes.

Floats elevate the parade in 1968

In 1968, Macy's creative teams designed intricate floats to include in the parade for the first time. There have been smaller floats in the parade since its launch. The floats are still entirely designed by Macy's employees. While the floats themselves are up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide, they can each, rather miraculously, fold into a 12.5-foot by 8-foot box for more accessible transportation to the parade route. They're made and staged in New Jersey, so they must travel through the Lincoln Tunnel to make it to Manhattan.

Each parade is a pop culture time capsule

Just as the different versions of Mickey Mouse have been on display at the Thanksgiving Day Parade over the years, the balloons and special guests provide a glimpse into youth pop culture at the time.

In 1961, Miss Teenage America Diane Lynn Cox posed in princess attire on a float with "Prince Charming" actor Troy Donahue. In 1977, Kermit the Frog made his first appearance at the parade (returning in 2002), with his balloon handlers dressed to match him.

In 1980, Big Bird sat high atop a Sesame Street float surrounded by a marching band. Eighties balloons included Woody Woodpecker, Raggedy Ann and Betty Boop atop a smiling crescent moon.

Nineties balloons include Bart Simpson on a skateboard, Spiderman, "The Cat in the Hat," "The Rugrats," Clifford and Beethoven. In 1999, there was an Ask Jeeves - a precursor to Google search - float featuring Miss America Heather French. In 2003, Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan performed on the M&M float. Shrek made his debut in 2007 when his third film dropped.

1997: Dangerously windy city

In 1997, gusts of strong winds of up to 43 miles an hour wreaked havoc on the parade, causing many of the 17 massive balloons to rip, deflate and crash to the ground. Unfortunately, one of the balloons hit a lamppost, the top part of which fell and injured four people in the crowd. Barney the Dinosaur was severely damaged and removed at 51st Street, and the Pink Panther crashed down at 42nd Street, where a cop stabbed his tail to keep the cat from flying away.

The parade marches on during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Macy's Day Parade was one of the few large public events that went on during 2020. Yet participants followed strict COVID-19 protocols, resulting in a scaled-down production that made for a very different-looking parade on the ground. Much of the parade was pre-taped and the route was reduced to one block. Only a few curious spectators showed up, all participants wore masks and the usual 2,000 balloon handlers were reduced to 130. Yet the televised special safely offered the parade's joy and spectacle to viewers at home.

In 2021, the parade went mostly back to normal, although all participants had to be vaccinated. Since the CDC had only just approved the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, kids under 12 were not allowed to participate in the parade, although they could watch from the crowd with a vaccinated adult. The participants, floats and balloons returned to their regular numbers from the reduced version the year prior, with 15 balloons and 28 floats. Grogu / Baby Yoda made his first appearance at the 2021 parade and returned in 2022.

Festive Traditions: The Rockettes, Santa Claus and More

The Radio City Rockettes have been delivering their perfectly synchronized high kicks yearly at the parade since 1957. The all-female dance troupe was founded in 1925.

Santa Claus has been an annual staple of the parade since day one. He typically closes out the parade, but, in 1932, he kicked things off by leading the march.

Snoopy holds the record for most years flown by a character balloon, totaling 40 appearances up to 2019. He debuted in 1968 in an aviator plane and will return this year in a brand-new balloon form as "Beagle Scout Snoopy."

The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC at 8:30 a.m. EST and stream on Peacock on Nov. 23.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Over the Years

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Facts about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first balloon and changes over the years. Plus, how to watch the parade on NBC.

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Things he did throughout his life.

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Tony Sarg - Nantucket Historical Association

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and...More Read more from Tony Sarg

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This balloon is a frog but it doesn't look like it.

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balloon mishaps at macy's parade: the most infamous accidents - cnn

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The most infamous balloon mishaps from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Since the Thanksgiving Day Parade started marching balloons around Manhattan in 1927, the massive floating figures have occasionally come untethered, blown clear away or been punctured.

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This is how the balloons work.

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Ever wonder what goes into creating the massive Macy's parade balloons we look forward to seeing every year?

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In the fall of 1966, Akron residents got a glimpse of Superman, well at least a 40-foot-tall, helium-filled version of him. One of the stars of that year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Man of Steel and Smokey the Bear were inflated near the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s headquarters to provide locals a preview of the Big Apple festivities.

The enormous balloons that float through the streets of New York City on Thanksgiving Day have a long-running connection to Ohio. Goodyear constructed the enormous inflatables from 1927 until 1981. Even after the work moved from Akron's Goodyear plant to its Arizona and Georgia facilities following World War II, the balloons were still test-inflated and photographed in Akron to promote the parade.

In 1952, a group of Goodyear aircraft employees formed the Lighter Than Air Society, with the goal to preserve and promote knowledge pertaining to lighter-than-air flight such as blimps and balloons. "At [that] time, the big focus was on jets and rockets, so the idea of a slow-poke airship seemed to be getting lost in the shuffle," says Eric Brothers, a board member for the organization, which still exists today with more than 600 members.

Manfred Bass, the former head designer for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from the late 1960s until 2000, knows about the fascination people have with lighter-than-air craft. Over the years, he worked closely with Goodyear to create the enormous inflatable versions of the iconic characters Americans love.

Originally, the balloons were fairly simple designs built out of basic shapes and chambers. But as Bass developed new forms, Goodyear tackled the challenge of creating balloons that could keep up with the complexity of each new design.

"They weren't just a sphere or cylinder," explains Bass, who resides in New Jersey. "Superman had muscles. Superman had a face. Superman had a nose. And we had Spider-Man, [who] took his hand and spun the web right in front [of him]."

For Bass, the work he and Goodyear did on the balloons served a larger purpose than mere entertainment. He sees it as helping preserve the American tradition of families sharing time and memories together during Thanksgiving

"I can't say enough about that holiday," Bass says. "It's where you sit down with grandma and grandpa and all your brothers and sisters and kids. Things get a little out of hand, kids get running around, grandma's favorite stuffing is pulled out and there's Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade on the TV."

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Ohio and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Here’s how Akron’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. helped bring to life one of our favorite Thanksgiving Day traditions.

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info on the macys day parade and route

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Looking for information about the best places to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC? Our map includes the complete list of locations to view the parade, as well as where to avoid.

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Fun facts about the 2023 Macy's Day Parade.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2023 Facts by the Numbers: 5,000 Costumes, 300 Pounds of Glitter, 49 Balloons and More

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From 300 pounds of glitter to 5,000 costumes, find out exactly what went into making the upcoming 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade come to life.

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All about marionettes or string puppets

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These are full-length figures controlled from above. Normally they are moved by strings or more often threads, leading from the limbs to a control or crutch held by the manipulator. Movement is imparted to a large extent by tilting or rocking the control, but individual strings are plucked when a decided movement is required. A simple marionette may have nine strings-one to each leg, one to each hand, one to each shoulder, one to each ear (for head movements), and one to the base of the spine (for bowing); but special effects will require special strings that may double or treble this number. The manipulation of a many-stringed marionette is a highly skilled operation. Controls are of two main types-horizontal (or aeroplane) and vertical-and the choice is largely a matter of personal preference.

The string marionette does not seem to have been fully developed until the mid-19th century, when the English marionettist Thomas Holden created a sensation with his ingenious figures and was followed by many imitators. Before that time, the control of marionettes seems to have been by a stout wire to the crown of the head, with subsidiary strings to the hands and feet; even more primitive methods of control may still be observed in certain traditional folk theatres. In Sicily there is an iron rod to the head, another rod to the sword arm, and a string to the other arm; the legs hang free and a distinctive walking gait is imparted to the figures by a twisting and swinging of the main rod; in Antwerp, Belgium, there are just rods to the head and to one arm; in Liège there are no hand rods at all, merely one rod to the head. Distinctive forms of marionette control are found in India: in Rajasthan a single string passes from the puppet's head over the manipulator's hand and down to the puppet's waist (a second loop of string is sometimes used to control the arms); in southern India there are marionettes whose weight is supported by strings attached to a ring on the manipulator's head, rods controlling the hands.

In European history the marionette represents the most advanced type of puppet; it is capable of imitating almost every human or animal gesture. By the early 20th century, however, there was a danger that it had achieved a sterile naturalism that allowed no further artistic development; some puppeteers found that the control of the marionette figure through strings was too indirect and uncertain to give the firm dramatic effects that they required, and they turned to the rod puppet to achieve this drama. But, in the hands of a sensitive performer, the marionette remains the most delicate, if the most difficult, medium for the puppeteer's art.

Flat figures

Hitherto, all the types of puppets that have been considered have been three-dimensional rounded figures. But there is a whole family of two-dimensional flat figures. Flat figures, worked from above like marionettes, with hinged flaps that could be raised or lowered, were sometimes used for trick transformations; flat jointed figures, operated by piston-type arms attached to revolving wheels below, were used in displays that featured processions. But the greatest use of flat figures was in toy theatres. These seem to have originated in England by a printseller in about 1811 as a kind of theatrical souvenir; one bought engraved sheets of characters and scenery for popular plays of the time, mounted them and cut them out, and performed the play at home. The sheets were sold, in a phrase that has entered the language, for "a penny plain or twopence coloured," the colouring by hand in rapid, vivid strokes of the brush. During a period of about 50 years some 300 plays-all originally performed in the London theatres-were adapted and published for toy-theatre performance in what came to be called the "Juvenile Drama," and a hundred small printsellers were engaged in publishing the plays and the theatrical portraits for tinseling that often went with them. It was always a home activity, never a professional entertainment, and provided one of the most popular and creative fireside activities for Regency and Victorian families. Although few new plays adapted for the toy theatre were issued after the middle of the 19th century, a handful of publishers kept the old stock in print until the 20th century. After World War II this peculiarly English toy was revived. Toy theatres also flourished in other European countries during the 19th century: Germany published many plays; Austria published some extremely impressive model-theatre scenery; in France toy-theatre sheets were issued; in Denmark a line of plays for the toy theatre remains in print. The interest of these toy-theatre plays is largely social, as a form of domestic amusement, and theatrical, as a record of scenery, costume, and even dramatic gesture in a particular period of stage history.

These are a special type of flat figure, in which the shadow is seen through a translucent screen. They may be cut from leather or some other opaque material, as in the traditional theatres of Java, Bali, and Thailand, in the so-called ombres chinoises (French: literally "Chinese shadows") of 18th-century Europe, and in the art theatres of 19th-century Paris; or they may be cut from coloured fish skins or some other translucent material, as in the traditional theatres of China, India, Turkey, and Greece, and in the recent work of several European theatres. They may be operated by rods from below, as in the Javanese theatres; by rods held at right angles to the screen, as in the Chinese and Greek theatres; or by threads concealed behind the figures, as in the ombres chinoises and in its successor that came to be known as the English galanty show. Shadow figures need not be limited to two dimensions; rounded figures may also be used effectively. A particular type of shadow show that was conceived in terms of film is the silhouette films first made by the German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger in the 1920s; for these films, the screen was placed horizontally, like a tabletop, a light was placed beneath it, the camera was above it, looking downward, and the figures were moved by hand on the screen, being photographed by the stop-action technique. The shadow theatre is a medium of great delicacy, and the insubstantial character of shadow puppets exemplifies all the truest features of puppetry as an art form.

Other types

These five types by no means exhaust every kind of figure or every method of manipulation. There are, for instance, the puppets carried by their manipulators in full view of the audience. The most interesting of these are the Japanese bunraku puppets, which are named for a Japanese puppet master, Uemura Bunrakuken, of the 18th century. These figures, which are one-half to two-thirds life size, may be operated by as many as three manipulators: the chief manipulator controls head movements with one hand by means of strings inside the body, which may raise the eyebrows or swivel the eyes, while using the other hand to move the right arm of the puppet; the second manipulator moves the left arm of the puppet; and the third moves the legs; the coordination of movement between these three artists requires long and devoted training. The magnificent costumes and stylized carving of the bunraku puppets establish them as among the most striking figures of their kind in the world.

Somewhat similar figures, though artistically altogether inferior, are the dummies used by ventriloquists; ventriloquism, as such, has no relation to puppetry, but the ventriloquists' figures, with their ingenious facial movements, are true puppets. The technique of the human actor carrying the puppet actor onto the stage and sometimes speaking for it is one that has been developed a great deal in some experimental puppet theatres in recent years. The human actor is sometimes invisible, through the lighting technique of "black theatre," but is sometimes fully visible. This represents a total rejection of much of the traditional thinking about the nature of puppetry, but it has become increasingly accepted.

Another minor form of puppet representation is provided by the jigging puppets, or marionnettes à la planchette, that were, during the 18th and 19th centuries, frequently performed at street corners throughout Europe. These small figures were made to dance, more or less accidentally, by the slight variations in the tension of a thread passing through their chests horizontally from the performer's knee to an upright post. Similar were puppets held by short rods projecting from the figures' backs, which were made to dance by bouncing them on a springy board on the end of which the performer sat. The unrehearsed movements of figures like these, when loosely jointed, have a spontaneous vitality that more sophisticated puppets often miss. Another interesting, if elemental, type of puppet, the "scarecrow puppets," or lileki, of Slovenia, is constructed from two crossed sticks draped with old clothes; two of these figures are held up on either side of a bench draped with a cloth, under which the manipulator lies. The puppets talk with each other and with a human musician who always joins in the proceedings. The playlets usually end with a fight between the two puppets.

Still another minor puppet form is the finger puppet, in which the manipulator's two fingers constitute the limbs of a puppet, whose body is attached over the manipulator's hand. An even simpler finger puppet is a small, hollow figure that fits over a single finger.

The giant figures that process through the streets of some European towns in traditional festivities are puppets of a kind, though they do not normally enact any plays. The same applies to the dragons that are a feature of street processions in China and are to be found in some places in Europe-as, for example, at Tarascon, France. Indeed, when a man hides himself within any external frame or mask, the result may be called a puppet. Many of the puppet theatres in Poland today also present plays acted by actors in masks; the Bread and Puppet Theatre in the United States is another example of the same tendency. The divisions between human actors and puppet actors are becoming increasingly blurred; if, in the past, many puppets tried to look and act like humans, today many human actors are trying to look and act like puppets. Clearly, puppetry is being recognized not merely as a particular form of dramatic craft but as one manifestation of total theatre.

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Puppetry - Marionettes, Strings, Puppets

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Puppetry - Marionettes, Strings, Puppets: These are full-length figures controlled from above. Normally they are moved by strings or more often threads, leading from the limbs to a control or crutch held by the manipulator. Movement is imparted to a large extent by tilting or rocking the control, but individual strings are plucked when a decided movement is required.

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here is how the parade started

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Oct 16, 2023 by I LOVE NY Staff

Since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has been the official kick-off to the holiday season. Each year, more than 50 million TV viewers joined by 3.5 million people in New York City attend or tune in for this beloved event through Manhattan. T Originally published 11/7/2018 he parade takes place along a 2.5-mile route from West 77th Street & Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square. Great views can be found along Central Park West from West 77th to West 61st Streets, and along 6th Avenue from West 59th to West 38th Streets. Read on to learn about the history of this beloved event as you get ready to experience it in person or from the comfort of your home. The parade will air on NBC on Thursday, November 23 from 9 am-12 pm in all time zones.

Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade, this event was started by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Employees and professional entertainers dressed in vibrant costumes to march from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's flagship store on 34th Street. That very first parade was such a success that Macy's declared it an annual event. More than 250,000 people attended the inaugural parade!

In 1927, the parade's signature giant balloons made their debut. The first-ever balloon in the Macy's Parade was Felix the Cat. The next year, Felix was filled with helium and simply released into the sky at the end of the parade. Don't worry, this practice of releasing balloons skyward stopped in 1932. Since Felix, parade balloons have featured more than 100 of the world's most beloved animated characters.

The parade continued to thrive through the 1930s, with crowds of more than 1 million people gathered in the city. Mickey Mouse made his parade debut in 1934.

During World War II, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was suspended, due to demand for rubber and helium. Balloons were deflated and donated to the government, providing 60 pounds of scrap rubber to aid the war effort.

In 1945, the parade resumed and two years later, the film Miracle on 34th Street, featuring footage from the 1946 parade, made the Macy's Parade a household name. The following year, the parade was broadcast on national television for the very first time.

Macy's creative teams began building parade floats in 1968. To this day, parade floats continue to be designed exclusively by Macy's employees. Floats stand up to 40' tall and 28' wide, but each float can fold into a 12.5' by 8' box for easier transportation to the parade route.

Of all the famed balloons in the Macy's Parade, it's Snoopy who holds the record for the most balloons in parade history. New giants joining the line-up in 2022 include Bluey and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Share photos of your New York adventures on Instagram and Twitter with #ILoveNY and #iSpyNY and tag us on Facebook!

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History of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade has been the official kick-off to the holiday season. Each year, more than 50 million TV viewers joined by 3.5 million people in New York City tune in for this beloved event through Manhattan.

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This is a website on the maker of balloons.

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The Art of the Post: The Artist Who Invented Parade Balloons | The Saturday Evening Post

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Tony Sarg proved you don’t always need artistic talent to be a successful illustrator.

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Facts about Tony sarg

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922. He soon opened the Tony Sarg Shop at 38 Centre Street, which relocated in 1929 to the corner of Easy Street and Steamboat Wharf as Tony Sarg's Curiosity Shop. Less well known for his fine art, Sarg was an active member of the Art Colony, a supporter of Florence Lang, and a close friend and occasional host of the "dean" of the Art Colony, Frank Swift Chase. For the 1927 Nantucket Follies at the Yacht Club, organized by Austin Strong, the Inquirer and Mirror wrote that Sarg "presented a puppet munching a cracker, and then drew a caricature of his assistant, Frank Swift Chase, in the form of a rotund cupid." Sarg exhibited his works regularly at the Easy Street Gallery, including those on display here.

Sarg's other Nantucket activities were nearly limitless: he created the logo for the Wharf Rat Club and instigated the hoax of the "Sea Monster," a large balloon creature inflated on Coatue and sailed across the harbor to land at South Beach, where it delighted and surprised islanders of all ages. Sarg designed several posters for the hospital fêtes, fundraisers for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, among his other island productions. Tony Sarg's Shop on Easy Street at the head of Steamboat Wharf.

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Tony Sarg - Nantucket Historical Association

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922.

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info on the balloons being able to float

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How Do Giant Parade Balloons Float? Science!

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Help your child learn about physics in everyday life by talking with them about the science of parade balloons during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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History of Marionettes

From Puppet Production in the Middle Ages to Baroque Marionettes
The majority of historians divide the history of the Czech puppet theatre into three main phases of development:

the phase of the traditional folk marionettes or, more precisely itinerant puppet players, beginning in the last quarter of the 18th century and finishing at the end of the 19th century

the phase of amateur puppeteers in the 1st half of the 20th century

the phase of the modern professional puppet theatre, meaning, in this country, the period after 1948

This division into periods isn`t completely straightforward and is to a certain degree even unsystematic. After all, itinerant marionette players were active in this country until the 50s of this century, the activities of the amateur puppeteers covers all three of these phases and the same is true of professional forms of puppet theatre.

The basic principle behind this schema of periods however can be justified as in each given phase of development precisely these ways of performing Czech puppet theatre undeniably determined its form and above all provided the decisive impetus for its further development. If we return to the second half of the 18th century, where the majority of historians locate the beginning of Czech puppetry, we must stress that it is in essence the beginning of the continuous and related development of Czech theatre, corresponding in its basic features, form, organizations and function to our modern understanding of theatrical system. This doesn`t mean of course that puppets and puppet theatre (or occasionally only elements of it) were not presented in this part of Europe before that time. A simple lack of historical material however prevents us from answering the question when puppets and puppet theatre first appeared in this country. They very probably date back to the oldest times.

We can however only make guesses about the development in these early ages and by analogy with the signs of development in other European countries we can assume that puppets or moving figures were already appearing at cultural rites, religious ceremonies, and folk customs, where they originally had a magical and symbolical role. We may suppose that the process of development, as reconstructed by researchers from comparisons of iconography, linguistic, ethnographic and other materials, evidently moved from puppet statues conceived as material artefacts appertaining to these rites, to theatrical puppets which, enlivened by movement or sound, started to present active subjects and which thereby led to the creation of the puppet theatre as a specific type of stage art.

The increasing availability of evidence on the development of puppet plays, the variety of forms in medieval Europe and their gradual expansions the through south, west and central Europe on to the east, gives us a concrete conception of how puppet theatre was presented in the Czech land. Puppets, or to be more precise puppets manipulated from below, mainly appeared in improvised entertainment by traveling comedians at markets, but were also seen at the houses of the nobility and the court. The oldest Czech picture featuring a puppet dates from 1590. It shows Lutheran preacher Maxmilian Biber of Halle, arrested in 1558 in the surroundings of Vienna for unauthorized religious agitation, disguising his secret ostensory in the form of a puppet. In the Czech translation the puppet is called a "buffoon" and "fool`s hand-puppet", which cannot however understand to be a description of the puppet type. Some researchers have supposed that it is a marionette, although this type of puppet had not at that time appeared on Czech territory. We may conjecture that it is probably a type of puppet "á la planchette" (figures moved by pulling and releasing two horizontally held strings), widespread in Europe as early as the 12th century. The preacher Biber used this type of puppet as a hiding place for his ostensory precisely because the puppet in question was at that time sufficiently widespread in the catholic countries of the Austrian monarchy. The other branch of medieval puppet production was originally related to the presentation of religious scenes - bible plays and mysteries. During the 14th to 16th centuries several forms of mechanical puppet theatre developed, in which these scenes, originally shown in church spaces, were presented.

The first marionettes - puppets manipulated from above by strings - began to appear here half way through the 17th century, not long after they had spread through Italy, and via Italian puppeteers to England. At this time, after the end of the thirty year`s war, an enormous flood of foreign theatre companies of the most various persuasions came to central Europe. They were mainly professional acting troupes (one branch coming from England, Holland and later especially from Germany, the other branch from Italy and Austria), who also introduced marionettes here as an entirely new type of puppet. It was the leaders of these groups who realized that, of all the forms of puppet known to them, it was precisely marionettes which, with their shape and style of animation most closely approximated the performance of a human actor and could to a certain degree replace him. With the spread of marionette theatre and its growing popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries came a corresponding decline and demise of a range of the earlier forms, although we must realize that the various productions of this period covered a wide variety indeed of different forms, in which the manipulation of material objects was predominant.

At the one end of this spectrum were spectacles which were distinctively creative in characters - panoramas, peep-shows, magic lanterns - and which, by virtue of their emphasis on visual impression constitute a borderline type of theatrical activity. Marionette theatre relatively quickly gained a leading position among the other puppet forms of the time, not only due to its greater relation to non-puppet styles of theatre, but especially because of the previously unwitnessed degree to which the puppet itself became the dramatic subject of theatrical events.

Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppet Theatre Over the Centuries

Czech Puppets Over the Centuries
Czech puppeteering has achieved this significant status for a number of reasons. First and foremost there is still a widespread, although by no means completely historically accurate, conception of the role played by Czech puppeteers in the period of the national revival, that exceptional process, at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, whereby the modern Czech nation was formed, and the leading forces of the nation combined to fight against the gradual decline of the Czech language and to give rise to a new national self-confidence within Czech society.

The amateur puppet movement, widespread in the first half of the 20th century, also evokes feelings of considerable respect and, after the period of the folk puppeteers in the 19th century, forms the second critical phase in the history of the development of Czech puppetry. At that time there wasn`t a city, town or even village in the Czech lands where amateur puppet players didn`t play puppet theatre for fun, and the entertainment and aesthetic education of their children. With their enthusiasm and self-sacrifice they only constituted a unique phenomenon in the puppet world of the time, the range of their activities having no match in Europe, but they also created a fertile enviroment for the creative development of such eminent artistic personalities as Josef Skupa and Jiøí Trnka.

To these historical associations in the general consciousness we can also add the fact that, after a complicated development in the 20th century, contemporary Czech puppet theatre has now reached a momentous stage in its development. The dream and the goal which generations of Czech puppeteers fought for has at last become a reality: On the basis of its artistic achievements, puppet theatre has fought its way up to take an equal standing alongside the other theatrical arts. Not only is its relevance to society completely accepted, but so are the unique possibilities of achieving artistic affects which arise from the expressive qualities of the marionettes themselves.

We can say without fear of exaggeration that contemporary Czech puppet theatre plays a significant role in Czech theatre culture as well as in the context of world puppeteering, and that the work of its leading protagonists is playing a leading role in determining how puppet theatre will progress and develop. At the same time it is contributing to the development of modern theatre culture as a whole.

Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppets Over the Centuries
The International Institute of Puppet Arts in Prague

Czech Country Folk Puppeteers
In the second half of the 18th century theatre practitioners of the most varying types were still touring the Czech lands, and a still plentiful number of puppeteers among them. Their paths took two main routes: One led from Saxony through Teplice to Prague on to Moravia and from there to Hungary or Transylvania, the other went from Italy and Austria to Bratislava or straight through Moravia to Bohemia or Poland. Czech names are however beginning to appear in the official applications for permits to perform puppet productions, and despite an insufficiency or historical evidence we can assume that from the 70s of that century the first Czech performing puppeteers appeared in this country. We may consider the oldest known Czech puppeteers to be he predecessors of Jan Václav Bitter from Melník and Matej Vavrouš from Habry na Cáslavsku, whose fathers, according to the statement in their permit application, made a living from puppet theatre. The oldest recorded Czech puppeteer is Jan Brát (or Brath, Prath, Bráda) from Náchod. The news of them comes from Memoirs of The Holy Parish of Studnicná. According to him the son of the local carpenter carved puppets, built himself a stage, practiced playing with the puppets in the local pub and then went his puppets into the world. We have documents from Litomerice, Teplice, Bílina, Tábor, Jind?ich?v Hradec and Brno, which record his puppeteering activities in the years 1775-1802.

In the 80s of the 18th century the first puppeteers of the later famous puppeteer dynasties appeared: The Miessners (also Maizner) Kockas, Finks, Maleceks, Dubskýs, Kludskýs, Vída etc. We first encounter the name of Jan Kopecký in 1779. He was the founder of one of the most famous of the puppeteering lines, whose direct descendants are engaged in puppet theatre even today.

The puppeteer`s most prized possessions were his puppets. Most of them were carved from lime wood, were constructed simply (head and knees attached by joints, arms loosely fastened), they were on average 70cm tall (later even more), suspended on wires and controlled by a simple beam. They were created in the majority of cases by professional wood-carvers - often the authors of sacral church statues and this is where the majority of the older puppets acquired the expressive features of baroque carving. The greatest attention was paid to the head and the face of the puppet. The carvers tried to achieve a convincing characterization and delineation of separate types. At the same time they took pains for the expression to be neutral: the majority of the puppets had a serious concentrated expression - it was the puppeteer´s job as an actor to make them express emotional states. In the 19th century a number of wood achieved a remarkable level of creativity and quality. Two of the most significant from the beginning of the 19th century were Mikuláš Sychrovský (1802-81) from the southern Czech town of Mirotice and Antonín Sucharda (1812-86) from Nová Paka. Outstanding personalities from the second half of the 19th century were particularly the carvers Antonín Sucharda Jr., Josef Alessi, Vojtech Šedivý, Johann Flachs, Jindrich Adámek, and Josef Chochol.

Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppet Theatre Over the Centuries

In the Second Quarter of the 19th Century
There were more then 200 puppeteers working in the territory of the Czech lands. For more some it was just a means of making a living, while others formed a deeper relation to the profession and the lifestyle which went with it. For the most part they were members of larger dispersed families, in which the father successively handed his successors not only equipment and experience but also a strong passion for puppets. The important puppeteering family of the Maizners, who were all dedicated to puppet theatre in a direct line until the 60s of this century, worked mostly in the east of Bohemia. They were puppeteers with a high level of self-confidence, link to tradition and patriotic sympathies. It is thanks to them that some of the very oldest puppet scripts have survived along with a collection of very valuable puppets from the workshop woodcarving family of the Suchardas. The most important member of another puppet family, mostly operating in central Bohemia was František Vinický (1797-1854). His activities earned him esteem from all side, and in 1836 he was the only puppeteer to be officially invited to perform at the folk celebrations during the coronation of Ferdinand V. Clearly the most noteworthy personality of the first half of the 19th century was Matej Kopecký (1775-1847). He grew up in Mirotice in southern Bohemia from where he se out with his father Jan on a puppet tour of southern Bohemia Although only receiving a slight education, he had a unique opportunity to absorb the years of experience acquired by the puppeteers of that day. He received his first licence in 1797, but soon after was conscripted to the Austrian army and made to fight in the Napoleonic wars. After leaving the army, he tried to make a living as a shopkeeper, road-mender, and watch-maker before returning to puppetry for good in 1820. He was 45 years old, he had no property, and of the 14 children born to him 8 had died at a young age. He was however a mature personality, who was not broken by the extremely tough conditions of his life, as is shown by the degree to which he established himself. His sons played puppet theatre firstly by his side and later by themselves: Jan (1804-52), Josef (1807-56), Václav (1815-71) and Antonín (1821-85). Although a thousand of spectators saw Matej Kopecký´s puppet shows, although his activity fell into the period of the national revival, in which theatre played such a significant role, despite the way that he played and the way his playing was accepted by the public, only a handful of second-hand reminiscences remain of him. For the executive section of the Czech patriotic intelligencia, who dreamed of theatre as a cathedral of art representing national advancement, puppet theatre played by poor wandering puppeteers wasn´t of great interest. Interest in Matej Kopecký only started to grow after his death. In 1851 Karel Roth in Lumír wrote: "Especially old Kopecký, recently deceased, stood out above all of his colleagues with his great sense of justice and immense high-spirit". Indeed only from later acclaim can we presume that he was among the leading figures of Czech puppetry, as he himself signified, and although we doubt his claim that he was on familiar terms with leading revivalists J. Dobrovský and V. Thám, it follows from the claim, that he at least associated himself with the basic currents of thought of his age. The enduring popularity of "old Kopecký" across a wide section of society was later reinforced by a two volume edition of Comedies and Plays of Matej Kopecký composed by his son Václav in 1862 (unfortunately the documentary value of this first edition of a broad selection of Czech plays was impeached by the work of the editors in Vilímek publishing house.) The growing cult of Matej Kopecký was also supported by the drawings of artist Mikoláš Aleš, a native of Mirotice, who also apparently created a fictitious portrait of Kopecký in the likeness of his son Václav. The legend of Matej grew, and invention and myth soon outweighed the concrete facts. By the end of the century the picture of Matej had been transformed into the image of an heroic puppeteer - a builder of the nation, as suited the uncritical, fervently nationalistic conceptions of the day. Current historians of puppetry think of Kopecký as foremostly a representative of a whole range of Czech puppeteers of the national revival, and his image in the national subconscious as having a mostly symbolic significance. Take away the crutch of the various legends and he encapsulates the significance of the puppeteers of that period who, while working in the Czech countryside which was distinctively influenced by the tradition of baroque culture (artistic, musical, and theatrical), supplied a theatrical form which was harmonious with that tradition. This is true of not only the creation of the puppets and the sets, but the production style, which used the puppets to emphasise the symbolic nature of the theatre. While in the main run of productions Czech puppeteers basically remained faithful to the baroque style, with the rest of their repertoire they managed to gradually make their audience familiar with the theatre of the day, which was promoting the ideas of the enlightenment and the national revival. This significance is not even reduced by the fact that their productions were often inartistic and naive. The death of Matej Kopecký in 1847 effectively brings the most significant phase of Czech folk puppetry of the 19th century to a symbolic close.

By the end of the 19th century the development of Czech folk puppetry gradually came to an end. Its stagnation was distinctly influenced by an overall stylistic change taking place in art and in the theatre. The death of romanticism and the onset of realism, whose main postulates could hardly be satisfied by the puppet theatre, resulted in a decided loss of contact with developments the other theatrical arts.

Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppet Theatre over the Centuries

The Amateur Puppeteers
The picture of Czech puppetry at the end of the 19th century would not be complete if we didn´t mention the increasing activity of amateur puppeteers. They tried to take advantage especially of the personally unassuming nature of the puppet theatre for their own theatrical activities as early as the middle of the 19th century. This tendency grew more in the last decades and by the beginning of the 20th century we can talk about movement, which basically launched the phase of modern puppetry, despite the fact that initially the amateurs were totally under the influence of the traditional folk puppeteers. Public amateur activity was precursored by a marked expansion of domestic, so-called family puppet theatres. These were mostly stages of small dimensions, designed for entertainment and theatrical experiment in the circle of family and close friends. If we look at a few cases from nobility who could afford an expensive, professionally prepared puppet theatre, we can confirm that these stages were at first prepared by hand by a range of designers or design oriented dilettantes, who wanted a puppet theatre mostly for the sake of their children. For example in the 30s of the 19th century the puppet of the famous Manes design family originated in this way. Gradually with the help of printed paper decorations, which were brought in from abroad, their popularity started to increase considerably. By the end of the century a family puppet theatre was already a typical feature in the salons of the town houses.

The turn of the century brought a new incentive for development, and was partly the puppeteers themselves who attempted to raise the standard and social prestige of their efforts. In 1902 the Puppet Theatre Club of Patriotic Friends of Dr Pa?ík and the area of T?ebenicko, was born, the soul of which was the puppet enthusiast Alois Rada (1868-1951). In the years 1902-1909 the theatre played not only in Prague, but organised tours around Bohemia of shows which ended with instructional demonstrations for learner puppeteers. A early as 1903, the members of this theatre organised the 1st meeting of friends of puppet theatre (on this occasion they prepared Smetana´s opera The Bartered Bride, in order to demonstrate possibilities of puppet theatre). The following year the second meeting was held in Pilsen. In 1905 puppeteers from Kladno staged the first public competition for puppet plays: its winner was the writer Vojt?ška Baldessari Plumlovská. In 1911 a great puppet exhibition was organised in Prague which proved exceptionally popular with the public. It was one of the first events in Jind?ich Veselý´s (1887-1939) attempts to support the development of puppet theatricals. In the same year, the Czech Association of Friends of Puppet Theatre was founded. One of the many significant things that the association did to support the puppet movement was to publish the magazine ?eský loutká? (Czech puppeteer) (1912-13), which was the first specialized puppet magazine in the world. Jind?ich Veselý became its editor.

Besides Prague, Pilsen became another significant center for puppet activity. There was a puppet theatre in operation here from 1902. The new era of puppetry in Pilsen started in 1913 when the former puppet companies united under the management of a charity association which organised holidays stays for poor children, and embarked on regular activities. The development of "The Summer Camp Puppet Theatre" was significantly influenced by the acceptance of the folk puppeteer Karel Novák (1862-1940), who became an honorary member of the theatre. Together with the members of his family, he mastered the art of manipulating puppets and made use of his positive experience with folk theatre in his excellent professional performances. It was through his co-operation with the amateur members of the group, who exercised their influence through dramaturgy, that the individual profile of the "Campers" started to develop. Designer Josef Skupa (1892-1957) joined this process in 1917, started to realise his ideas on modern puppetry and soon became the group´s leading personality. Skupa believed that puppet theatre could successfully address spectators too. During the final years of the war, when the censor was limiting any form of free expression, Skupa took advantage of the censor´s disinterest in puppet theatre and organised evening performances for adults. The cabaret shows which were shown every evening on the Campers´ stage became a sensation of the highest order for the Czech population due to their political relevance. The theatre´s activity climaxed in the last months of the war when the "revolutionary " Kašpárek, symbolically buried Austrio-Hungary on stage, to the enthusiastic approval of the spectators.

(Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppet Theatre over the Centuries)

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Marionettes also know as string puppets are any toy suspended on strings which have a mechanism to allow the operator to move the puppet.

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Who is at the parade? Click to find out!

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Up, up and away! See 10 decades of Thanksgiving Day parade balloons

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CNN floats down memory lane with some of the iconic balloons, and how the New York landscape has changed, alongside the beloved American holiday event.

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Macy's day Parade over the years

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The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will march its two-and-a-half-mile route from Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square on Nov. 23, spreading holiday cheer in New York. This year's special guests include a star-studded lineup featuring performances from Cher, Jon Batiste, En Vogue, Brandy, Enhypen and more. Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke, U.S. Olympic silver medal gymnast Jordan Chiles and others will also join the festivities.

The 2023 parade will include 16 character balloons, 32 heritage and novelty balloons and 12 marching bands. Ahead of the annual holiday celebration, WWD takes a look back at the parade over the years - how it's changed, grown and maintained traditions.

The Macy's "Christmas" Parade

The first event was started by Macy's employees on Thanksgiving Day 1924, on Nov. 27, to promote holiday sales and the retailer's newly expanded Herald Square store - then the largest in the world. Macy's was established in 1858 and is considered one of the country's oldest and biggest department store chains. It opened at Herald Square in 1902.

The first parade was such a success that it was declared an annual tradition from there on out. The big event was originally called the Macy's Christmas Parade (the name was changed in 1927), and featured real elephants and other animals from the Central Park Zoo. Macy's employees, professional entertainers and the animals walked six miles from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's, as over 250,000 onlookers watched.

The Big Balloons made their debut in 1927

The large balloons associated with the parade debuted in 1927, replacing the zoo animals. Felix the Cat had the honor of being the first-ever parade balloon. The original balloons had a short life span as they didn't have release valves, so they were released into the sky to pop in the air. They were also filled with regular air, not helium, back then, meaning they didn't float quite so high.

In 1928, valves were added to the balloons that allowed the helium to slowly escape once they were freed into the sky at the end of the parade. They included a return address and a reward to encourage the return of balloons, but not all of them made it back. One landed in the East River and another in the sea. By 1934, Macy's stopped the process of releasing balloons into the air.

Mickey Mouse joined the fun in 1934

In 1934, Mickey Mouse made his Thanksgiving Day Parade debut with a balloon that Walt Disney himself helped design. His balloon handlers were also dressed like the famous mouse. Mickey was first introduced to the world in 1928 in the animated short "Steamboat Willie." Thus, this balloon looked like the original renderings of the Disney star. New versions of Balloon Mickey were introduced over the years- 1977, 2000 and 2009 - to keep up with his evolution.

The three years with no parade: 1940s

The parade was canceled from 1942 to 1944 due to rubber and helium shortages during World War II. The event resumed in 1945, fittingly featuring an Uncle Sam balloon, and hasn't missed a year since. The classic Christmas film "Miracle on 34th Street," released in 1947, featured footage from the 1946 Macy's parade, making it a household name outside New York City.

In 1948, the parade was broadcast on national TV for the first time. There was another helium shortage in 1958, so the balloons were filled with normal air and hung from construction cranes.

Floats elevate the parade in 1968

In 1968, Macy's creative teams designed intricate floats to include in the parade for the first time. There have been smaller floats in the parade since its launch. The floats are still entirely designed by Macy's employees. While the floats themselves are up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide, they can each, rather miraculously, fold into a 12.5-foot by 8-foot box for more accessible transportation to the parade route. They're made and staged in New Jersey, so they must travel through the Lincoln Tunnel to make it to Manhattan.

Each parade is a pop culture time capsule

Just as the different versions of Mickey Mouse have been on display at the Thanksgiving Day Parade over the years, the balloons and special guests provide a glimpse into youth pop culture at the time.

In 1961, Miss Teenage America Diane Lynn Cox posed in princess attire on a float with "Prince Charming" actor Troy Donahue. In 1977, Kermit the Frog made his first appearance at the parade (returning in 2002), with his balloon handlers dressed to match him.

In 1980, Big Bird sat high atop a Sesame Street float surrounded by a marching band. Eighties balloons included Woody Woodpecker, Raggedy Ann and Betty Boop atop a smiling crescent moon.

Nineties balloons include Bart Simpson on a skateboard, Spiderman, "The Cat in the Hat," "The Rugrats," Clifford and Beethoven. In 1999, there was an Ask Jeeves - a precursor to Google search - float featuring Miss America Heather French. In 2003, Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan performed on the M&M float. Shrek made his debut in 2007 when his third film dropped.

1997: Dangerously windy city

In 1997, gusts of strong winds of up to 43 miles an hour wreaked havoc on the parade, causing many of the 17 massive balloons to rip, deflate and crash to the ground. Unfortunately, one of the balloons hit a lamppost, the top part of which fell and injured four people in the crowd. Barney the Dinosaur was severely damaged and removed at 51st Street, and the Pink Panther crashed down at 42nd Street, where a cop stabbed his tail to keep the cat from flying away.

The parade marches on during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Macy's Day Parade was one of the few large public events that went on during 2020. Yet participants followed strict COVID-19 protocols, resulting in a scaled-down production that made for a very different-looking parade on the ground. Much of the parade was pre-taped and the route was reduced to one block. Only a few curious spectators showed up, all participants wore masks and the usual 2,000 balloon handlers were reduced to 130. Yet the televised special safely offered the parade's joy and spectacle to viewers at home.

In 2021, the parade went mostly back to normal, although all participants had to be vaccinated. Since the CDC had only just approved the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, kids under 12 were not allowed to participate in the parade, although they could watch from the crowd with a vaccinated adult. The participants, floats and balloons returned to their regular numbers from the reduced version the year prior, with 15 balloons and 28 floats. Grogu / Baby Yoda made his first appearance at the 2021 parade and returned in 2022.

Festive Traditions: The Rockettes, Santa Claus and More

The Radio City Rockettes have been delivering their perfectly synchronized high kicks yearly at the parade since 1957. The all-female dance troupe was founded in 1925.

Santa Claus has been an annual staple of the parade since day one. He typically closes out the parade, but, in 1932, he kicked things off by leading the march.

Snoopy holds the record for most years flown by a character balloon, totaling 40 appearances up to 2019. He debuted in 1968 in an aviator plane and will return this year in a brand-new balloon form as "Beagle Scout Snoopy."

The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC at 8:30 a.m. EST and stream on Peacock on Nov. 23.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Over the Years

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Facts about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first balloon and changes over the years. Plus, how to watch the parade on NBC.

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Manhattan EL

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Manhattan El (New York City Subway car) - Wikipedia

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Cool accidents at the Macy's day parade

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History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accidents

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Each Thanksgiving Day in New York City since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the biggest event on the calendar. It's only been cancelled three times in its 95 year history, due to helium shortages during the WWII years. And in 2021 with Covid changing all sorts of events the world over.

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In 1968, Flying Ace Snoopy became the most popular balloon, and from then on Snoopy has appeared as different kinds of himself.

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The 17 Most Iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats

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From Felix the Cat marking the first-ever balloon in the parade in 1921, to Yayoi Kusama’s mesmerizing float design in 2019, these are the inflatable figures we’ll never forget

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This is about how Tony Sarg came up with the Macy's Day Parade

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American puppeteer. Tony Sarg was the son of a German diplomat posted to Guatemala and Great Britain. His mother was English. In 1887, the Sarg family returned to Germany. Tony Sarg went to school in Darmstadt, and later entered a military academy. In 1905, Tony Sarg went to England, where he worked as an illustrator in London. In 1909, he married an American, Bertha Eleanor McGowen. It was in Great Britain where Sarg's fascination with marionettes began after seeing the famous company of Thomas Holden.

The Sargs moved to the United States in 1915, settling in New York City where he gave his first puppet performances in his studio in the Flatiron Building (the much photographed 1902 triangular/wedge-shaped skyscraper). In 1917, there were performances at the Neighborhood Playhouse. The Sarg production, The Rose and the Ring (1919), played on Broadway and was directed by Ellen Van Volkenburg (1882-1978), another innovator who contributed the word "puppeteer" to the English language.

Tony Sarg's Rip Van Winkle (1921) was the first of the large touring shows, followed by Don Quixote, Treasure Island, The Chinese Willow Plate, and Ali Baba. Sarg offered summer courses in puppetry starting in 1922. His marionette ( string puppet) production of Alice in Wonderland (1930) was especially popular and played at the Century of Progress World's Fair, Chicago, in 1933. His other shows included Sinbad the Sailor, Robinson Crusoe, The Mikado. Robin Hood (1939) was the last show for the Sarg Company, which had financial difficulties.

After his first few productions, Tony Sarg did not personally perform or build the puppets, but remained involved with every detail of design and performance. Charles (Matt) Searle made the marionettes, and on numerous national tours served as the company manager, supervising up to six or seven manipulators. Company members Bil Baird, Rufus Rose with Margo (Skewis) Rose went on to create important puppet companies. Sue Hastings studied with Sarg and went on to become a major competitor.

Tony Sarg accepted the honour of being the major speaker at the first American puppet festival, held in 1936 in Detroit. In 1940, for his 60th birthday, American puppeteers presented him with a folio of letters of appreciation to commemorate his great influence on the profession.

Tony Sarg's exceptional abilities as a visual thinker, along with his great charm and enthusiasm brought him great success in many fields. He was widely respected as an illustrator; he designed fabrics, wallpaper and interiors. He was also a pioneer in film animation, creating Adam Raises Cain (1920) and The First Circus (1921), a silhouette film. In 1927, Sarg created the first giant parade balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 1935, a large helium-filled Mickey Mouse was paraded in New York. The same year he designed the first of a series of mechanically operated window displays for Macy's Department Store, which were widely imitated around the county (see Automata, Androids and Robots).

At the peak of his career, during the 1930s, Tony Sarg was called "America's Puppet Master". The many national tours of the Tony Sarg Marionettes brought excellent puppetry to a very wide audience, and his work inspired an entire generation of new puppeteers. Writing about Sarg's body of work, Paul McPharlin said, "It set up an ideal of American puppetry: a good play, as a rule based on a familiar tale, with production details carefully worked out and integrated. Puppetry, scenery, lights, properties, and even the printed program, exhibited artistry. His bent for gaiety and humor, his love of odd effects, animals and the marvelous, found just the right combination. Sarg's productions were almost always good entertainment. They made an impression wherever they were seen. They set people's fingers itching to make puppets for themselves."

Another lasting contribution by Tony Sarg was his book, The Tony Sarg Marionette Book (1921), one of the first publications to reveal technical information about marionettes.

(See United States of America.)

Bibliography

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Tony Sarg | World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts

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American puppeteer. Tony Sarg was the son of a German diplomat posted to Guatemala and Great Britain. His mother was English. In 1887, the Sarg family returned to Germany...

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about the book Balloons over broadway

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Bound To Stay Bound Books, Inc. - Bookstore

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Bound To Stay Bound Books, Inc. specializes in prebinding children’s books to withstand abuse and hard usage.

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Here is some history on thr parade:)

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History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade - New York City

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History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade - New York City. Read about the legendary American tradition that takes place each year.

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Some balloons people like more than other balloons.

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Up, up and away! See 10 decades of Thanksgiving Day parade balloons

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CNN floats down memory lane with some of the iconic balloons, and how the New York landscape has changed, alongside the beloved American holiday event.

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Tony Sarg and his past on the macys day parade

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Tony Sarg and his past on the macys day parade

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Information on Tony Sarg and how he dominated world of illistration

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Cool info on how balloons float!!

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Before serving the turkey or diving straight into pumpkin pie, many families gather around their television every fourth Thursday of November to watch the streets of New York City come to life with singing, dancing and, of course, an array of giant, floating balloons at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Your creative thinker may have wondered aloud already: "What makes those balloons float?"

While your child might not realize that physics concepts are on display at the parade, pay attention to their "whys" and "hows" as they try to make sense of the world around them. These curious questions are perfect opportunities to encourage exploration and naturally work STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning into your child's everyday life.

The History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

This famous event first began in 1924 as a Christmas parade organized by employees of an impressively large retail store in New York City. The earliest parades ended with the unveiling of the store's beautifully decorated Christmas windows.

In 1927, it transitioned to the Thanksgiving Day Parade we know and love today. This same year, one of its most prominent features debuted and quickly became a staple of the parade moving forward - massive balloons! NBC has broadcast the parade live since 1948, allowing generations of families across the country to tune in and see the famous balloons in action.

The Science of Giant Balloons

So, how does a giant, often building-sized balloon float? You might be surprised at the similarities to the smaller-scale balloons we use to decorate birthday parties. Both require the same gas to get off the ground - helium!

For a balloon to float, its components, including the helium it's filled with, must weigh less than the air beneath it. This creates a difference in forces (including gravity, tension and buoyancy) and pressure as the balloon displaces the air around it, forcing the air to push the balloon up.

Each enormous parade balloon is carefully designed and tested to make sure it will float properly. A balloon typically begins with a sketch, then both digital and physical 3D models are created and used to test wind flow and other variables. Next, pieces of polyurethane are heat-sealed together to form the balloon. Each one has inflation points, where it will be filled with helium. Once filled, the balloon is tested so it's sure to look and work just right as it floats along the parade route.

Weather also plays an important role in the festivities at each year's parade. Wind must be closely monitored the day of the event to ensure it is not too strong to safely handle the giant balloons. Additionally, heat causes the gas within the balloons to expand. Without accounting for a slight swell when filling up the balloons, we would be in for a not-so-sweet surprise as the day warms up!

To keep each larger-than-life balloon from flying away, a group of handlers, both on foot and in cars, are equipped with ropes connected to the balloons to safely steer them through the streets. You've seen a similar display if your child has ever used a string to anchor and control a balloon, keeping it from flying to the ceiling or bumping into people as they walk.

Next time your family watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade, we encourage you to ask your child about their favorite parts of the celebration. Then, wow them with some scientific facts on the magnificent balloon displays of beloved characters. Together, you and your child can take small steps each day to expand their STEM knowledge, because there's always so much more to discover!

Keep Learning

Keep an eye on our blog for more ways your family can explore STEM concepts together.

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How Do Giant Parade Balloons Float? Science!

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Help your child learn about physics in everyday life by talking with them about the science of parade balloons during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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This is a website of balloons over broadway

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About the Book · Balloons Over Broadway, Melissa Sweet, and the Engineering of a Picture Book · Gallery

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All about where Tony Sarg Lived in his life

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Tony Sarg | Artists Association of Nantucket

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Balloon accidents at the parade

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Keeping the massive, floating character balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade under control is no easy task. Since the first balloons were introduced to the parade in 1927, they've been at the mercy of wind, light poles, and in some cases, the parade's own poor judgment. Macy's parade accidents have gotten rarer since the Great Balloon Massacre of 1997 (see entries five and six), but they'll always be a part of the event's history. Here are some of the most infamous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon-related incidents.

1. The Felix the Cat Balloon Catches Fire.

Macy's didn't have a plan for deflating balloons when it introduced them to the parade in 1927-so for several years, balloons were simply released into the air at the end of the show, where they would stay until they deflated naturally. This method didn't always go as smoothly as intended. In 1931, a balloon modeled after the classic cartoon Felix the Cat got caught in a high-tension wire after its handlers let it go. It burst into flames shortly after becoming ensnared.

2. A Plane Hits the Tom Cat Balloon.

The practice of freeing balloons at the end of the parade continued until 1932, when it nearly led to disaster. During these early years, Macy's offered reward money to whoever retrieved and returned their loose balloons. Some people went so far as risking their lives to claim the reward. When a 22-year-old woman flying a plane over Queens spotted the 60-foot Tom Cat balloon floating nearby, she flew into it hoping to send it back to Earth. The New York Times reported her saying, "I think I'll have a piece of the neck" to her flight instructor as she made the risky maneuver. The balloon snagged the wing and nearly brought the plane down with it; at one point, the woman came close to falling from the plane when the cabin door flew open. Luckily, her flight instructor was able to regain control of the aircraft. Macy's decided to officially end its tradition of releasing balloons after that.

3. The Popeye Balloon Rains on Spectators.

Bad weather has led to many parade mishaps. A balloon of Popeye the Sailor debuted on a rainy Thanksgiving Day in 1957, and his cap acted as a reservoir for rainwater. At one point, the balloon's handlers took a sharp turn that caused water to splash out and soak the crowd below.

4. The Sonic the Hedgehog Balloon Pops.

The balloons for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the streetlights lining the route have been enemies for decades. In 1993, high winds pushed the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a pole on West 58th street, leaving a large tear in its eye. Debris from the accident caused minor injuries for a 10-year-old girl and a broken shoulder for an off-duty police officer. Sonic was patched up in time for next year's parade.

5. The Barney Balloon Meets a Violent End.

The 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was plagued with high winds that led to the most notorious accidents of the event's history. One of the more memorable incidents (especially for any kids in attendance) was the violent destruction of Barney the Dinosaur. After handlers spent several minutes struggling to maintain control of the balloon, the wind knocked it into a streetlight, tearing it open and causing it to deflate. In case that wasn't traumatic enough, police officers swarmed the balloon with knives and began stabbing new holes in it to release the remaining helium. (The Pink Panther balloon also had to be tamed that year-an officer stabbed a hole in its tail to stabilize it.) You can watch the harrowing scene in its entirety above.

6. The Cat in the Hat Balloon Puts a Woman in a Coma.

You know your parade went poorly when a balloon's total destruction isn't the worst incident of the morning. The most infamous balloon accident of 1997-and the parade's history-happened when the giant Cat in the Hat balloon knocked into a streetlight, causing part of it to fall into the crowd below. The debris injured four people and sent two women to the hospital, one of whom was in a coma for a month. (She later sued Macy's and New York City and walked away with a multi-million dollar settlement.) The number of accidents the parade saw that year earned it the nickname "The Great Balloon Massacre." Regulations on the types of balloons allowed in the parade and how they would be handled were tightened the following year to prevent similar disasters in the future.

7. The M&Ms Balloon Showers Glass.

The worst Macy's accident of the new millennium occurred in 2005. That year, the M&Ms balloon was knocked off course by a sudden gust of wind in Times Square and ended up damaging a light pole. The accident showered broken glass onto spectators and sent two sisters to the hospital for cuts and bruises. They were released hours later without any serious injuries, and their father told The New York Times, "we plan to go back to the parade next year."

8. The Keith Haring Balloon Spooks News Anchors.

In 2008 parade, Macy's debuted a balloon inspired by the art of Keith Haring, and the 48-foot-tall balloon definitely made an impression. At one point, the massive figure knocked into the booth where Al Roker, Meredith Viera, and Matt Lauer were covering the parade, startling the three show anchors and briefly disrupting the program.

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8 Infamous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Incidents

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Keeping the massive, floating character balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade under control is no easy task. Since the first balloons were introduced to the parade in 1927, they've been at the mercy of wind, light poles, and in some cases, the parade's own poor judgment.

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All about Thanksgiving and how it started.

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Thanksgiving Day, annual national holiday in the United States and Canada celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists ( Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. The American holiday is particularly rich in legend and symbolism, and the traditional fare of the Thanksgiving meal typically includes turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. With respect to vehicular travel, the holiday is often the busiest of the year, as family members gather with one another.

Plymouth's Thanksgiving began with a few colonists going out "fowling," possibly for turkeys but more probably for the easier prey of geese and ducks, since they "in one day killed as much as...served the company almost a week." Next, 90 or so Wampanoag made a surprise appearance at the settlement's gate, doubtlessly unnerving the 50 or so colonists. Nevertheless, over the next few days the two groups socialized without incident. The Wampanoag contributed venison to the feast, which included the fowl and probably fish, eels, shellfish, stews, vegetables, and beer. Since Plymouth had few buildings and manufactured goods, most people ate outside while sitting on the ground or on barrels with plates on their laps. The men fired guns, ran races, and drank liquor, struggling to speak in broken English and Wampanoag. This was a rather disorderly affair, but it sealed a treaty between the two groups that lasted until King Philip's War (1675-76), in which hundreds of colonists and thousands of Native Americans lost their lives.

The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "Thanksgivings," days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought. The U.S. Continental Congress proclaimed a national Thanksgiving upon the enactment of the Constitution, for example. Yet, after 1798, the new U.S. Congress left Thanksgiving declarations to the states; some objected to the national government's involvement in a religious observance, Southerners were slow to adopt a New England custom, and others took offense over the day's being used to hold partisan speeches and parades. A national Thanksgiving Day seemed more like a lightning rod for controversy than a unifying force.

Thanksgiving Day did not become an official holiday until Northerners dominated the federal government. While sectional tensions prevailed in the mid-19th century, the editor of the popular magazine Godey's Lady's Book, Sarah Josepha Hale, campaigned for a national Thanksgiving Day to promote unity. She finally won the support of President Abraham Lincoln. On October 3, 1863, during the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.

The holiday was annually proclaimed by every president thereafter, and the date chosen, with few exceptions, was the last Thursday in November. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, attempted to extend the Christmas shopping season, which generally begins with the Thanksgiving holiday, and to boost the economy by moving the date back a week, to the third week in November. But not all states complied, and, after a joint resolution of Congress in 1941, Roosevelt issued a proclamation in 1942 designating the fourth Thursday in November (which is not always the last Thursday) as Thanksgiving Day.

As the country became more urban and family members began to live farther apart, Thanksgiving became a time to gather together. The holiday moved away from its religious roots to allow immigrants of every background to participate in a common tradition. Thanksgiving Day football games, beginning with Yale versus Princeton in 1876, enabled fans to add some rowdiness to the holiday. In the late 1800s parades of costumed revelers became common. In 1920 Gimbel's department store in Philadelphia staged a parade of about 50 people with Santa Claus at the rear of the procession. Since 1924 the annual Macy's parade in New York City has continued the tradition, with huge balloons since 1927. The holiday associated with Pilgrims and Native Americans has come to symbolize intercultural peace, America's opportunity for newcomers, and the sanctity of home and family.

Days of thanksgiving in Canada also originated in the colonial period, arising from the same European traditions, in gratitude for safe journeys, peace, and bountiful harvests. The earliest celebration was held in 1578, when an expedition led by Martin Frobisher held a ceremony in present-day Nunavut to give thanks for the safety of its fleet. In 1879 Parliament established a national Thanksgiving Day on November 6; the date has varied over the years. Since 1957 Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in October.

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Thanksgiving Day | Meaning, History, & Facts

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Thanksgiving Day, annual national holiday in the United States and Canada celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the European colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.

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Who is Tony Sarg? - Nantucket Historical Association

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Adapted by Deborah Sorensen Known as the father of modern puppetry in North America, Sarg was an accomplished illustrator, animator,...More Read more from Who is Tony Sarg?

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macys day parade balloons from years ago

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macys day parade balloons from years ago

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info on the macys day parade balloons

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Up, up and away! See 10 decades of Thanksgiving Day parade balloons

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CNN floats down memory lane with some of the iconic balloons, and how the New York landscape has changed, alongside the beloved American holiday event.

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THE true story of the puppeteer of Macys parade.

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THE true story of the puppeteer of Macys parade.

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Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade

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CRITICS HAVE SAID With lighthearted watercolors, fanciful scrapbooking, and collaged typography, Sweet shows how Sarg, a self-taught immigrant, combined an indomitable curiosity with an engineer&#8…

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Some of these balloons scared people.

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Macy’s Strangest Thanksgiving Day Balloons Ever - The Bowery Boys: New York City History

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Above: The parade in the 1930s was a veritable freakshow of oddball balloon creatures Not every balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade latches on to your memories like Underdog, Charlie Brown and Snoopy do. Below are a few examples of Macy’s stranger offerings over the years: This Thing (Turkey?) 1932I swear, if I saw… Read More

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There are 6 new balloons for Thanksgiving

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Macy’s unveils new balloons for Thanksgiving parade

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The six new balloons include Spider-Man and Minnie Mouse.

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all about the parade over the years

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The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will march its two-and-a-half-mile route from Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square on Nov. 23, spreading holiday cheer in New York. This year's special guests include a star-studded lineup featuring performances from Cher, Jon Batiste, En Vogue, Brandy, Enhypen and more. Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke, U.S. Olympic silver medal gymnast Jordan Chiles and others will also join the festivities.

The 2023 parade will include 16 character balloons, 32 heritage and novelty balloons and 12 marching bands. Ahead of the annual holiday celebration, WWD takes a look back at the parade over the years - how it's changed, grown and maintained traditions.

The Macy's "Christmas" Parade

The first event was started by Macy's employees on Thanksgiving Day 1924, on Nov. 27, to promote holiday sales and the retailer's newly expanded Herald Square store - then the largest in the world. Macy's was established in 1858 and is considered one of the country's oldest and biggest department store chains. It opened at Herald Square in 1902.

The first parade was such a success that it was declared an annual tradition from there on out. The big event was originally called the Macy's Christmas Parade (the name was changed in 1927), and featured real elephants and other animals from the Central Park Zoo. Macy's employees, professional entertainers and the animals walked six miles from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's, as over 250,000 onlookers watched.

The Big Balloons made their debut in 1927

The large balloons associated with the parade debuted in 1927, replacing the zoo animals. Felix the Cat had the honor of being the first-ever parade balloon. The original balloons had a short life span as they didn't have release valves, so they were released into the sky to pop in the air. They were also filled with regular air, not helium, back then, meaning they didn't float quite so high.

In 1928, valves were added to the balloons that allowed the helium to slowly escape once they were freed into the sky at the end of the parade. They included a return address and a reward to encourage the return of balloons, but not all of them made it back. One landed in the East River and another in the sea. By 1934, Macy's stopped the process of releasing balloons into the air.

Mickey Mouse joined the fun in 1934

In 1934, Mickey Mouse made his Thanksgiving Day Parade debut with a balloon that Walt Disney himself helped design. His balloon handlers were also dressed like the famous mouse. Mickey was first introduced to the world in 1928 in the animated short "Steamboat Willie." Thus, this balloon looked like the original renderings of the Disney star. New versions of Balloon Mickey were introduced over the years- 1977, 2000 and 2009 - to keep up with his evolution.

The three years with no parade: 1940s

The parade was canceled from 1942 to 1944 due to rubber and helium shortages during World War II. The event resumed in 1945, fittingly featuring an Uncle Sam balloon, and hasn't missed a year since. The classic Christmas film "Miracle on 34th Street," released in 1947, featured footage from the 1946 Macy's parade, making it a household name outside New York City.

In 1948, the parade was broadcast on national TV for the first time. There was another helium shortage in 1958, so the balloons were filled with normal air and hung from construction cranes.

Floats elevate the parade in 1968

In 1968, Macy's creative teams designed intricate floats to include in the parade for the first time. There have been smaller floats in the parade since its launch. The floats are still entirely designed by Macy's employees. While the floats themselves are up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide, they can each, rather miraculously, fold into a 12.5-foot by 8-foot box for more accessible transportation to the parade route. They're made and staged in New Jersey, so they must travel through the Lincoln Tunnel to make it to Manhattan.

Each parade is a pop culture time capsule

Just as the different versions of Mickey Mouse have been on display at the Thanksgiving Day Parade over the years, the balloons and special guests provide a glimpse into youth pop culture at the time.

In 1961, Miss Teenage America Diane Lynn Cox posed in princess attire on a float with "Prince Charming" actor Troy Donahue. In 1977, Kermit the Frog made his first appearance at the parade (returning in 2002), with his balloon handlers dressed to match him.

In 1980, Big Bird sat high atop a Sesame Street float surrounded by a marching band. Eighties balloons included Woody Woodpecker, Raggedy Ann and Betty Boop atop a smiling crescent moon.

Nineties balloons include Bart Simpson on a skateboard, Spiderman, "The Cat in the Hat," "The Rugrats," Clifford and Beethoven. In 1999, there was an Ask Jeeves - a precursor to Google search - float featuring Miss America Heather French. In 2003, Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan performed on the M&M float. Shrek made his debut in 2007 when his third film dropped.

1997: Dangerously windy city

In 1997, gusts of strong winds of up to 43 miles an hour wreaked havoc on the parade, causing many of the 17 massive balloons to rip, deflate and crash to the ground. Unfortunately, one of the balloons hit a lamppost, the top part of which fell and injured four people in the crowd. Barney the Dinosaur was severely damaged and removed at 51st Street, and the Pink Panther crashed down at 42nd Street, where a cop stabbed his tail to keep the cat from flying away.

The parade marches on during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Macy's Day Parade was one of the few large public events that went on during 2020. Yet participants followed strict COVID-19 protocols, resulting in a scaled-down production that made for a very different-looking parade on the ground. Much of the parade was pre-taped and the route was reduced to one block. Only a few curious spectators showed up, all participants wore masks and the usual 2,000 balloon handlers were reduced to 130. Yet the televised special safely offered the parade's joy and spectacle to viewers at home.

In 2021, the parade went mostly back to normal, although all participants had to be vaccinated. Since the CDC had only just approved the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, kids under 12 were not allowed to participate in the parade, although they could watch from the crowd with a vaccinated adult. The participants, floats and balloons returned to their regular numbers from the reduced version the year prior, with 15 balloons and 28 floats. Grogu / Baby Yoda made his first appearance at the 2021 parade and returned in 2022.

Festive Traditions: The Rockettes, Santa Claus and More

The Radio City Rockettes have been delivering their perfectly synchronized high kicks yearly at the parade since 1957. The all-female dance troupe was founded in 1925.

Santa Claus has been an annual staple of the parade since day one. He typically closes out the parade, but, in 1932, he kicked things off by leading the march.

Snoopy holds the record for most years flown by a character balloon, totaling 40 appearances up to 2019. He debuted in 1968 in an aviator plane and will return this year in a brand-new balloon form as "Beagle Scout Snoopy."

The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC at 8:30 a.m. EST and stream on Peacock on Nov. 23.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Over the Years

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Facts about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first balloon and changes over the years. Plus, how to watch the parade on NBC.

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macys parade incidents

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Keeping the massive, floating character balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade under control is no easy task. Since the first balloons were introduced to the parade in 1927, they've been at the mercy of wind, light poles, and in some cases, the parade's own poor judgment. Macy's parade accidents have gotten rarer since the Great Balloon Massacre of 1997 (see entries five and six), but they'll always be a part of the event's history. Here are some of the most infamous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon-related incidents.

1. The Felix the Cat Balloon Catches Fire.

Macy's didn't have a plan for deflating balloons when it introduced them to the parade in 1927-so for several years, balloons were simply released into the air at the end of the show, where they would stay until they deflated naturally. This method didn't always go as smoothly as intended. In 1931, a balloon modeled after the classic cartoon Felix the Cat got caught in a high-tension wire after its handlers let it go. It burst into flames shortly after becoming ensnared.

2. A Plane Hits the Tom Cat Balloon.

The practice of freeing balloons at the end of the parade continued until 1932, when it nearly led to disaster. During these early years, Macy's offered reward money to whoever retrieved and returned their loose balloons. Some people went so far as risking their lives to claim the reward. When a 22-year-old woman flying a plane over Queens spotted the 60-foot Tom Cat balloon floating nearby, she flew into it hoping to send it back to Earth. The New York Times reported her saying, "I think I'll have a piece of the neck" to her flight instructor as she made the risky maneuver. The balloon snagged the wing and nearly brought the plane down with it; at one point, the woman came close to falling from the plane when the cabin door flew open. Luckily, her flight instructor was able to regain control of the aircraft. Macy's decided to officially end its tradition of releasing balloons after that.

3. The Popeye Balloon Rains on Spectators.

Bad weather has led to many parade mishaps. A balloon of Popeye the Sailor debuted on a rainy Thanksgiving Day in 1957, and his cap acted as a reservoir for rainwater. At one point, the balloon's handlers took a sharp turn that caused water to splash out and soak the crowd below.

4. The Sonic the Hedgehog Balloon Pops.

The balloons for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the streetlights lining the route have been enemies for decades. In 1993, high winds pushed the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon into a pole on West 58th street, leaving a large tear in its eye. Debris from the accident caused minor injuries for a 10-year-old girl and a broken shoulder for an off-duty police officer. Sonic was patched up in time for next year's parade.

5. The Barney Balloon Meets a Violent End.

The 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was plagued with high winds that led to the most notorious accidents of the event's history. One of the more memorable incidents (especially for any kids in attendance) was the violent destruction of Barney the Dinosaur. After handlers spent several minutes struggling to maintain control of the balloon, the wind knocked it into a streetlight, tearing it open and causing it to deflate. In case that wasn't traumatic enough, police officers swarmed the balloon with knives and began stabbing new holes in it to release the remaining helium. (The Pink Panther balloon also had to be tamed that year-an officer stabbed a hole in its tail to stabilize it.) You can watch the harrowing scene in its entirety above.

6. The Cat in the Hat Balloon Puts a Woman in a Coma.

You know your parade went poorly when a balloon's total destruction isn't the worst incident of the morning. The most infamous balloon accident of 1997-and the parade's history-happened when the giant Cat in the Hat balloon knocked into a streetlight, causing part of it to fall into the crowd below. The debris injured four people and sent two women to the hospital, one of whom was in a coma for a month. (She later sued Macy's and New York City and walked away with a multi-million dollar settlement.) The number of accidents the parade saw that year earned it the nickname "The Great Balloon Massacre." Regulations on the types of balloons allowed in the parade and how they would be handled were tightened the following year to prevent similar disasters in the future.

7. The M&Ms Balloon Showers Glass.

The worst Macy's accident of the new millennium occurred in 2005. That year, the M&Ms balloon was knocked off course by a sudden gust of wind in Times Square and ended up damaging a light pole. The accident showered broken glass onto spectators and sent two sisters to the hospital for cuts and bruises. They were released hours later without any serious injuries, and their father told The New York Times, "we plan to go back to the parade next year."

8. The Keith Haring Balloon Spooks News Anchors.

In 2008 parade, Macy's debuted a balloon inspired by the art of Keith Haring, and the 48-foot-tall balloon definitely made an impression. At one point, the massive figure knocked into the booth where Al Roker, Meredith Viera, and Matt Lauer were covering the parade, startling the three show anchors and briefly disrupting the program.

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8 Infamous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Incidents

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Keeping the massive, floating character balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade under control is no easy task. Since the first balloons were introduced to the parade in 1927, they've been at the mercy of wind, light poles, and in some cases, the parade's own poor judgment.

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Tony Sarg: Genius at Play - Nantucket Historical Association

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Adventures in Illustration, Puppetry, and Popular Culture “The moment of action is the moment of humor….every little movement has...More Read more from Tony Sarg: Genius at Play

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info on cool balloons

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Macy’s unveils new balloons for Thanksgiving parade

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The six new balloons include Spider-Man and Minnie Mouse.

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Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays

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Macy's is kicking off the holiday season with its 95th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The celebration is back to pre-pandemic festivities with 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 800 clowns, 10 marching bands and 9 performance groups, a host of musical stars, and the one-and-only Santa Claus. Also back are iconic elements, including giant character balloons like Pikachu, Ronald McDonald, SpongeBob SquarePants and more. Before tuning into the parade, which first began in 1924, here are 10 fun facts about this year's balloon line-up.

1. The 2021 parade will include 15 giant character helium balloons, including TK new balloons, including Ada Twist, Scientist, Baby Yoda from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian," Ronald McDonald and Pikachu & Eevee.

2. The tallest balloon, Ronald McDonald, stands 67 feet high and the widest, Trolls by DreamWorks Animation, measures 38 feet. It took 2,629 hours to complete the Ronald balloon at Macy's Studio; and over 50 gallons of paint!

3. Astronaut Snoopy will be lifting off once again. This year's appearance will be Snoopy's 42nd flight, the most of any balloon, according to Macy's! His very first balloon was the 1968 Flying Ace, and a year later he was reworked as an Apollo astronaut.

4. The new Ada Twist, Scientist balloon is inspired by the the Netflix series of the same name. The balloon version of Ada has a pen tucked behind her ear and is sporting her signature lab coat. Fun Fact: If you lined up 27 real pens, they would equal the length of the pen behind Ada's ear!

5. The original Sinclair DINO balloon was inducted as an honorary member of the Museum of Natural History in 1975, and the balloon returned to the Macy's Parade in 2015, after nearly 40 years.

6. The Boss Baby balloon is carrying a briefcase so large that it can hold 540,000 crayons.

7. Chase from Paw Patrol's hat could cover a real police squad car. His paws are also larger than two full-grown Great Dane dogs.

8. Greg Heffley, of the book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid, will appear for the 12th time this Thanksgiving. The second version of the balloon (new this year) celebrates the release of the 16th book in the series, Big Shot. Both balloon versions have featured him clutching his trademark "Diary."
Related: Son of a Nutcracker! Over 50 Funny and Iconic Quotes from Your Favorite Christmas Movies
9. Red Titan, the alter-ego of Ryan from Ryan's World, is the parade's first-ever YouTube-inspired balloon.

10. Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, from The Mandalorian makes his Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade debut in 2021. The ballon is 29-feet long, 37-feet wide and 41-feet tall. In fact, Grogu's 37-foot ear span is longer than a telephone pole is tall!

11. If you created a "dough-sized" version of the Pillsbury Doughboy balloon, it would take more than four million Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

12. SpongeBob, who made his debut in 2004, was the first square balloon in the parade.

13. The "DreamWorks Trolls" Poppy, Branch and Guy Diamond's hair is more than 12-feet tall.

14. There's nothing small about the Papa Smurf balloon, who's returning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the classic cartoon. He's taller than a four-story building!

15. Smokey Bear is the star of the longest- running public service advertising campaign in American history. Smokey Bear made his Parade debut as a giant character balloon in 1966.
Next, 21 Thanksgiving movies to watch while curled up in your comfiest pants!

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15 Facts About the 2021 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons, Plus First-Look Photos from Today's Event!

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Macy's is kicking off the holiday season with its 95th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The celebration is back to pre-pandemic festivities with 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 800 clowns, 10 marching bands and 9 performance groups, a host of musical stars, and the one-and-only Santa Claus.

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This is information on how it started.

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Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

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A review of Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is a wonderful picture book covering the life of Tony Sarg, the man who invented the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

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As the United States prospered during the Roaring Twenties, so did New York City's iconic department store-Macy's. After going public in 1922, R. H. Macy & Co. started to acquire competitors and open regional locations. Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square did such a brisk business that it expanded in 1924 to cover an entire city block stretching from Broadway to Seventh Avenue along 34th Street.

To showcase the opening of the "World's Largest Store" and its 1 million square feet of retail space at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, Macy's decided to throw New York a parade on Thanksgiving morning. In spite of its timing, the parade was not actually about Thanksgiving at all but the next major holiday on the calendar- Christmas. Macy's hoped its "Christmas Parade" would whet the appetites of consumers for a holiday shopping feast.

The idea of a store-sponsored Thanksgiving parade did not originate with Macy's, however, but with Philadelphia's Gimbel Brothers Department Store, which first staged a Thanksgiving procession in 1920 with 50 people, 15 cars and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus who ushered in the Christmas shopping season. Like Macy's, J.L. Hudson's Department Store in Detroit also planned a similar event in 1924. In New York, however, the only Thanksgiving parade that had previously passed through the city's streets was its peculiar tradition of children painting their faces and donning tattered clothes to masquerade as "ragamuffins" who asked "Anything for Thanksgiving?" as they went door-to-door asking for pennies, apples and pieces of candy.

At 9 a.m. on the sunlit morning of November 27, 1924, Macy's gave the children of New York a particularly special Thanksgiving treat as a police escort led the start of the parade from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue. The early-morning start time of "Macy's Christmas Parade" overlapped with many church services, but it gave spectators plenty of time to make it to the afternoon's big football game between Syracuse and Columbia universities at the Polo Grounds.

Macy's had promised parade-goers "a marathon of mirth" in its full-page newspaper advertisements. While the parade route may not have extended over 26 miles, its 6-mile length certainly made for a long hike for those marching from Harlem to Herald Square. The spectators who stood four and five people deep, however, could watch it all in just a matter of minutes since the modest street pageant stretched the length of only two city blocks.

To match the nursery-rhyme theme in Macy's Christmas window display in 1924, floats featured Mother Goose favorites such as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood. Macy's employees dressed as clowns, cowboys and sword-wielding knights. A menagerie of animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo-including bears, elephants, camels and monkeys-offered a circus-like atmosphere as four bands provided the soundtrack to the festive march. Bringing up the rear of the parade was a float bearing the guest of honor-Santa Claus-sitting in his reindeer-driven sleigh on top of a mountain of ice.

By noontime, the parade finally arrived at its end in front of Macy's Herald Square store where 10,000 people cheered Santa as he descended from his sleigh. After being crowned "King of the Kiddies," Kris Kringle scaled a ladder and sat on a gold throne mounted on top of the marquee above the store's new 34th Street entrance near Seventh Avenue. With a bellow from his trumpet, Santa sounded the signal to unveil "The Fair Frolics of Wondertown," the Christmastime window display designed by artist and puppeteer Tony Sarg. As soon as the police lowered their crowd-control lines, children rushed to the 75-foot-long window to see the miniature Mother Goose marionette characters on moving belts frolicking in their own parade in front of a castle-like facade.

Although the parade garnered only two sentences the following day in the New York Herald-the same amount of ink given to the charity dinner and screening of the "The Ten Commandments" for the prisoners at the Sing Sing correctional facility-it proved such a smash that Macy's announced in a newspaper advertisement the following morning that it would stage the parade again the following Thanksgiving. "We did not dare dream its success would be so great," stated the advertisement.

Macy's Christmas Parade quickly became a New York holiday tradition to the joy of nearly all except the zoo animals, who did not revel in the six-mile journey, and the marchers treading carefully in their wake. The roars and growls from the tired animals frightened young spectators, so they were replaced by less-surly and more-obedient character balloons, which quickly became the parade's signature attractions after the debut of a helium-filled Felix the Cat, designed by Sarg, in 1927.

While the route has been scaled back to a length of two-and-a-half miles, the size of the parade itself has blossomed with dozens of balloons, marching bands, celebrities and cheerleaders. Although it is now called the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Santa Claus remains the show-stopper, and his arrival in Herald Square still heralds in the Christmas season in New York.

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The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | HISTORY

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Look back at the humble origins of an American holiday tradition-the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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All the weird things that happened

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balloon mishaps at macy's parade: the most infamous accidents - cnn

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The most infamous balloon mishaps from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Since the Thanksgiving Day Parade started marching balloons around Manhattan in 1927, the massive floating figures have occasionally come untethered, blown clear away or been punctured.

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Biggest Mistakes in the Macys Day Parade

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Biggest Mistakes in the Macys Day Parade

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Injuries and mistakes in the Macys day Parade.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: 13 Times the Iconic Show Went Wrong

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Throughout 95 years, the world’s largest parade has had a few mishaps, from Mighty Mouse’s fall to Ronald McDonald’s losing a leg.

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That is one big turkey

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Fred Frommer Fred Frommer is a sports historian, author, and writer who has written for a host of national publications.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade | New York City, Thanksgiving, History, Balloons, & Performers | Britannica

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an American tradition held annually in New York City since 1924. The parade features large balloons, floats, marching bands, and top performers. It is attended in person and watched on television by millions of viewers, and it has become a Thanksgiving staple.

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Who is Tony Sarg? - Nantucket Historical Association

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Adapted by Deborah Sorensen Known as the father of modern puppetry in North America, Sarg was an accomplished illustrator, animator,...More Read more from Who is Tony Sarg?

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All about autumn.

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Table of Contents

This article was most recently revised and updated by

autumn, season of the year between summer and winter during which temperatures gradually decrease. It is often called fall in the United States because leaves fall from the trees at that time. Autumn is usually defined in the Northern Hemisphere as the period between the autumnal equinox (day and night equal in length), September 22 or 23, and the winter solstice (year's shortest day), December 21 or 22; and in the Southern Hemisphere as the period between March 20 or 21 and June 21 or 22. The autumn temperature transition between summer heat and winter cold occurs only in middle and high latitudes; in equatorial regions, temperatures generally vary little during the year. In the polar regions autumn is very short. For physical causes of the seasons, see season.

The concept of autumn in European languages is connected with the harvesting of crops; in many cultures autumn, like the other seasons, has been marked by rites and festivals revolving around the season's importance in food production. Animals gather food in autumn in preparation for the coming winter, and those with fur often grow thicker coats. Many birds migrate toward the Equator to escape the falling temperatures. A common autumn phenomenon in the central and eastern United States and in Europe is Indian summer, a period of unseasonably warm weather that sometimes occurs in late October or November.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Meg Matthias.

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Autumn | Definition, Characteristics, & Facts

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Autumn, or fall, season of the year between summer and winter during which temperatures gradually decrease. The autumn temperature transition between summer heat and winter cold occurs only in middle and high latitudes; in equatorial regions, temperatures generally vary little during the year.

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get to know about the macys day parade

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

1. The Macy's parade was initially Christmas-themed.

The "Macy's Christmas Parade" debuted in 1924 as a way to celebrate the expansion of Macy's flagship Manhattan store, which covered an entire city block and became the self-proclaimed "World's Largest Store." According to The New York Times, "the majority of participants were employees of the stores. There were, however, many professional entertainers who kept the spectators amused as they passed by. Beautiful floats showed the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet, and Red Riding Hood. There were also bears, elephants, donkeys and bands, making the procession resemble a circus parade." (The animals came from the Central Park Zoo.)

2. The parade originally ended with the unveiling of Macy's Christmas window displays.

The parade began at 145th Street and Convent Avenue and continued down to Macy's huge store on 34th Street. All along the route, according to the Times, the parade "was welcomed by such crowds that a large force of policemen had its hands full maintaining the police lines." Some 10,000 people watched Santa-who rode on a float designed to look like a sled being pulled by reindeer-be crowned "King of the Kiddies," then enjoyed the unveiling of the store's Christmas windows. The parade was such a success that Macy's decided to make it an annual event; it would become the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.

3. There were objections to the parade early on.

Two years after the first parade, the Allied Patriotic Societies protested, telling Macy's that it shouldn't hold the event on Thanksgiving because "it would interfere with Thanksgiving Day worship," according to The New York Times, and because it wasn't appropriate for a commercial company to hold a parade on the holiday. If the company didn't acknowledge its protest, the association declared that it would go to the police commissioner and ask him to revoke the parade permit.

Percy Straus, who worked for Macy's, attended the association's meeting. He pointed out that there was no blatant advertising in the parade, and that the word "Macy's" was used just once. "He also said that Thanksgiving morning was the only time when children would be free to watch and traffic would be light enough to permit the parade's passing," the Times wrote. "It would be over, he thought, in ample time to permit churchgoing." Straus's justifications didn't make a difference; the association voted to protest the parade, but its efforts to get the event canceled were unsuccessful-the parade went on as usual.

4. It wasn't new york city's first thanksgiving parade.

Before the Macy's Parade, there was the " Thanksgiving Ragamuffin Parade," an event where local children dressed up as beggars and asked adults on the street for pennies, candy, and apples. The Macy's Parade was such a success that it quickly drove the now-obscure Ragamuffin Parade out of business.

5. The parade's character balloons were inspired by a float.

The Balloonatics float-which, as the name would suggest, was festooned with balloons-inspired the creation of the character balloons. These days, the people who design the balloons are called "Balloonatics."

6. The character balloons in the parade debuted in 1927.

Three years after the first annual parade, balloons made their debut. According to The New York Times, the parade included "a 'human behemoth' 21 feet tall ... [that] had to crawl under the elevated structure at 66th and Broadway," "a 'dinosaur' 60 feet long attended by a bodyguard of prehistoric cavemen," and "a 25-foot dachshund [that] swayed along in the company of gigantic turkeys and chickens and ducks of heroic size." Also in the parade that year, but not mentioned in the Times, was the first character balloon, Felix the Cat.

7. For a few years, there were "balloon races."

The first year, Macy's had no plans for deflating its balloons, so they were released into the air, where they quickly popped. But that all changed with the 1928 parade.

That year, Macy's released five huge figures-an elephant, a 60-foot tiger, a plumed bird, an "early bird" trailing worms, and a 25-foot-high ghost-into the sky. While the majority of the balloons in the parade used regular air to stay afloat, these figures were built around helium balloon bodies, which were designed to slowly leak the gas. As The New York Times explained, "The figures are expected to rise to 2000 to 3000 feet and are timed by a slow leak to stay aloft for a week to 10 days. By then it is expected they will have alighted in various parts of the country." Whoever returned the balloons would receive a $100 reward.

The first balloon to land was the Tiger, which the Times reported landed on the roof of a Long Island home: "A tug of war ensued for its possession ... neighbors and motorists rushed up from all directions. The rubberized silk skin burst into dozens of fragments."

By December 1, four of the balloons had landed (one in the East River, where it broke in two and was pursued by tugboats). The ghost, however, was "reported as having been sighted moving out to sea over the Rockaways with a flock of gulls in pursuit," according to the Times.

8. The parade's last balloon race was held in 1932.

The parade held its last balloon race in 1932 after two incidents involving airplanes. In 1931, aviator Colonel Clarence Duncan Chamberlin snagged a balloon in mid-air and towed it back to his home and received $25 as a reward. In 1932, according to some sources, a 22-year-old woman taking flying lessons purposefully flew the plane she was piloting into one of the released balloons. It was only the quick action of her instructor that kept the plane from crashing.

9. The parade was broadcast for the first time in 1932.

These broadcasts were radio-only, so listeners had to use their imaginations. The first televised parade took place in 1946 and was limited to the New York area only.

10. Mickey Mouse made his parade debut in 1934.

Macy's designers collaborated with Walt Disney to create the 40-foot-high, 23-foot-wide balloon, which was "held down to Earth by 25 husky attendants," according to The New York Times. The parade that year also featured the first balloon based on a real person: comedian and vaudeville star Eddie Cantor.

11. The parade floats used to be pulled by horses.

The Thanksgiving Day parade floats were pulled by horses until 1939. You can see footage of the first horse-free event above.

12. The parade was halted during World War II.

There were rubber and helium shortages, so Macy's canceled the parade from 1942 to 1944. The company deflated its rubber balloons-which weighed 650 pounds total-and donated them to the government. (These days, the balloons are made of polyurethane fabric.) The parade returned in 1945, and in 1946 got a new route, which started at 77th Street and Central Park West and ended at 34th Street-half the length of the previous route.

13. A 1958 helium shortage almost grounded the parade's balloons.

Initially, it looked like a helium shortage would keep Macy's parade balloons from flying in 1958. But the company collaborated with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the rigging specialists Traynor & Hansen Corporation to come up with a creative solution: According to The New York Times, the balloons were filled with air and dangled from "large, mobile construction derricks." The paper also described a test of the method:

"A motorized derrick with a 70-foot boom had a specially built wood-and-steel hanger attached to the end of the wire hoisting cable. The Toy Soldier, weighing more than 200 pounds deflated, was stretched full-length on a canvas carpet. Limp and sickly looking, it was not the robust figure children and adults are used to seeing. Lines from the body of the balloon were attached to the hanger while two vacuum cleaners, working in reverse, blew in air. An hour of blowing filled the figure out nicely and the boom hoisted it into the air."

14. Strong winds caused the balloons to be grounded in 1971.

The balloons have only been grounded once since 1927, when winds during the 1971 parade were too strong for them to fly.

15. One especially long-lasting dinosaur balloon got a sendoff at the American Museum of Natural History.

A 1976, a green balloon modeled on an Apatosaurus dinosaur that had appeared in 13 parades was displayed inside the AMNH's Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda for five days before being retired. Instead of helium, it was filled with air, and visitors got a chance to see it up close. The historic balloon also appeared in the parades in 2015 and 2017.

16. Macy's is a major world consumer of helium, thanks to the parade.

Thanks to the parade, Macy's is reportedly the second-largest consumer of helium in the world. Only the U.S. government consumes more, with NASA and the Department of Defense leading the charge.

17. The parade floats fold down small.

Since 1968, the floats have been designed by artists at Macy's Parade Studio in New Jersey. The floats can be up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide-but they fold down into a 12-foot-by-8-foot box to make the journey through the Lincoln Tunnel.

18. The parade features float-based balloons.

the parade features float-based balloons called falloons-a combination of float and balloon-which were introduced sometime around 1990. There are also balloon vehicles called balloonicles (a portmanteau of balloon and vehicle), which made their debut in 2004. Trycaloons -balloons on tricycles-hit the parade in 2011.

19. All of the balloons are designed in-house by Macy's artists-and it's a long process.

Macy's balloon designers-dubbed "balloonatics"-begin their work up to a year before the parade with pencil sketches of each character, analyzing not just aesthetics but also aerodynamics and engineering. The sketches are followed by scaled-down clay models that are used to create casts of the balloons. Two miniature replicas are created: One that's marked with technical details, and one that's painted in the balloon's colors. The models are immersed in water to figure out how much helium they'll need to float. Finally, the schematics are scanned by computer, and the fabric pieces are cut and heat-sealed to create the various air chambers of the balloon.

20. The parade's balloons are painted only after they're inflated.

Once the balloon is created, it's painted while inflated (otherwise, the paint will crack), then undergoes leak testing and indoor and outdoor flight tests. No wonder it costs at least $190,000 for a first-time balloon (after a first appearance, it costs $90,000 a year after that). The balloons are completed by Halloween and stored along a wall in the design studio's balloon warehouse.

21. The balloons are directed by "balloon pilots."

They're the people walking backwards in front of the balloon, directing a crew of volunteers holding guide ropes (called "bones") and two Toro utility vehicles. Macy's offers training three times a year for pilots. "We offer the pilots and captains the chance to go around the field a couple times with the balloon a couple of times and practice the instruction and guidance," Kelly Kramer, a longtime Macy's employee and balloon pilot, told Vanity Fair in 2014. "We also have classroom training."

22. Being a balloon pilot takes some physical training, too.

It's also important for balloon pilots to train physically; if not, "The next morning you wake up and you almost cannot get out of bed because your calves seize up," according to Kramer. "I walked backwards in my neighborhood at night."

23. People who want to volunteer to walk with the balloons have to meet certain requirements.

It takes 90 minutes to inflate the big balloons, which, on average, contain 12,000 cubic feet of helium, which is capable of lifting nearly 750 pounds (or filling 2500 bathtubs). Each balloon requires up to 90 handlers, who have to weigh at least 120 pounds and be in good health.

24. The balloons are inflated the day before the parade-which is an event in its own right.

The balloons are inflated the day before the parade outside the American Museum of Natural History, then topped off the day of. Because helium expands in the sun, the balloons are typically left slightly under-inflated.

25. One character has appeared in the parade more than any other.

That honor goes to Snoopy, who debuted in the 1968 parade and has had a grand total of seven balloons. The beloved character has made 39 appearances on and off through 2015, but in 2016, he was replaced by Charlie Brown. Fortunately, Snoopy will be returning for the 2019 parade.

26. There was one year when Santa Claus wasn't the parade's finale.

In 1933, Santa led the parade instead of closing it. It was the only year where the jolly red guy wasn't the grand finale.

27. Some of the parade's balloons get their start in South Dakota.

Many of the parade balloons are made by Raven Industries, a rubber firm in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since 1984, Raven has made nearly 100 balloons. Beginning in April, it takes 25 employees to work on the year's balloons.

28. Some weird balloons have been featured in the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Among them were the Nantucket Sea Monster (1937), the wrestler The Terrible Turk (which memorably hit a traffic pole and split in half in 1931), a Pinocchio with a 44-foot-long nose (1937), a couple of two-headed balloons (1936), an ice cream cone and a jack 'o lantern (1945), a space man (1952), Smokey Bear (1969), cereal spokes-animal Linus the Lion (1973), and more.

29. Those giant balloons face a lot of threats.

There are many things that pose threats to the parade balloons: electric wires (which caused the Felix the Cat balloon to burst into flames when it hit them in 1931), rain (which filled the Popeye balloon's hat with water, which got dumped on spectators along the parade route in 1957), tree branches (which once tore off Superman's hand). But a balloon's greatest enemy is wind: In 1993, wind caused the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon to hit a lamppost; the light fell and injured one. In 1997, police stabbed a Pink Panther balloon when wind sent it careening; that same year, the wind made an oversized Cat in the Hat balloon hit a streetlight, sending two people to the hospital with head injuries (after the incident, the parade instituted new size rules). In 2005, an M&M balloon got tangled on a streetlamp, causing the lamp to fall and injuring two, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Each balloon flies at a height determined by its size and weather conditions, and the wind poses such a threat that if sustained wind speeds or gusts are too strong, the balloons won't fly.

30. Deflating the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons takes just 15 minutes.

After the parade is over, the balloons are deflated behind Macy's on Seventh Avenue. First, the volunteers open up zippers on the sides of the balloons; when most of the helium has escaped, they lie on the balloon to get all the helium out, then roll the character up from front to back. The balloon is then put in storage until the next parade.

31. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was led by the same woman for 24 years.

Jean McFaddin served as the senior vice president for Macy's special productions from 1977 to 2001, which meant she was responsible not only for the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but also Macy's famous Santaland, among other things.

32. Some parades have been held in especially frigid temperatures.

The first snowstorm on parade day was in 1989, and dumped 4.7 inches on the city. But at just 19°F, the coldest parade was in 2018.

33. The former Macy's parade studio had a sweet beginning.

For four decades, the parade's studio was located in a former Tootsie Roll Factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2011, the studio moved to a 71,000-square-foot warehouse in Moonachie.

34. Some big celebrities have served as commentators.

In addition to the Today show hosts that host the parade now, past parade commentators have included Betty White, Ed McMahon, Shari Lewis, Helen Reddy, Della Reese, and Phylicia Rashād.

35. Beavis and Butt-head were parade commentators during one memorable year.

In 1997, Beavis and Butthead commentated on the parade along with host Kurt Loder. They called the special Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, and they even got their own balloon featuring their likenesses sitting on a couch. The balloon wasn't on the parade route, but rather tethered to a building on the route.

36. Musicals have been part of the Macy's parade for decades.

Broadway musicals have been featured in the parade since at least 1980, when The Pirates of Penzance performed atop a pirate ship.

37. The bleacher seats are reserved for special guests.

The bleacher seats that line key sections of the parade may seem like the perfect seats, but unless you know someone, you probably won't find yourself sitting there: They're reserved for Macy's guests only, and no tickets are sold for those seats.

38. You can't get married or engaged at the Thanksgiving Day parade, so don't even try.

The question is raised enough that it's addressed in the FAQ section of the Macy's Parade website: "Though it would be an honor to share in this special moment, this is not something that we can take part in or approve. At this time, we're devoted to producing the nation's most beloved holiday event and coordinating more than 8000 participants, dozens of floats, balloons and vehicles, security and other major logistics."

39. It's not the oldest Thanksgiving Parade in the U.S.

That distinction belongs to Philadelphia, where Gimbel's, a department store, held a modest affair in 1920. It got less modest as time went on.

40. When 9/11 happened, parade organizers added patriotic and New York-centric floats and balloons.

Additions included a Statue of Liberty float with the flags of all 50 states, floats for the fire and police departments, and a Big Apple float that featured the city's emergency services workers and other officials.

41. Contemporary artists have created balloons for the parade too.

The "Blue Sky Gallery" is a special part of the parade that invites contemporary artists to transform their work into balloons. Beginning in 2005, artists have included Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Tim Burton, Takashi Murakami, KAWS, and, for 2019, Yayoi Kusama.

42. Yes, the singers on the parade floats all lip-sync.

Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live! https://t.co/C2bGj63AF6

- John Legend (@johnlegend) November 22, 2018

That's true even if they're amazing live performers. Why? Because the floats aren't equipped to deliver the proper sound quality, as John Legend pointed out in 2018.

43. Some of the parade balloons get a second life in Florida.

For several years, select balloons from the parade were sent down to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, to make special appearances in the park during the holiday season. The event has since been rebranded "Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's," with Macy's designing 13 balloons exclusively for Universal.

44. The Rockettes have been involved for decades.

The dance troupe and their signature high kicks have been a parade staple since their first appearance in 1957.

45. Marching bands have to apply months ahead of time for the parade.

Bands across the U.S. have to apply well in advance to be considered for a spot in the parade. After submitting an application and a video of the band's field marching performance, approved bands are notified roughly 18 months in advance.

46. In 2012, shredded documents from the Nassau County Police Department ended up as confetti in the parade.

Sensitive information that was clearly visible included Social Security numbers, license plate numbers, and banking data. Macy's only uses multi-colored confetti, a spokesperson said, and authorities were investigating how the private documents ended up in the parade.

47. We might get a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie one day.

A Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie was once in the works, with a premise that included the oversized balloons coming to life. Presumably it's still floating around in development.

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47 Fun Facts About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

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Up, up and away! See 10 decades of Thanksgiving Day parade balloons

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CNN floats down memory lane with some of the iconic balloons, and how the New York landscape has changed, alongside the beloved American holiday event.

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some fun facts

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

1. The Macy's parade was initially Christmas-themed.

The "Macy's Christmas Parade" debuted in 1924 as a way to celebrate the expansion of Macy's flagship Manhattan store, which covered an entire city block and became the self-proclaimed "World's Largest Store." According to The New York Times, "the majority of participants were employees of the stores. There were, however, many professional entertainers who kept the spectators amused as they passed by. Beautiful floats showed the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet, and Red Riding Hood. There were also bears, elephants, donkeys and bands, making the procession resemble a circus parade." (The animals came from the Central Park Zoo.)

2. The parade originally ended with the unveiling of Macy's Christmas window displays.

The parade began at 145th Street and Convent Avenue and continued down to Macy's huge store on 34th Street. All along the route, according to the Times, the parade "was welcomed by such crowds that a large force of policemen had its hands full maintaining the police lines." Some 10,000 people watched Santa-who rode on a float designed to look like a sled being pulled by reindeer-be crowned "King of the Kiddies," then enjoyed the unveiling of the store's Christmas windows. The parade was such a success that Macy's decided to make it an annual event; it would become the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.

3. There were objections to the parade early on.

Two years after the first parade, the Allied Patriotic Societies protested, telling Macy's that it shouldn't hold the event on Thanksgiving because "it would interfere with Thanksgiving Day worship," according to The New York Times, and because it wasn't appropriate for a commercial company to hold a parade on the holiday. If the company didn't acknowledge its protest, the association declared that it would go to the police commissioner and ask him to revoke the parade permit.

Percy Straus, who worked for Macy's, attended the association's meeting. He pointed out that there was no blatant advertising in the parade, and that the word "Macy's" was used just once. "He also said that Thanksgiving morning was the only time when children would be free to watch and traffic would be light enough to permit the parade's passing," the Times wrote. "It would be over, he thought, in ample time to permit churchgoing." Straus's justifications didn't make a difference; the association voted to protest the parade, but its efforts to get the event canceled were unsuccessful-the parade went on as usual.

4. It wasn't new york city's first thanksgiving parade.

Before the Macy's Parade, there was the " Thanksgiving Ragamuffin Parade," an event where local children dressed up as beggars and asked adults on the street for pennies, candy, and apples. The Macy's Parade was such a success that it quickly drove the now-obscure Ragamuffin Parade out of business.

5. The parade's character balloons were inspired by a float.

The Balloonatics float-which, as the name would suggest, was festooned with balloons-inspired the creation of the character balloons. These days, the people who design the balloons are called "Balloonatics."

6. The character balloons in the parade debuted in 1927.

Three years after the first annual parade, balloons made their debut. According to The New York Times, the parade included "a 'human behemoth' 21 feet tall ... [that] had to crawl under the elevated structure at 66th and Broadway," "a 'dinosaur' 60 feet long attended by a bodyguard of prehistoric cavemen," and "a 25-foot dachshund [that] swayed along in the company of gigantic turkeys and chickens and ducks of heroic size." Also in the parade that year, but not mentioned in the Times, was the first character balloon, Felix the Cat.

7. For a few years, there were "balloon races."

The first year, Macy's had no plans for deflating its balloons, so they were released into the air, where they quickly popped. But that all changed with the 1928 parade.

That year, Macy's released five huge figures-an elephant, a 60-foot tiger, a plumed bird, an "early bird" trailing worms, and a 25-foot-high ghost-into the sky. While the majority of the balloons in the parade used regular air to stay afloat, these figures were built around helium balloon bodies, which were designed to slowly leak the gas. As The New York Times explained, "The figures are expected to rise to 2000 to 3000 feet and are timed by a slow leak to stay aloft for a week to 10 days. By then it is expected they will have alighted in various parts of the country." Whoever returned the balloons would receive a $100 reward.

The first balloon to land was the Tiger, which the Times reported landed on the roof of a Long Island home: "A tug of war ensued for its possession ... neighbors and motorists rushed up from all directions. The rubberized silk skin burst into dozens of fragments."

By December 1, four of the balloons had landed (one in the East River, where it broke in two and was pursued by tugboats). The ghost, however, was "reported as having been sighted moving out to sea over the Rockaways with a flock of gulls in pursuit," according to the Times.

8. The parade's last balloon race was held in 1932.

The parade held its last balloon race in 1932 after two incidents involving airplanes. In 1931, aviator Colonel Clarence Duncan Chamberlin snagged a balloon in mid-air and towed it back to his home and received $25 as a reward. In 1932, according to some sources, a 22-year-old woman taking flying lessons purposefully flew the plane she was piloting into one of the released balloons. It was only the quick action of her instructor that kept the plane from crashing.

9. The parade was broadcast for the first time in 1932.

These broadcasts were radio-only, so listeners had to use their imaginations. The first televised parade took place in 1946 and was limited to the New York area only.

10. Mickey Mouse made his parade debut in 1934.

Macy's designers collaborated with Walt Disney to create the 40-foot-high, 23-foot-wide balloon, which was "held down to Earth by 25 husky attendants," according to The New York Times. The parade that year also featured the first balloon based on a real person: comedian and vaudeville star Eddie Cantor.

11. The parade floats used to be pulled by horses.

The Thanksgiving Day parade floats were pulled by horses until 1939. You can see footage of the first horse-free event above.

12. The parade was halted during World War II.

There were rubber and helium shortages, so Macy's canceled the parade from 1942 to 1944. The company deflated its rubber balloons-which weighed 650 pounds total-and donated them to the government. (These days, the balloons are made of polyurethane fabric.) The parade returned in 1945, and in 1946 got a new route, which started at 77th Street and Central Park West and ended at 34th Street-half the length of the previous route.

13. A 1958 helium shortage almost grounded the parade's balloons.

Initially, it looked like a helium shortage would keep Macy's parade balloons from flying in 1958. But the company collaborated with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the rigging specialists Traynor & Hansen Corporation to come up with a creative solution: According to The New York Times, the balloons were filled with air and dangled from "large, mobile construction derricks." The paper also described a test of the method:

"A motorized derrick with a 70-foot boom had a specially built wood-and-steel hanger attached to the end of the wire hoisting cable. The Toy Soldier, weighing more than 200 pounds deflated, was stretched full-length on a canvas carpet. Limp and sickly looking, it was not the robust figure children and adults are used to seeing. Lines from the body of the balloon were attached to the hanger while two vacuum cleaners, working in reverse, blew in air. An hour of blowing filled the figure out nicely and the boom hoisted it into the air."

14. Strong winds caused the balloons to be grounded in 1971.

The balloons have only been grounded once since 1927, when winds during the 1971 parade were too strong for them to fly.

15. One especially long-lasting dinosaur balloon got a sendoff at the American Museum of Natural History.

A 1976, a green balloon modeled on an Apatosaurus dinosaur that had appeared in 13 parades was displayed inside the AMNH's Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda for five days before being retired. Instead of helium, it was filled with air, and visitors got a chance to see it up close. The historic balloon also appeared in the parades in 2015 and 2017.

16. Macy's is a major world consumer of helium, thanks to the parade.

Thanks to the parade, Macy's is reportedly the second-largest consumer of helium in the world. Only the U.S. government consumes more, with NASA and the Department of Defense leading the charge.

17. The parade floats fold down small.

Since 1968, the floats have been designed by artists at Macy's Parade Studio in New Jersey. The floats can be up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide-but they fold down into a 12-foot-by-8-foot box to make the journey through the Lincoln Tunnel.

18. The parade features float-based balloons.

the parade features float-based balloons called falloons-a combination of float and balloon-which were introduced sometime around 1990. There are also balloon vehicles called balloonicles (a portmanteau of balloon and vehicle), which made their debut in 2004. Trycaloons -balloons on tricycles-hit the parade in 2011.

19. All of the balloons are designed in-house by Macy's artists-and it's a long process.

Macy's balloon designers-dubbed "balloonatics"-begin their work up to a year before the parade with pencil sketches of each character, analyzing not just aesthetics but also aerodynamics and engineering. The sketches are followed by scaled-down clay models that are used to create casts of the balloons. Two miniature replicas are created: One that's marked with technical details, and one that's painted in the balloon's colors. The models are immersed in water to figure out how much helium they'll need to float. Finally, the schematics are scanned by computer, and the fabric pieces are cut and heat-sealed to create the various air chambers of the balloon.

20. The parade's balloons are painted only after they're inflated.

Once the balloon is created, it's painted while inflated (otherwise, the paint will crack), then undergoes leak testing and indoor and outdoor flight tests. No wonder it costs at least $190,000 for a first-time balloon (after a first appearance, it costs $90,000 a year after that). The balloons are completed by Halloween and stored along a wall in the design studio's balloon warehouse.

21. The balloons are directed by "balloon pilots."

They're the people walking backwards in front of the balloon, directing a crew of volunteers holding guide ropes (called "bones") and two Toro utility vehicles. Macy's offers training three times a year for pilots. "We offer the pilots and captains the chance to go around the field a couple times with the balloon a couple of times and practice the instruction and guidance," Kelly Kramer, a longtime Macy's employee and balloon pilot, told Vanity Fair in 2014. "We also have classroom training."

22. Being a balloon pilot takes some physical training, too.

It's also important for balloon pilots to train physically; if not, "The next morning you wake up and you almost cannot get out of bed because your calves seize up," according to Kramer. "I walked backwards in my neighborhood at night."

23. People who want to volunteer to walk with the balloons have to meet certain requirements.

It takes 90 minutes to inflate the big balloons, which, on average, contain 12,000 cubic feet of helium, which is capable of lifting nearly 750 pounds (or filling 2500 bathtubs). Each balloon requires up to 90 handlers, who have to weigh at least 120 pounds and be in good health.

24. The balloons are inflated the day before the parade-which is an event in its own right.

The balloons are inflated the day before the parade outside the American Museum of Natural History, then topped off the day of. Because helium expands in the sun, the balloons are typically left slightly under-inflated.

25. One character has appeared in the parade more than any other.

That honor goes to Snoopy, who debuted in the 1968 parade and has had a grand total of seven balloons. The beloved character has made 39 appearances on and off through 2015, but in 2016, he was replaced by Charlie Brown. Fortunately, Snoopy will be returning for the 2019 parade.

26. There was one year when Santa Claus wasn't the parade's finale.

In 1933, Santa led the parade instead of closing it. It was the only year where the jolly red guy wasn't the grand finale.

27. Some of the parade's balloons get their start in South Dakota.

Many of the parade balloons are made by Raven Industries, a rubber firm in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since 1984, Raven has made nearly 100 balloons. Beginning in April, it takes 25 employees to work on the year's balloons.

28. Some weird balloons have been featured in the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Among them were the Nantucket Sea Monster (1937), the wrestler The Terrible Turk (which memorably hit a traffic pole and split in half in 1931), a Pinocchio with a 44-foot-long nose (1937), a couple of two-headed balloons (1936), an ice cream cone and a jack 'o lantern (1945), a space man (1952), Smokey Bear (1969), cereal spokes-animal Linus the Lion (1973), and more.

29. Those giant balloons face a lot of threats.

There are many things that pose threats to the parade balloons: electric wires (which caused the Felix the Cat balloon to burst into flames when it hit them in 1931), rain (which filled the Popeye balloon's hat with water, which got dumped on spectators along the parade route in 1957), tree branches (which once tore off Superman's hand). But a balloon's greatest enemy is wind: In 1993, wind caused the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon to hit a lamppost; the light fell and injured one. In 1997, police stabbed a Pink Panther balloon when wind sent it careening; that same year, the wind made an oversized Cat in the Hat balloon hit a streetlight, sending two people to the hospital with head injuries (after the incident, the parade instituted new size rules). In 2005, an M&M balloon got tangled on a streetlamp, causing the lamp to fall and injuring two, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Each balloon flies at a height determined by its size and weather conditions, and the wind poses such a threat that if sustained wind speeds or gusts are too strong, the balloons won't fly.

30. Deflating the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons takes just 15 minutes.

After the parade is over, the balloons are deflated behind Macy's on Seventh Avenue. First, the volunteers open up zippers on the sides of the balloons; when most of the helium has escaped, they lie on the balloon to get all the helium out, then roll the character up from front to back. The balloon is then put in storage until the next parade.

31. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was led by the same woman for 24 years.

Jean McFaddin served as the senior vice president for Macy's special productions from 1977 to 2001, which meant she was responsible not only for the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but also Macy's famous Santaland, among other things.

32. Some parades have been held in especially frigid temperatures.

The first snowstorm on parade day was in 1989, and dumped 4.7 inches on the city. But at just 19°F, the coldest parade was in 2018.

33. The former Macy's parade studio had a sweet beginning.

For four decades, the parade's studio was located in a former Tootsie Roll Factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2011, the studio moved to a 71,000-square-foot warehouse in Moonachie.

34. Some big celebrities have served as commentators.

In addition to the Today show hosts that host the parade now, past parade commentators have included Betty White, Ed McMahon, Shari Lewis, Helen Reddy, Della Reese, and Phylicia Rashād.

35. Beavis and Butt-head were parade commentators during one memorable year.

In 1997, Beavis and Butthead commentated on the parade along with host Kurt Loder. They called the special Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, and they even got their own balloon featuring their likenesses sitting on a couch. The balloon wasn't on the parade route, but rather tethered to a building on the route.

36. Musicals have been part of the Macy's parade for decades.

Broadway musicals have been featured in the parade since at least 1980, when The Pirates of Penzance performed atop a pirate ship.

37. The bleacher seats are reserved for special guests.

The bleacher seats that line key sections of the parade may seem like the perfect seats, but unless you know someone, you probably won't find yourself sitting there: They're reserved for Macy's guests only, and no tickets are sold for those seats.

38. You can't get married or engaged at the Thanksgiving Day parade, so don't even try.

The question is raised enough that it's addressed in the FAQ section of the Macy's Parade website: "Though it would be an honor to share in this special moment, this is not something that we can take part in or approve. At this time, we're devoted to producing the nation's most beloved holiday event and coordinating more than 8000 participants, dozens of floats, balloons and vehicles, security and other major logistics."

39. It's not the oldest Thanksgiving Parade in the U.S.

That distinction belongs to Philadelphia, where Gimbel's, a department store, held a modest affair in 1920. It got less modest as time went on.

40. When 9/11 happened, parade organizers added patriotic and New York-centric floats and balloons.

Additions included a Statue of Liberty float with the flags of all 50 states, floats for the fire and police departments, and a Big Apple float that featured the city's emergency services workers and other officials.

41. Contemporary artists have created balloons for the parade too.

The "Blue Sky Gallery" is a special part of the parade that invites contemporary artists to transform their work into balloons. Beginning in 2005, artists have included Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Tim Burton, Takashi Murakami, KAWS, and, for 2019, Yayoi Kusama.

42. Yes, the singers on the parade floats all lip-sync.

Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live! https://t.co/C2bGj63AF6

- John Legend (@johnlegend) November 22, 2018

That's true even if they're amazing live performers. Why? Because the floats aren't equipped to deliver the proper sound quality, as John Legend pointed out in 2018.

43. Some of the parade balloons get a second life in Florida.

For several years, select balloons from the parade were sent down to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, to make special appearances in the park during the holiday season. The event has since been rebranded "Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's," with Macy's designing 13 balloons exclusively for Universal.

44. The Rockettes have been involved for decades.

The dance troupe and their signature high kicks have been a parade staple since their first appearance in 1957.

45. Marching bands have to apply months ahead of time for the parade.

Bands across the U.S. have to apply well in advance to be considered for a spot in the parade. After submitting an application and a video of the band's field marching performance, approved bands are notified roughly 18 months in advance.

46. In 2012, shredded documents from the Nassau County Police Department ended up as confetti in the parade.

Sensitive information that was clearly visible included Social Security numbers, license plate numbers, and banking data. Macy's only uses multi-colored confetti, a spokesperson said, and authorities were investigating how the private documents ended up in the parade.

47. We might get a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie one day.

A Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie was once in the works, with a premise that included the oversized balloons coming to life. Presumably it's still floating around in development.

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47 Fun Facts About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

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Worst Disasters At The Macy's Day Parade

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Worst Disasters At The Macy's Day Parade

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This doesn't look so good

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balloon mishaps at macy's parade: the most infamous accidents - cnn

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The most infamous balloon mishaps from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Since the Thanksgiving Day Parade started marching balloons around Manhattan in 1927, the massive floating figures have occasionally come untethered, blown clear away or been punctured.

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This is a website about the balloons he made

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922. He soon opened the Tony Sarg Shop at 38 Centre Street, which relocated in 1929 to the corner of Easy Street and Steamboat Wharf as Tony Sarg's Curiosity Shop. Less well known for his fine art, Sarg was an active member of the Art Colony, a supporter of Florence Lang, and a close friend and occasional host of the "dean" of the Art Colony, Frank Swift Chase. For the 1927 Nantucket Follies at the Yacht Club, organized by Austin Strong, the Inquirer and Mirror wrote that Sarg "presented a puppet munching a cracker, and then drew a caricature of his assistant, Frank Swift Chase, in the form of a rotund cupid." Sarg exhibited his works regularly at the Easy Street Gallery, including those on display here.

Sarg's other Nantucket activities were nearly limitless: he created the logo for the Wharf Rat Club and instigated the hoax of the "Sea Monster," a large balloon creature inflated on Coatue and sailed across the harbor to land at South Beach, where it delighted and surprised islanders of all ages. Sarg designed several posters for the hospital fêtes, fundraisers for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, among his other island productions. Tony Sarg's Shop on Easy Street at the head of Steamboat Wharf.

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Tony Sarg - Nantucket Historical Association

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922.

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Funny balloons

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The 17 Most Iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats

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From Felix the Cat marking the first-ever balloon in the parade in 1921, to Yayoi Kusama’s mesmerizing float design in 2019, these are the inflatable figures we’ll never forget

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Some very cool mishaps and mistakes in the Macy's Day Parade.

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The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, and in that time has become an American staple for the holiday season. The world's largest parade, it has been broadcast on NBC since 1952 and includes giant balloons, floats, musical performances and marching bands.

The parade started with Macy's employees marching to the store's first location at Herald Square, dressed in costume and accompanied by floats, bands and live animals. This first parade also started the tradition of closing out the show with an appearance by Santa Claus, which continues to this day. It has run every year since 1924 except for 1942-44, when it was suspended due to the World War II need for helium and rubber.

Throughout the 90 years of the parade, there were bound to be some problems, and from balloon malfunctions to lip sync screw-ups, that has definitely been the case. Check out the videos below of some of the show's most memorable mishaps.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: 7 Times the Iconic Show Went Wrong

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The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, and in that time has become an American staple for the holiday season. The world's largest parade, it has been broadcast on NBC since 1952 and includes giant balloons, floats, musical performances and marching bands.

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see how the Macy's day parade started

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NYCdata provides all the information about New York City you need. A division of the Weissman Center for International Business (WCIB) at Baruch College

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Good dates and facts about the Macy's Day Parade.

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Macy’s Parade: The History Of The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Want to learn about Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Read more about the history of this famous parade here.

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Information on how it is played out.

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information on the first macys day parade

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As the United States prospered during the Roaring Twenties, so did New York City's iconic department store-Macy's. After going public in 1922, R. H. Macy & Co. started to acquire competitors and open regional locations. Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square did such a brisk business that it expanded in 1924 to cover an entire city block stretching from Broadway to Seventh Avenue along 34th Street.

To showcase the opening of the "World's Largest Store" and its 1 million square feet of retail space at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, Macy's decided to throw New York a parade on Thanksgiving morning. In spite of its timing, the parade was not actually about Thanksgiving at all but the next major holiday on the calendar- Christmas. Macy's hoped its "Christmas Parade" would whet the appetites of consumers for a holiday shopping feast.

The idea of a store-sponsored Thanksgiving parade did not originate with Macy's, however, but with Philadelphia's Gimbel Brothers Department Store, which first staged a Thanksgiving procession in 1920 with 50 people, 15 cars and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus who ushered in the Christmas shopping season. Like Macy's, J.L. Hudson's Department Store in Detroit also planned a similar event in 1924. In New York, however, the only Thanksgiving parade that had previously passed through the city's streets was its peculiar tradition of children painting their faces and donning tattered clothes to masquerade as "ragamuffins" who asked "Anything for Thanksgiving?" as they went door-to-door asking for pennies, apples and pieces of candy.

At 9 a.m. on the sunlit morning of November 27, 1924, Macy's gave the children of New York a particularly special Thanksgiving treat as a police escort led the start of the parade from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue. The early-morning start time of "Macy's Christmas Parade" overlapped with many church services, but it gave spectators plenty of time to make it to the afternoon's big football game between Syracuse and Columbia universities at the Polo Grounds.

Macy's had promised parade-goers "a marathon of mirth" in its full-page newspaper advertisements. While the parade route may not have extended over 26 miles, its 6-mile length certainly made for a long hike for those marching from Harlem to Herald Square. The spectators who stood four and five people deep, however, could watch it all in just a matter of minutes since the modest street pageant stretched the length of only two city blocks.

To match the nursery-rhyme theme in Macy's Christmas window display in 1924, floats featured Mother Goose favorites such as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood. Macy's employees dressed as clowns, cowboys and sword-wielding knights. A menagerie of animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo-including bears, elephants, camels and monkeys-offered a circus-like atmosphere as four bands provided the soundtrack to the festive march. Bringing up the rear of the parade was a float bearing the guest of honor-Santa Claus-sitting in his reindeer-driven sleigh on top of a mountain of ice.

By noontime, the parade finally arrived at its end in front of Macy's Herald Square store where 10,000 people cheered Santa as he descended from his sleigh. After being crowned "King of the Kiddies," Kris Kringle scaled a ladder and sat on a gold throne mounted on top of the marquee above the store's new 34th Street entrance near Seventh Avenue. With a bellow from his trumpet, Santa sounded the signal to unveil "The Fair Frolics of Wondertown," the Christmastime window display designed by artist and puppeteer Tony Sarg. As soon as the police lowered their crowd-control lines, children rushed to the 75-foot-long window to see the miniature Mother Goose marionette characters on moving belts frolicking in their own parade in front of a castle-like facade.

Although the parade garnered only two sentences the following day in the New York Herald-the same amount of ink given to the charity dinner and screening of the "The Ten Commandments" for the prisoners at the Sing Sing correctional facility-it proved such a smash that Macy's announced in a newspaper advertisement the following morning that it would stage the parade again the following Thanksgiving. "We did not dare dream its success would be so great," stated the advertisement.

Macy's Christmas Parade quickly became a New York holiday tradition to the joy of nearly all except the zoo animals, who did not revel in the six-mile journey, and the marchers treading carefully in their wake. The roars and growls from the tired animals frightened young spectators, so they were replaced by less-surly and more-obedient character balloons, which quickly became the parade's signature attractions after the debut of a helium-filled Felix the Cat, designed by Sarg, in 1927.

While the route has been scaled back to a length of two-and-a-half miles, the size of the parade itself has blossomed with dozens of balloons, marching bands, celebrities and cheerleaders. Although it is now called the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Santa Claus remains the show-stopper, and his arrival in Herald Square still heralds in the Christmas season in New York.

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Fact Check

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The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | HISTORY

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Look back at the humble origins of an American holiday tradition-the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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Taylor Swift singing at the Macy's day Parade

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Taylor Swift singing at the Macy's day Parade

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Taylor has sang in the Macy's day parade many times

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Taylor Swift to play Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS

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The pop superstar will perform along with the Broadway casts of “Matilda” and “Pippin” this year

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When did Tony Sarg start making balloons

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When did Tony Sarg start making balloons

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this is who brought the balloons to the parade.

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The Puppeteer Who Brought Balloons to the Thanksgiving Day Parade

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A Thursday morning tradition came with strings attached

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Whoops

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History of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accidents

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Each Thanksgiving Day in New York City since 1924, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the biggest event on the calendar. It's only been cancelled three times in its 95 year history, due to helium shortages during the WWII years. And in 2021 with Covid changing all sorts of events the world over.

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1hr video on the Macy's Day Parade

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History on the Macys Day Parade over the years

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The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will march its two-and-a-half-mile route from Central Park West to Macy's Herald Square on Nov. 23, spreading holiday cheer in New York. This year's special guests include a star-studded lineup featuring performances from Cher, Jon Batiste, En Vogue, Brandy, Enhypen and more. Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke, U.S. Olympic silver medal gymnast Jordan Chiles and others will also join the festivities.

The 2023 parade will include 16 character balloons, 32 heritage and novelty balloons and 12 marching bands. Ahead of the annual holiday celebration, WWD takes a look back at the parade over the years - how it's changed, grown and maintained traditions.

The Macy's "Christmas" Parade

The first event was started by Macy's employees on Thanksgiving Day 1924, on Nov. 27, to promote holiday sales and the retailer's newly expanded Herald Square store - then the largest in the world. Macy's was established in 1858 and is considered one of the country's oldest and biggest department store chains. It opened at Herald Square in 1902.

The first parade was such a success that it was declared an annual tradition from there on out. The big event was originally called the Macy's Christmas Parade (the name was changed in 1927), and featured real elephants and other animals from the Central Park Zoo. Macy's employees, professional entertainers and the animals walked six miles from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy's, as over 250,000 onlookers watched.

The Big Balloons made their debut in 1927

The large balloons associated with the parade debuted in 1927, replacing the zoo animals. Felix the Cat had the honor of being the first-ever parade balloon. The original balloons had a short life span as they didn't have release valves, so they were released into the sky to pop in the air. They were also filled with regular air, not helium, back then, meaning they didn't float quite so high.

In 1928, valves were added to the balloons that allowed the helium to slowly escape once they were freed into the sky at the end of the parade. They included a return address and a reward to encourage the return of balloons, but not all of them made it back. One landed in the East River and another in the sea. By 1934, Macy's stopped the process of releasing balloons into the air.

Mickey Mouse joined the fun in 1934

In 1934, Mickey Mouse made his Thanksgiving Day Parade debut with a balloon that Walt Disney himself helped design. His balloon handlers were also dressed like the famous mouse. Mickey was first introduced to the world in 1928 in the animated short "Steamboat Willie." Thus, this balloon looked like the original renderings of the Disney star. New versions of Balloon Mickey were introduced over the years- 1977, 2000 and 2009 - to keep up with his evolution.

The three years with no parade: 1940s

The parade was canceled from 1942 to 1944 due to rubber and helium shortages during World War II. The event resumed in 1945, fittingly featuring an Uncle Sam balloon, and hasn't missed a year since. The classic Christmas film "Miracle on 34th Street," released in 1947, featured footage from the 1946 Macy's parade, making it a household name outside New York City.

In 1948, the parade was broadcast on national TV for the first time. There was another helium shortage in 1958, so the balloons were filled with normal air and hung from construction cranes.

Floats elevate the parade in 1968

In 1968, Macy's creative teams designed intricate floats to include in the parade for the first time. There have been smaller floats in the parade since its launch. The floats are still entirely designed by Macy's employees. While the floats themselves are up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide, they can each, rather miraculously, fold into a 12.5-foot by 8-foot box for more accessible transportation to the parade route. They're made and staged in New Jersey, so they must travel through the Lincoln Tunnel to make it to Manhattan.

Each parade is a pop culture time capsule

Just as the different versions of Mickey Mouse have been on display at the Thanksgiving Day Parade over the years, the balloons and special guests provide a glimpse into youth pop culture at the time.

In 1961, Miss Teenage America Diane Lynn Cox posed in princess attire on a float with "Prince Charming" actor Troy Donahue. In 1977, Kermit the Frog made his first appearance at the parade (returning in 2002), with his balloon handlers dressed to match him.

In 1980, Big Bird sat high atop a Sesame Street float surrounded by a marching band. Eighties balloons included Woody Woodpecker, Raggedy Ann and Betty Boop atop a smiling crescent moon.

Nineties balloons include Bart Simpson on a skateboard, Spiderman, "The Cat in the Hat," "The Rugrats," Clifford and Beethoven. In 1999, there was an Ask Jeeves - a precursor to Google search - float featuring Miss America Heather French. In 2003, Canadian pop-punk band Simple Plan performed on the M&M float. Shrek made his debut in 2007 when his third film dropped.

1997: Dangerously windy city

In 1997, gusts of strong winds of up to 43 miles an hour wreaked havoc on the parade, causing many of the 17 massive balloons to rip, deflate and crash to the ground. Unfortunately, one of the balloons hit a lamppost, the top part of which fell and injured four people in the crowd. Barney the Dinosaur was severely damaged and removed at 51st Street, and the Pink Panther crashed down at 42nd Street, where a cop stabbed his tail to keep the cat from flying away.

The parade marches on during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Macy's Day Parade was one of the few large public events that went on during 2020. Yet participants followed strict COVID-19 protocols, resulting in a scaled-down production that made for a very different-looking parade on the ground. Much of the parade was pre-taped and the route was reduced to one block. Only a few curious spectators showed up, all participants wore masks and the usual 2,000 balloon handlers were reduced to 130. Yet the televised special safely offered the parade's joy and spectacle to viewers at home.

In 2021, the parade went mostly back to normal, although all participants had to be vaccinated. Since the CDC had only just approved the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, kids under 12 were not allowed to participate in the parade, although they could watch from the crowd with a vaccinated adult. The participants, floats and balloons returned to their regular numbers from the reduced version the year prior, with 15 balloons and 28 floats. Grogu / Baby Yoda made his first appearance at the 2021 parade and returned in 2022.

Festive Traditions: The Rockettes, Santa Claus and More

The Radio City Rockettes have been delivering their perfectly synchronized high kicks yearly at the parade since 1957. The all-female dance troupe was founded in 1925.

Santa Claus has been an annual staple of the parade since day one. He typically closes out the parade, but, in 1932, he kicked things off by leading the march.

Snoopy holds the record for most years flown by a character balloon, totaling 40 appearances up to 2019. He debuted in 1968 in an aviator plane and will return this year in a brand-new balloon form as "Beagle Scout Snoopy."

The 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC at 8:30 a.m. EST and stream on Peacock on Nov. 23.

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Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Over the Years

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Facts about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first balloon and changes over the years. Plus, how to watch the parade on NBC.

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This is how much the Macy's Day Balloon's cost.

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How much does the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade cost and who pays for it?

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The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a beloved annual spectacle that kicks off the holiday shopping season - with an estimated price tag in the tens of millions.

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when the parade was made in nyc

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More than just a holiday tradition, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a cornucopia of spectacle, glitter, and gigantic balloon characters that will make you wonder if you've accidentally stepped into a cartoon.

The first balloon wasn't used until 1927, when Felix the Cat made its debut. Also, a dragon and a toy soldier. In those days, balloons were simply cut loose once they had done their duty. There was a race to capture the free-floating balloons. The balloons were printed with a return address. From 1928 to 1932, if you found a balloon and returned it to Macy's, you'd receive a $100 reward. The races ended after an airplane's close call .

Today, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a high-flying spectacle with even more massive balloons , elaborate floats , Broadway performances, marching bands, and loads of celebrities. You can always expect to see one A-list celebrity in the Parade - the one and only Santa Claus!

Secure a Spot on the Street: It's free! But spots are "first come, first served." While the best spots are along the barrier rails, you can see the balloons and floats just fine from a bit farther back.There's plenty of room up and down the entire 2.5 mile parade route, except where the VIP grandstands are on the Central Park side of Central Park West. Plan your spot ahead of time and arrive early.

Pro Tip: Stand along the east side of the route facing west to avoid staring into the sun rising in the east.

Pro Tip: Scout the route to get to your spot ahead of time. Many of the subway stations along the route close or do not allow you to use them as a cross-under to the opposite side of the street.

Sit in the VIP Grandstand: Tickets are NOT for sale to sit in the grandstand. (D'oh.) Grandstand tickets are reserved for friends and family of parade participants or Macy's employees and volunteers, event sponsors, select charities, and special guests. Start asking around now!

Watch from a Hotel Along the Route: One way to get VIP access to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is to book a hotel room with a view or a VIP package at a hotel along the parade route. Some hotels that may have parade views include: Warwick , Hilton Garden Inn New York/West 35th Street , Residence Inn Times Square , JW Marriott Essex House , Luma Hotel Times Square , 1 Hotel Central Park , New York Hilton Midtown , Quin Central Park by Hilton Club , and Ritz-Carlton Central Park .

Be in the Parade: You need to either work for Macy's and be invited to participate, know someone who knows someone who knows someone who can get you in as a volunteer, or become a fabulous celebrity with something to promote during the Parade! (I can't help you with any of these. Sorry.)

That's me and my wife! We knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who let us volunteer.

Not much of an early riser? Need your four cups of coffee before you can be a functioning person? The good thing is that that the Parade is broadcast on several channels including NBC, NBC.com , Peacock, and CBS. Broadcasts usually start at 8:30AM. Pick the one that works best for you and get watching!

----------------------------

Viewing the Macy's Parade is an incredible experience. But it's just one of oh-so-many experiences you can have while visiting the Big Apple. There are skyscrapers to climb, city parks to explore, and Broadway shows to suit everyone's tastes. Or how about taking a private tour with ME! I would love to show your family or group some of NYC's iconic and off-the-beaten path neighborhoods. I Know A Guy NYC Tours offers private, personal, and fun adventures around the city. Lots of guests have enjoyed the experience See what they had to say !

Check out what tours are like by following I Know A Guy NYC Tours Facebook or Instagram . You'll completely get the vibe.

Thanks for reading this blog! If you would like to chat about your upcoming trip and possible tour ideas, please contact me at aguy@iknowaguy.nyc or 404-915-9901 I'm quite friendly!

More than just a holiday tradition, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a cornucopia of spectacle, glitter, and gigantic balloon characters that will make you wonder if you've accidentally stepped into a cartoon.

The first balloon wasn't used until 1927, when Felix the Cat made its debut. Also, a dragon and a toy soldier. In those days, balloons were simply cut loose once they had done their duty. There was a race to capture the free-floating balloons. The balloons were printed with a return address. From 1928 to 1932, if you found a balloon and returned it to Macy's, you'd receive a $100 reward. The races ended after an airplane's close call .

Today, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a high-flying spectacle with even more massive balloons , elaborate floats , Broadway performances, marching bands, and loads of celebrities. You can always expect to see one A-list celebrity in the Parade - the one and only Santa Claus!

Secure a Spot on the Street: It's free! But spots are "first come, first served." While the best spots are along the barrier rails, you can see the balloons and floats just fine from a bit farther back.There's plenty of room up and down the entire 2.5 mile parade route, except where the VIP grandstands are on the Central Park side of Central Park West. Plan your spot ahead of time and arrive early.

Pro Tip: Stand along the east side of the route facing west to avoid staring into the sun rising in the east.

Pro Tip: Scout the route to get to your spot ahead of time. Many of the subway stations along the route close or do not allow you to use them as a cross-under to the opposite side of the street.

Sit in the VIP Grandstand: Tickets are NOT for sale to sit in the grandstand. (D'oh.) Grandstand tickets are reserved for friends and family of parade participants or Macy's employees and volunteers, event sponsors, select charities, and special guests. Start asking around now!

Watch from a Hotel Along the Route: One way to get VIP access to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is to book a hotel room with a view or a VIP package at a hotel along the parade route. Some hotels that may have parade views include: Warwick , Hilton Garden Inn New York/West 35th Street , Residence Inn Times Square , JW Marriott Essex House , Luma Hotel Times Square , 1 Hotel Central Park , New York Hilton Midtown , Quin Central Park by Hilton Club , and Ritz-Carlton Central Park .

Be in the Parade: You need to either work for Macy's and be invited to participate, know someone who knows someone who knows someone who can get you in as a volunteer, or become a fabulous celebrity with something to promote during the Parade! (I can't help you with any of these. Sorry.)

That's me and my wife! We knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who let us volunteer.

Not much of an early riser? Need your four cups of coffee before you can be a functioning person? The good thing is that that the Parade is broadcast on several channels including NBC, NBC.com , Peacock, and CBS. Broadcasts usually start at 8:30AM. Pick the one that works best for you and get watching!

----------------------------

Viewing the Macy's Parade is an incredible experience. But it's just one of oh-so-many experiences you can have while visiting the Big Apple. There are skyscrapers to climb, city parks to explore, and Broadway shows to suit everyone's tastes. Or how about taking a private tour with ME! I would love to show your family or group some of NYC's iconic and off-the-beaten path neighborhoods. I Know A Guy NYC Tours offers private, personal, and fun adventures around the city. Lots of guests have enjoyed the experience See what they had to say !

Check out what tours are like by following I Know A Guy NYC Tours Facebook or Instagram . You'll completely get the vibe.

Thanks for reading this blog! If you would like to chat about your upcoming trip and possible tour ideas, please contact me at aguy@iknowaguy.nyc or 404-915-9901 I'm quite friendly!

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The Ultimate Guide to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Experience: What You Need to Know!

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Experience the magic of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with our ultimate guide! From securing the best spot to fun facts, we've got you covered.

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video of some balloons and a little info about start and finish time.

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video of some balloons and a little info about start and finish time.

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Macy's unveils new balloons for Thanksgiving Day Parade during Balloonfest

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The real stroy of Baloons over Broadway

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Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

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A review of Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is a wonderful picture book covering the life of Tony Sarg, the man who invented the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

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It started cause he was giving the Macy's workers a celebration a lot of them were immigrants and missed their own cultural street festivals.

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Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

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A review of Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is a wonderful picture book covering the life of Tony Sarg, the man who invented the balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

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Video on the first parade.

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As the United States prospered during the Roaring Twenties, so did New York City's iconic department store-Macy's. After going public in 1922, R. H. Macy & Co. started to acquire competitors and open regional locations. Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square did such a brisk business that it expanded in 1924 to cover an entire city block stretching from Broadway to Seventh Avenue along 34th Street.

To showcase the opening of the "World's Largest Store" and its 1 million square feet of retail space at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, Macy's decided to throw New York a parade on Thanksgiving morning. In spite of its timing, the parade was not actually about Thanksgiving at all but the next major holiday on the calendar- Christmas. Macy's hoped its "Christmas Parade" would whet the appetites of consumers for a holiday shopping feast.

The idea of a store-sponsored Thanksgiving parade did not originate with Macy's, however, but with Philadelphia's Gimbel Brothers Department Store, which first staged a Thanksgiving procession in 1920 with 50 people, 15 cars and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus who ushered in the Christmas shopping season. Like Macy's, J.L. Hudson's Department Store in Detroit also planned a similar event in 1924. In New York, however, the only Thanksgiving parade that had previously passed through the city's streets was its peculiar tradition of children painting their faces and donning tattered clothes to masquerade as "ragamuffins" who asked "Anything for Thanksgiving?" as they went door-to-door asking for pennies, apples and pieces of candy.

At 9 a.m. on the sunlit morning of November 27, 1924, Macy's gave the children of New York a particularly special Thanksgiving treat as a police escort led the start of the parade from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue. The early-morning start time of "Macy's Christmas Parade" overlapped with many church services, but it gave spectators plenty of time to make it to the afternoon's big football game between Syracuse and Columbia universities at the Polo Grounds.

Macy's had promised parade-goers "a marathon of mirth" in its full-page newspaper advertisements. While the parade route may not have extended over 26 miles, its 6-mile length certainly made for a long hike for those marching from Harlem to Herald Square. The spectators who stood four and five people deep, however, could watch it all in just a matter of minutes since the modest street pageant stretched the length of only two city blocks.

To match the nursery-rhyme theme in Macy's Christmas window display in 1924, floats featured Mother Goose favorites such as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood. Macy's employees dressed as clowns, cowboys and sword-wielding knights. A menagerie of animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo-including bears, elephants, camels and monkeys-offered a circus-like atmosphere as four bands provided the soundtrack to the festive march. Bringing up the rear of the parade was a float bearing the guest of honor-Santa Claus-sitting in his reindeer-driven sleigh on top of a mountain of ice.

By noontime, the parade finally arrived at its end in front of Macy's Herald Square store where 10,000 people cheered Santa as he descended from his sleigh. After being crowned "King of the Kiddies," Kris Kringle scaled a ladder and sat on a gold throne mounted on top of the marquee above the store's new 34th Street entrance near Seventh Avenue. With a bellow from his trumpet, Santa sounded the signal to unveil "The Fair Frolics of Wondertown," the Christmastime window display designed by artist and puppeteer Tony Sarg. As soon as the police lowered their crowd-control lines, children rushed to the 75-foot-long window to see the miniature Mother Goose marionette characters on moving belts frolicking in their own parade in front of a castle-like facade.

Although the parade garnered only two sentences the following day in the New York Herald-the same amount of ink given to the charity dinner and screening of the "The Ten Commandments" for the prisoners at the Sing Sing correctional facility-it proved such a smash that Macy's announced in a newspaper advertisement the following morning that it would stage the parade again the following Thanksgiving. "We did not dare dream its success would be so great," stated the advertisement.

Macy's Christmas Parade quickly became a New York holiday tradition to the joy of nearly all except the zoo animals, who did not revel in the six-mile journey, and the marchers treading carefully in their wake. The roars and growls from the tired animals frightened young spectators, so they were replaced by less-surly and more-obedient character balloons, which quickly became the parade's signature attractions after the debut of a helium-filled Felix the Cat, designed by Sarg, in 1927.

While the route has been scaled back to a length of two-and-a-half miles, the size of the parade itself has blossomed with dozens of balloons, marching bands, celebrities and cheerleaders. Although it is now called the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Santa Claus remains the show-stopper, and his arrival in Herald Square still heralds in the Christmas season in New York.

HISTORY Vault: America the Story of Us

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | HISTORY

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Look back at the humble origins of an American holiday tradition-the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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tony sarg started to make these balloons to make something special

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NYCdata provides all the information about New York City you need. A division of the Weissman Center for International Business (WCIB) at Baruch College

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learn about Tony Sarg

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(1882-1942). The U.S. commercial artist Tony Sarg is best known as a designer and producer of puppet shows. He also illustrated children's books, magazines, and newspapers.

Anthony Frederick Sarg was born on April 24, 1882, in Guatemala, where his father, a German, ran a coffee and sugar plantation; his mother was English. At age 7 Tony was sent to school in Germany. He later attended a German military academy and was commissioned an officer in the German army. In opposition to his father's wishes, Sarg left Germany and settled in England in 1905. There he established a reputation as a successful commercial illustrator. Sarg moved to the United States in 1915 and became a U.S. citizen in 1921.

In the United States, Sarg began to make marionettes and soon created the puppet show Tony Sarg's Marionettes. It toured throughout the country in the 1920s, enjoying immense popularity. Among his other productions were the large-scale marionette plays Rip Van Winkle, The Rose and the Ring, and Alice in Wonderland. During this period Sarg also wrote and illustrated children's books, including Tony Sarg's Book for Children from Six to Sixty (1924), Tony Sarg's Wonder Zoo (1925), and Tony Sarg's Wonder Book (1941). He produced illustrations for The New York Times and many national magazines. For the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, Sarg designed outsize cartoon-figure balloons, which quickly became icons of the annual event. He also designed furniture, wallpaper, and textiles for children. Sarg died of complications of an appendectomy on March 7, 1942, in New York City.

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(1882-1942). The U.S. commercial artist Tony Sarg is best known as a designer and producer of puppet shows. He also illustrated children's books, magazines, and newspapers. Anthony Frederick Sarg was born on April 24, 1882, in Guatemala, where his father, a German, ran a coffee and sugar plantation; his mother was English.

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what he did in his life and how he made the parade was made

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922. He soon opened the Tony Sarg Shop at 38 Centre Street, which relocated in 1929 to the corner of Easy Street and Steamboat Wharf as Tony Sarg's Curiosity Shop. Less well known for his fine art, Sarg was an active member of the Art Colony, a supporter of Florence Lang, and a close friend and occasional host of the "dean" of the Art Colony, Frank Swift Chase. For the 1927 Nantucket Follies at the Yacht Club, organized by Austin Strong, the Inquirer and Mirror wrote that Sarg "presented a puppet munching a cracker, and then drew a caricature of his assistant, Frank Swift Chase, in the form of a rotund cupid." Sarg exhibited his works regularly at the Easy Street Gallery, including those on display here.

Sarg's other Nantucket activities were nearly limitless: he created the logo for the Wharf Rat Club and instigated the hoax of the "Sea Monster," a large balloon creature inflated on Coatue and sailed across the harbor to land at South Beach, where it delighted and surprised islanders of all ages. Sarg designed several posters for the hospital fêtes, fundraisers for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, among his other island productions. Tony Sarg's Shop on Easy Street at the head of Steamboat Wharf.

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Tony Sarg - Nantucket Historical Association

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Tony Sarg (1880-1942) was a creative genius known popularly for his work as a puppeteer, illustrator, toymaker, window designer, and creator of the original Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Sarg began coming to Nantucket with New York friends in the early 1920s, and purchased a home on North Liberty Street in 1922.

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What is the Macy's day parade?

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What is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?🦃

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Some of the most dangerous and funny things that happened during the Macy's Day Parade

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History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accidents

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is back and here’s where to stand and what to expect - and some of the balloon dramas of previous years!

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This is a little about Tony's life

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Biography

A German-American illustrator, puppeteer, author, designer, and entrepreneur, Tony Sarg is recognized as the father of modern puppetry in North America, and a pioneer in film animation. His vast knowledge of puppet technology was instrumental in his design of the inaugural Thanksgiving Day parade balloon for Macy's Department Store in 1927, and in his creation of animated figures. He designed a host of popular consumer goods from clothing items to maps to home décor; and introduced automated store window displays that were imitated nationwide.

Sarg was born in Guatemala in 1880, the son of German diplomat and coffee entrepreneur, Francis Charles Sarg, and a British mother, Mary Elizabeth Parker. His paternal grandmother, Mary Ellen Best, was an artist and watercolorist. It is believed that Sarg, at the age of six, first tinkered with a mechanical invention to remotely feed the chickens for his father.[1] As he was surrounded by puppets while growing up, and having inherited his grandmother's toy collection, Sarg developed a fascination for creating and performing with marionettes. When Sarg's family returned to Germany in 1887, Sarg entered a military academy at age 14. Three years later, he received a commission as lieutenant. However, he resigned his commission in 1905 and moved to the United Kingdom.[2]

While in Germany, Sarg met Bertha Eleanor McGowan, an American tourist from Cincinnati, Ohio. Their relationship continued while Sarg was taking up residence in the United Kingdom. The two got married in Cincinnati in 1909, and later returned to England where their daughter, Mary, was born in 1914. His German heritage, and anti-German sentiment leading up to World War I, prompted Sarg to move his family to New York City. In 1920, he became a naturalized United States citizen.[3]
Sarg as Illustrator, Puppeteer, Author, and Animator: London to New York
Employed in London as an illustrator and caricaturist, Sarg became an active part of the city's advertising community. From 1912 to 1914, he designed posters for the Electric Underground Railway Company, and he became a member of the London Sketch Club. Arriving in New York, Sarg easily fit in with fellow illustrators, writers, and performers who formed the Dutch Treat Club, which boasted among its membership such notable figures of the time as Robert Benchley, Ogden Nash, Jerome Kern, and Norman Rockwell, among others. Sarg produced illustrations for leading publications such as The New York Times, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Vanity Fair, and others. His Up & Down New York, first published in 1926, offered readers an overview of the 1920s in New York City, featuring dynamic and vibrant illustrations of the city's landmarks and subway system. He also created engaging illustrated maps, notably for Nantucket and The Chicago Fair in 1933. He designed extensively for the New York World's Fair in 1939, creating the fair's official pictorial map.[4]

During the 1920s, he also distinguished himself through his knowledge of puppetry by staging performances such as The Three Wishes and The Rose and the Ring in New York City's Flatiron Building as early as 1917. In the 1920s and 1930s, during the height of his popularity, Sarg's puppetry skills were instrumental in many of his various ventures - producing animated cartoons, and mechanical figures for window displays, among others.

During this time, Sarg wrote and illustrated almost thirty picture books - some with moveable parts - which often featured animal characters to entertain and educate his young readers.[5]
Beloved as "America's Puppet Master"
From his first professional performance of The Three Wishes in 1917 to his last production of Robin Hood in 1939, Sarg and his puppetry skills delighted audiences young and old. He had his own traveling company, "Tony Sarg's Marionettes," offering productions of such treasured tales as Rip Van Winkle, Don Quixote, Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe, and The Mikado. He also offered summer courses in puppetry in 1922.

Inspired by Sarg's work, Tony Sarg Company members Bil Baird, Rufus Rose, Margo Skewis Rose, and Sue Hastings went on to establish their own puppet troupes. With the advent of television, Jim Henson took television puppetry to new dimensions with "the malleable.... faces of his Muppets, perfect for... television close-ups."[6]
Nantucket and Entrepreneurship
Sarg's connection to Nantucket began in 1920 when he began summering there with his family. He bought a home there and opened up a "Tony Sarg Shop," later moving it to a different Nantucket location and renaming it "Tony Sarg's Curiosity Shop." As he did in London and New York, Sarg became an active member of the Nantucket art community. He and his daughter Mary - an accomplished artist - painted and sold many island scenes. He was also responsible for drumming up a Nantucket sea-monster hoax in 1937 in an effort to bring more tourists to the island. Besides his retail shop in Nantucket, Sarg opened locations in New York and New Hope, Pennsylvania. These shops also became outlets for the sale of the many commercial products he designed-illustrated puzzles, puppet theaters for children, textiles, wallpapers, and furniture.[7]

In mid-February 1942, Sarg had surgery for a ruptured appendix. He died on March 7th due to complications from the surgery. He is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.[8]
Footnotes:
[1] Timeline draft 11.18.2020 - 12.6.2020 Work in Progress

[2] Wikipedia's entry, "Tony Sarg." Accessed 11/4/2022. Last edited on June 5, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Sarg

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] TONY SARG: GENIUS AT PLAY, Adventures in Illustration, Puppetry, and American Popular Culture, An Exhibition Organized by Norman Rockwell Museum

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Wikipedia's entry, "Tony Sarg." Accessed 11/4/2022. Last edited on June 5, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Sarg

This artist's biography was written by Phyllis Geraghty, a writer with professional experience in the public relations, education, health, and non-profit sectors.

Photo courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association

Illustrations by Tony Sarg

Additional Resources

Bibliography

Hunt, Tamara. Tony Sarg: Puppeteer in America 1915-1942. North Vancouver: Charlemagne Press, 1988.

MacIsaac, Fred, Anne Stoddard and Tony Sarg. Marionettes and How to Make Them: A Book for Boys and Girls. London: S. Paul & Co. Ltd., 1923.

Sarg, Tony and Anne Stoddard. Tony Sarg's Alphabet. New York: Greenberg, Inc., 1926.

Sarg, Tony. Tony Sarg's Book of Animals. New York: Greenberg, 1925.

Sarg, Tony. Tony Sarg's New York. New York: Greenberg Publisher Inc., 1926.

Sarg, Tony. Tony Sarg's Play-A-Tune Song Book. New York: B.F. Jay & Co., 1942.

Smith-Masters, Margaret and Tony Sarg. The Cock, The Mouse, and the Little Red Hen. Philadelphia, Macrae Smith Co., 1945.

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A German-American illustrator, puppeteer, author, designer, and entrepreneur, Tony Sarg is recognized as the father of modern puppetry in North America, and a pioneer in film animation. His vast knowledge of puppet technology was instrumental in his design of the inaugural Thanksgiving Day parade balloon for Macy's Department Store in 1927, and in his creation of animated figures.

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This is what the author thinks of the book.

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Everyone's a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day, when young and old rise early to see what giant new balloons will fill the skies for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Who first invented these "upside-down puppets"? Meet Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire!

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Macy's Day Parade in different countries.

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Macy's Day Parade in different countries.

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How the Macy's Day Parade looks like in different countries.

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Festive parades around the world celebrate the holiday season

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The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is one of the city’s most popular events — and a staple celebration around the nation. But the three-hour spectacle — which is fill…

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a few facts about tony sarg

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Tony Sarg | Ballard Institute and Museum

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Tony Sarg (1880 - 1942) Born to a German father and English mother, Tony Sarg learned creative skills from both of his parents. He rebelled against his military training to seek his dream of becoming an illustrator. Then, to distinguish himself as an artist and to promote his career, he took up ...

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Info on the accidents and other events (worst one is hilighted).

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History of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon accidents

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is back and here’s where to stand and what to expect - and some of the balloon dramas of previous years!

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A short video of the parade.

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MACYS THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE HIGHLIGHTS

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learn about the Ohio balloon company and how it helped

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Your browser is not supported | cantonrep.com

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cantonrep.com wants to ensure the best experience for all of our readers, so we built our site to take advantage of the latest technology, making it faster and easier to use.

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47 fun facts about the Macy's day parade

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47 fun facts about the Macy's day parade

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almost 50 fun facts

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

1. The Macy's parade was initially Christmas-themed.

The "Macy's Christmas Parade" debuted in 1924 as a way to celebrate the expansion of Macy's flagship Manhattan store, which covered an entire city block and became the self-proclaimed "World's Largest Store." According to The New York Times, "the majority of participants were employees of the stores. There were, however, many professional entertainers who kept the spectators amused as they passed by. Beautiful floats showed the Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet, and Red Riding Hood. There were also bears, elephants, donkeys and bands, making the procession resemble a circus parade." (The animals came from the Central Park Zoo.)

2. The parade originally ended with the unveiling of Macy's Christmas window displays.

The parade began at 145th Street and Convent Avenue and continued down to Macy's huge store on 34th Street. All along the route, according to the Times, the parade "was welcomed by such crowds that a large force of policemen had its hands full maintaining the police lines." Some 10,000 people watched Santa-who rode on a float designed to look like a sled being pulled by reindeer-be crowned "King of the Kiddies," then enjoyed the unveiling of the store's Christmas windows. The parade was such a success that Macy's decided to make it an annual event; it would become the Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927.

3. There were objections to the parade early on.

Two years after the first parade, the Allied Patriotic Societies protested, telling Macy's that it shouldn't hold the event on Thanksgiving because "it would interfere with Thanksgiving Day worship," according to The New York Times, and because it wasn't appropriate for a commercial company to hold a parade on the holiday. If the company didn't acknowledge its protest, the association declared that it would go to the police commissioner and ask him to revoke the parade permit.

Percy Straus, who worked for Macy's, attended the association's meeting. He pointed out that there was no blatant advertising in the parade, and that the word "Macy's" was used just once. "He also said that Thanksgiving morning was the only time when children would be free to watch and traffic would be light enough to permit the parade's passing," the Times wrote. "It would be over, he thought, in ample time to permit churchgoing." Straus's justifications didn't make a difference; the association voted to protest the parade, but its efforts to get the event canceled were unsuccessful-the parade went on as usual.

4. It wasn't new york city's first thanksgiving parade.

Before the Macy's Parade, there was the " Thanksgiving Ragamuffin Parade," an event where local children dressed up as beggars and asked adults on the street for pennies, candy, and apples. The Macy's Parade was such a success that it quickly drove the now-obscure Ragamuffin Parade out of business.

5. The parade's character balloons were inspired by a float.

The Balloonatics float-which, as the name would suggest, was festooned with balloons-inspired the creation of the character balloons. These days, the people who design the balloons are called "Balloonatics."

6. The character balloons in the parade debuted in 1927.

Three years after the first annual parade, balloons made their debut. According to The New York Times, the parade included "a 'human behemoth' 21 feet tall ... [that] had to crawl under the elevated structure at 66th and Broadway," "a 'dinosaur' 60 feet long attended by a bodyguard of prehistoric cavemen," and "a 25-foot dachshund [that] swayed along in the company of gigantic turkeys and chickens and ducks of heroic size." Also in the parade that year, but not mentioned in the Times, was the first character balloon, Felix the Cat.

7. For a few years, there were "balloon races."

The first year, Macy's had no plans for deflating its balloons, so they were released into the air, where they quickly popped. But that all changed with the 1928 parade.

That year, Macy's released five huge figures-an elephant, a 60-foot tiger, a plumed bird, an "early bird" trailing worms, and a 25-foot-high ghost-into the sky. While the majority of the balloons in the parade used regular air to stay afloat, these figures were built around helium balloon bodies, which were designed to slowly leak the gas. As The New York Times explained, "The figures are expected to rise to 2000 to 3000 feet and are timed by a slow leak to stay aloft for a week to 10 days. By then it is expected they will have alighted in various parts of the country." Whoever returned the balloons would receive a $100 reward.

The first balloon to land was the Tiger, which the Times reported landed on the roof of a Long Island home: "A tug of war ensued for its possession ... neighbors and motorists rushed up from all directions. The rubberized silk skin burst into dozens of fragments."

By December 1, four of the balloons had landed (one in the East River, where it broke in two and was pursued by tugboats). The ghost, however, was "reported as having been sighted moving out to sea over the Rockaways with a flock of gulls in pursuit," according to the Times.

8. The parade's last balloon race was held in 1932.

The parade held its last balloon race in 1932 after two incidents involving airplanes. In 1931, aviator Colonel Clarence Duncan Chamberlin snagged a balloon in mid-air and towed it back to his home and received $25 as a reward. In 1932, according to some sources, a 22-year-old woman taking flying lessons purposefully flew the plane she was piloting into one of the released balloons. It was only the quick action of her instructor that kept the plane from crashing.

9. The parade was broadcast for the first time in 1932.

These broadcasts were radio-only, so listeners had to use their imaginations. The first televised parade took place in 1946 and was limited to the New York area only.

10. Mickey Mouse made his parade debut in 1934.

Macy's designers collaborated with Walt Disney to create the 40-foot-high, 23-foot-wide balloon, which was "held down to Earth by 25 husky attendants," according to The New York Times. The parade that year also featured the first balloon based on a real person: comedian and vaudeville star Eddie Cantor.

11. The parade floats used to be pulled by horses.

The Thanksgiving Day parade floats were pulled by horses until 1939. You can see footage of the first horse-free event above.

12. The parade was halted during World War II.

There were rubber and helium shortages, so Macy's canceled the parade from 1942 to 1944. The company deflated its rubber balloons-which weighed 650 pounds total-and donated them to the government. (These days, the balloons are made of polyurethane fabric.) The parade returned in 1945, and in 1946 got a new route, which started at 77th Street and Central Park West and ended at 34th Street-half the length of the previous route.

13. A 1958 helium shortage almost grounded the parade's balloons.

Initially, it looked like a helium shortage would keep Macy's parade balloons from flying in 1958. But the company collaborated with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the rigging specialists Traynor & Hansen Corporation to come up with a creative solution: According to The New York Times, the balloons were filled with air and dangled from "large, mobile construction derricks." The paper also described a test of the method:

"A motorized derrick with a 70-foot boom had a specially built wood-and-steel hanger attached to the end of the wire hoisting cable. The Toy Soldier, weighing more than 200 pounds deflated, was stretched full-length on a canvas carpet. Limp and sickly looking, it was not the robust figure children and adults are used to seeing. Lines from the body of the balloon were attached to the hanger while two vacuum cleaners, working in reverse, blew in air. An hour of blowing filled the figure out nicely and the boom hoisted it into the air."

14. Strong winds caused the balloons to be grounded in 1971.

The balloons have only been grounded once since 1927, when winds during the 1971 parade were too strong for them to fly.

15. One especially long-lasting dinosaur balloon got a sendoff at the American Museum of Natural History.

A 1976, a green balloon modeled on an Apatosaurus dinosaur that had appeared in 13 parades was displayed inside the AMNH's Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda for five days before being retired. Instead of helium, it was filled with air, and visitors got a chance to see it up close. The historic balloon also appeared in the parades in 2015 and 2017.

16. Macy's is a major world consumer of helium, thanks to the parade.

Thanks to the parade, Macy's is reportedly the second-largest consumer of helium in the world. Only the U.S. government consumes more, with NASA and the Department of Defense leading the charge.

17. The parade floats fold down small.

Since 1968, the floats have been designed by artists at Macy's Parade Studio in New Jersey. The floats can be up to 40 feet tall and 28 feet wide-but they fold down into a 12-foot-by-8-foot box to make the journey through the Lincoln Tunnel.

18. The parade features float-based balloons.

the parade features float-based balloons called falloons-a combination of float and balloon-which were introduced sometime around 1990. There are also balloon vehicles called balloonicles (a portmanteau of balloon and vehicle), which made their debut in 2004. Trycaloons -balloons on tricycles-hit the parade in 2011.

19. All of the balloons are designed in-house by Macy's artists-and it's a long process.

Macy's balloon designers-dubbed "balloonatics"-begin their work up to a year before the parade with pencil sketches of each character, analyzing not just aesthetics but also aerodynamics and engineering. The sketches are followed by scaled-down clay models that are used to create casts of the balloons. Two miniature replicas are created: One that's marked with technical details, and one that's painted in the balloon's colors. The models are immersed in water to figure out how much helium they'll need to float. Finally, the schematics are scanned by computer, and the fabric pieces are cut and heat-sealed to create the various air chambers of the balloon.

20. The parade's balloons are painted only after they're inflated.

Once the balloon is created, it's painted while inflated (otherwise, the paint will crack), then undergoes leak testing and indoor and outdoor flight tests. No wonder it costs at least $190,000 for a first-time balloon (after a first appearance, it costs $90,000 a year after that). The balloons are completed by Halloween and stored along a wall in the design studio's balloon warehouse.

21. The balloons are directed by "balloon pilots."

They're the people walking backwards in front of the balloon, directing a crew of volunteers holding guide ropes (called "bones") and two Toro utility vehicles. Macy's offers training three times a year for pilots. "We offer the pilots and captains the chance to go around the field a couple times with the balloon a couple of times and practice the instruction and guidance," Kelly Kramer, a longtime Macy's employee and balloon pilot, told Vanity Fair in 2014. "We also have classroom training."

22. Being a balloon pilot takes some physical training, too.

It's also important for balloon pilots to train physically; if not, "The next morning you wake up and you almost cannot get out of bed because your calves seize up," according to Kramer. "I walked backwards in my neighborhood at night."

23. People who want to volunteer to walk with the balloons have to meet certain requirements.

It takes 90 minutes to inflate the big balloons, which, on average, contain 12,000 cubic feet of helium, which is capable of lifting nearly 750 pounds (or filling 2500 bathtubs). Each balloon requires up to 90 handlers, who have to weigh at least 120 pounds and be in good health.

24. The balloons are inflated the day before the parade-which is an event in its own right.

The balloons are inflated the day before the parade outside the American Museum of Natural History, then topped off the day of. Because helium expands in the sun, the balloons are typically left slightly under-inflated.

25. One character has appeared in the parade more than any other.

That honor goes to Snoopy, who debuted in the 1968 parade and has had a grand total of seven balloons. The beloved character has made 39 appearances on and off through 2015, but in 2016, he was replaced by Charlie Brown. Fortunately, Snoopy will be returning for the 2019 parade.

26. There was one year when Santa Claus wasn't the parade's finale.

In 1933, Santa led the parade instead of closing it. It was the only year where the jolly red guy wasn't the grand finale.

27. Some of the parade's balloons get their start in South Dakota.

Many of the parade balloons are made by Raven Industries, a rubber firm in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Since 1984, Raven has made nearly 100 balloons. Beginning in April, it takes 25 employees to work on the year's balloons.

28. Some weird balloons have been featured in the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Among them were the Nantucket Sea Monster (1937), the wrestler The Terrible Turk (which memorably hit a traffic pole and split in half in 1931), a Pinocchio with a 44-foot-long nose (1937), a couple of two-headed balloons (1936), an ice cream cone and a jack 'o lantern (1945), a space man (1952), Smokey Bear (1969), cereal spokes-animal Linus the Lion (1973), and more.

29. Those giant balloons face a lot of threats.

There are many things that pose threats to the parade balloons: electric wires (which caused the Felix the Cat balloon to burst into flames when it hit them in 1931), rain (which filled the Popeye balloon's hat with water, which got dumped on spectators along the parade route in 1957), tree branches (which once tore off Superman's hand). But a balloon's greatest enemy is wind: In 1993, wind caused the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon to hit a lamppost; the light fell and injured one. In 1997, police stabbed a Pink Panther balloon when wind sent it careening; that same year, the wind made an oversized Cat in the Hat balloon hit a streetlight, sending two people to the hospital with head injuries (after the incident, the parade instituted new size rules). In 2005, an M&M balloon got tangled on a streetlamp, causing the lamp to fall and injuring two, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Each balloon flies at a height determined by its size and weather conditions, and the wind poses such a threat that if sustained wind speeds or gusts are too strong, the balloons won't fly.

30. Deflating the Thanksgiving Day parade balloons takes just 15 minutes.

After the parade is over, the balloons are deflated behind Macy's on Seventh Avenue. First, the volunteers open up zippers on the sides of the balloons; when most of the helium has escaped, they lie on the balloon to get all the helium out, then roll the character up from front to back. The balloon is then put in storage until the next parade.

31. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was led by the same woman for 24 years.

Jean McFaddin served as the senior vice president for Macy's special productions from 1977 to 2001, which meant she was responsible not only for the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but also Macy's famous Santaland, among other things.

32. Some parades have been held in especially frigid temperatures.

The first snowstorm on parade day was in 1989, and dumped 4.7 inches on the city. But at just 19°F, the coldest parade was in 2018.

33. The former Macy's parade studio had a sweet beginning.

For four decades, the parade's studio was located in a former Tootsie Roll Factory in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 2011, the studio moved to a 71,000-square-foot warehouse in Moonachie.

34. Some big celebrities have served as commentators.

In addition to the Today show hosts that host the parade now, past parade commentators have included Betty White, Ed McMahon, Shari Lewis, Helen Reddy, Della Reese, and Phylicia Rashād.

35. Beavis and Butt-head were parade commentators during one memorable year.

In 1997, Beavis and Butthead commentated on the parade along with host Kurt Loder. They called the special Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, and they even got their own balloon featuring their likenesses sitting on a couch. The balloon wasn't on the parade route, but rather tethered to a building on the route.

36. Musicals have been part of the Macy's parade for decades.

Broadway musicals have been featured in the parade since at least 1980, when The Pirates of Penzance performed atop a pirate ship.

37. The bleacher seats are reserved for special guests.

The bleacher seats that line key sections of the parade may seem like the perfect seats, but unless you know someone, you probably won't find yourself sitting there: They're reserved for Macy's guests only, and no tickets are sold for those seats.

38. You can't get married or engaged at the Thanksgiving Day parade, so don't even try.

The question is raised enough that it's addressed in the FAQ section of the Macy's Parade website: "Though it would be an honor to share in this special moment, this is not something that we can take part in or approve. At this time, we're devoted to producing the nation's most beloved holiday event and coordinating more than 8000 participants, dozens of floats, balloons and vehicles, security and other major logistics."

39. It's not the oldest Thanksgiving Parade in the U.S.

That distinction belongs to Philadelphia, where Gimbel's, a department store, held a modest affair in 1920. It got less modest as time went on.

40. When 9/11 happened, parade organizers added patriotic and New York-centric floats and balloons.

Additions included a Statue of Liberty float with the flags of all 50 states, floats for the fire and police departments, and a Big Apple float that featured the city's emergency services workers and other officials.

41. Contemporary artists have created balloons for the parade too.

The "Blue Sky Gallery" is a special part of the parade that invites contemporary artists to transform their work into balloons. Beginning in 2005, artists have included Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Tim Burton, Takashi Murakami, KAWS, and, for 2019, Yayoi Kusama.

42. Yes, the singers on the parade floats all lip-sync.

Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live! https://t.co/C2bGj63AF6

- John Legend (@johnlegend) November 22, 2018

That's true even if they're amazing live performers. Why? Because the floats aren't equipped to deliver the proper sound quality, as John Legend pointed out in 2018.

43. Some of the parade balloons get a second life in Florida.

For several years, select balloons from the parade were sent down to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, to make special appearances in the park during the holiday season. The event has since been rebranded "Universal's Holiday Parade Featuring Macy's," with Macy's designing 13 balloons exclusively for Universal.

44. The Rockettes have been involved for decades.

The dance troupe and their signature high kicks have been a parade staple since their first appearance in 1957.

45. Marching bands have to apply months ahead of time for the parade.

Bands across the U.S. have to apply well in advance to be considered for a spot in the parade. After submitting an application and a video of the band's field marching performance, approved bands are notified roughly 18 months in advance.

46. In 2012, shredded documents from the Nassau County Police Department ended up as confetti in the parade.

Sensitive information that was clearly visible included Social Security numbers, license plate numbers, and banking data. Macy's only uses multi-colored confetti, a spokesperson said, and authorities were investigating how the private documents ended up in the parade.

47. We might get a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie one day.

A Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade movie was once in the works, with a premise that included the oversized balloons coming to life. Presumably it's still floating around in development.

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47 Fun Facts About the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

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On Thursday, November 28, Macy's will send its 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade down the streets of Manhattan-a spectacle that millions of people tune in to watch from the comfort of their homes. Here are a few things you might not have known about the iconic holiday event.

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Video on the L.

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NYC Subway: (L) Train Action in Williamsburg and Manhattan

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sorry for all the restricted videos but some arent.

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Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade: 13 Times the Iconic Show Went Wrong

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Throughout 95 years, the world’s largest parade has had a few mishaps, from Mighty Mouse’s fall to Ronald McDonald’s losing a leg.

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lets have a parade

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Everyone's a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day, when young and old rise early to see what giant new balloons will fill the skies for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Who first invented these "upside-down puppets"? Meet Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire!

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How Long It Takes To Inflate A Balloon (Time lapse)

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How Long It Takes To Inflate A Balloon (Time lapse)

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It takes 90 minutes to inflate a Macy's Day Parade Balloon.

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Time Lapse: Inflating Macy's Parade Balloons

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Taylor swift performing

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𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕒 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕚𝕖 #onbreak

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#taylorswift at the 2014 Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade! 🦃 #swifties #macysthanksgivingdayparade

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The 17 Most Iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats

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From Felix the Cat marking the first-ever balloon in the parade in 1921, to Yayoi Kusama’s mesmerizing float design in 2019, these are the inflatable figures we’ll never forget

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who is tony sarg

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Who is Tony Sarg? - Nantucket Historical Association

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Adapted by Deborah Sorensen Known as the father of modern puppetry in North America, Sarg was an accomplished illustrator, animator,...More Read more from Who is Tony Sarg?

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The cat in the hat balloon put a person in a coma.

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How Do Giant Parade Balloons Float? Science!

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Help your child learn about physics in everyday life by talking with them about the science of parade balloons during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

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WHAT WENT WRONG?

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1932: The Cat That Took Down a Plane at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade - The Hatching Cat of Gotham

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What took place at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade during some of its early years could be called “unorganized chaos.”

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About the first Macy's Day Parade

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As the United States prospered during the Roaring Twenties, so did New York City's iconic department store-Macy's. After going public in 1922, R. H. Macy & Co. started to acquire competitors and open regional locations. Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square did such a brisk business that it expanded in 1924 to cover an entire city block stretching from Broadway to Seventh Avenue along 34th Street.

To showcase the opening of the "World's Largest Store" and its 1 million square feet of retail space at the start of the busy holiday shopping season, Macy's decided to throw New York a parade on Thanksgiving morning. In spite of its timing, the parade was not actually about Thanksgiving at all but the next major holiday on the calendar- Christmas. Macy's hoped its "Christmas Parade" would whet the appetites of consumers for a holiday shopping feast.

The idea of a store-sponsored Thanksgiving parade did not originate with Macy's, however, but with Philadelphia's Gimbel Brothers Department Store, which first staged a Thanksgiving procession in 1920 with 50 people, 15 cars and a fireman dressed as Santa Claus who ushered in the Christmas shopping season. Like Macy's, J.L. Hudson's Department Store in Detroit also planned a similar event in 1924. In New York, however, the only Thanksgiving parade that had previously passed through the city's streets was its peculiar tradition of children painting their faces and donning tattered clothes to masquerade as "ragamuffins" who asked "Anything for Thanksgiving?" as they went door-to-door asking for pennies, apples and pieces of candy.

At 9 a.m. on the sunlit morning of November 27, 1924, Macy's gave the children of New York a particularly special Thanksgiving treat as a police escort led the start of the parade from the intersection of 145th Street and Convent Avenue. The early-morning start time of "Macy's Christmas Parade" overlapped with many church services, but it gave spectators plenty of time to make it to the afternoon's big football game between Syracuse and Columbia universities at the Polo Grounds.

Macy's had promised parade-goers "a marathon of mirth" in its full-page newspaper advertisements. While the parade route may not have extended over 26 miles, its 6-mile length certainly made for a long hike for those marching from Harlem to Herald Square. The spectators who stood four and five people deep, however, could watch it all in just a matter of minutes since the modest street pageant stretched the length of only two city blocks.

To match the nursery-rhyme theme in Macy's Christmas window display in 1924, floats featured Mother Goose favorites such as the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood. Macy's employees dressed as clowns, cowboys and sword-wielding knights. A menagerie of animals on loan from the Central Park Zoo-including bears, elephants, camels and monkeys-offered a circus-like atmosphere as four bands provided the soundtrack to the festive march. Bringing up the rear of the parade was a float bearing the guest of honor-Santa Claus-sitting in his reindeer-driven sleigh on top of a mountain of ice.

By noontime, the parade finally arrived at its end in front of Macy's Herald Square store where 10,000 people cheered Santa as he descended from his sleigh. After being crowned "King of the Kiddies," Kris Kringle scaled a ladder and sat on a gold throne mounted on top of the marquee above the store's new 34th Street entrance near Seventh Avenue. With a bellow from his trumpet, Santa sounded the signal to unveil "The Fair Frolics of Wondertown," the Christmastime window display designed by artist and puppeteer Tony Sarg. As soon as the police lowered their crowd-control lines, children rushed to the 75-foot-long window to see the miniature Mother Goose marionette characters on moving belts frolicking in their own parade in front of a castle-like facade.

Although the parade garnered only two sentences the following day in the New York Herald-the same amount of ink given to the charity dinner and screening of the "The Ten Commandments" for the prisoners at the Sing Sing correctional facility-it proved such a smash that Macy's announced in a newspaper advertisement the following morning that it would stage the parade again the following Thanksgiving. "We did not dare dream its success would be so great," stated the advertisement.

Macy's Christmas Parade quickly became a New York holiday tradition to the joy of nearly all except the zoo animals, who did not revel in the six-mile journey, and the marchers treading carefully in their wake. The roars and growls from the tired animals frightened young spectators, so they were replaced by less-surly and more-obedient character balloons, which quickly became the parade's signature attractions after the debut of a helium-filled Felix the Cat, designed by Sarg, in 1927.

While the route has been scaled back to a length of two-and-a-half miles, the size of the parade itself has blossomed with dozens of balloons, marching bands, celebrities and cheerleaders. Although it is now called the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade," Santa Claus remains the show-stopper, and his arrival in Herald Square still heralds in the Christmas season in New York.

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The First Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | HISTORY

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Look back at the humble origins of an American holiday tradition-the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.