Thanksgiving Day Parade

November 26, 2009 8:44 AM

Les grands ballons de Macy's
posted by vronsky (16 comments total)

These are all so cool - I especially like the alligator in #6 having a swig of beer and the weirdness of that elf in #5. I love that slightly creepy look that so many Christmas decorations had in the 40's and 50's.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:51 AM on November 26, 2009

The current parade just ended Time for FOOTBALL, on CBS!, and it is interesting to compare to the Fresh Baked Taste of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls that cacophony of product placement Pulled By Chevy Trucks with the parade of yester-year Sealed fresh in Ziploc disposable containers. S C Johnson, a family company.
posted by paisley henosis at 9:24 AM on November 26, 2009 [3 favorites]

vronsky,

Do you know when these were taken, or where Tom Sutpen got the photos?
posted by lukemeister at 9:40 AM on November 26, 2009

lukemeister, if you scroll down to the comments section, there is some speculation as to when these were taken -- "Noticed on picture # 10 the movie marquee reads " Secrets Of The Lone Wolf" which places this in 1941.
The calm before the storm a mere two weeks later."

"#8 shows Charlton Heston starring in El Cid. That would mean circa 1961 - Secrets Of The Lone Wolf could be replaying in the theater, but this can't be earlier then 1961."

etc...

I'm not sure where they came from no, but possibly some are from Macy's own collection of photos, which I posted previously.
posted by vronsky at 9:53 AM on November 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is the best named blog ever.
posted by device55 at 10:07 AM on November 26, 2009

just noticed #4 has Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator playing which was released in October 1940.
posted by vronsky at 10:22 AM on November 26, 2009

Did you guys see the Lloyd Blankfein balloon in today's parade? I think that was a smart PR move on the part of Goldman Sachs.
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 10:23 AM on November 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

here is a photo from 1927, the year they first used balloons. Before then they used live animals.

The Munsters & Santa in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ca.1960s
posted by vronsky at 11:04 AM on November 26, 2009

and of course, from Broadway Danny Rose, this scene in the Macy's balloon warehouse. (warning:funny)
posted by vronsky at 12:20 PM on November 26, 2009

thank you for the warning im at dinner with my family for gods sakes
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:43 PM on November 26, 2009

here is a photo from 1927, the year they first used balloons. Before then they used live animals.

The practice of hovering live animals high in the air on Thanksgiving was discontinued when New Yorkers complained about the rain of cow pies.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:44 PM on November 26, 2009

I was at the parade this am. When each character would go bye, chants of his/her name would rise up: Sponge Bob! Sponge Bob! Sponge Bob! or Kermit! Kermit! Kermit!. It happened for every single character except Ronald McDonald. When he went bye it was all: huh...meh... bah. No love for the clown in NYC.
posted by R. Mutt at 5:40 PM on November 26, 2009 [2 favorites]

It makes me happy that there was no love for the Ronald McDonald balloon in NYC... Interesting. Thanks for sharing :)
posted by wantstobeadesigner at 6:43 PM on November 26, 2009

What? No Jeeves from "Ask Jeeves"? No Mr. Peanut? No Ronald McDonald? No Energizer Bunny?

How did anyone make any MONEY off this thing??
posted by hermitosis at 8:46 AM on November 27, 2009

hermitosis: What? No Jeeves from "Ask Jeeves"? No Mr. Peanut? No Ronald McDonald? No Energizer Bunny?

Or Hamburger Helper on the side of the "Helpful Local Heroes" float.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:57 AM on November 27, 2009

Is it me, or were the balloons bigger and/or floated higher back then?
posted by SquidLips at 9:30 PM on November 28, 2009