Happy (Inflated) Thanksgiving!

When I was a kid, before I’d developed a deep and abiding appreciation of the joys of televised football, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was the highlight of the holiday, right up there with sitting at the “kid’s table” for the family meal. And while I liked the marching bands and the appearance of Santa at the end, for me the parade was all about the giant balloons. I particularly kept an eye out for goofy, cross-eyed Bullwinkle J. Moose as he drifted down the narrow passageway left by the concrete canyons of Manhattan. The original Bullwinkle balloon, shown above, was a staple of the parade from 1961 to 1983.

If you’re a balloon person like me, you’ll be interested in seeing some of the examples of early balloons, which you can find here and here. The parade started in 1924, but the giant balloons were not introduced until a few years later. Some of the early balloons were pretty creepy, frankly, although I do like the pictures of the Popeye and Donald Duck balloons. Another favorite from the time when I actually watched the parade was the gigantic flying Underdog, which was about the length of a city block and was featured in the parade from 1965 to 1984.

Happy (inflated) Thanksgiving, everyone!