This year marks a century since the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1924. There have not been 100 parades—the event was cancelled for several years during World War II—but it’s still an important milestone. While my feelings about Thanksgiving have gotten more complicated over the years, I still enjoy the parade for the commercial monstrosity it is, and I will take any excuse to talk about superheroes. Today: a whirlwind tour of the hero-themed balloons that have graced New York’s November skies.
The first superhero balloon was, unsurprisingly, Superman, who debuted in 1940. But he would not appear again until 1966. I know this both from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Fandom page and from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which played footage of the ’66 parade, prominently featuring the Superman and Underdog balloons, during their deeply mediocre Christmas episode.
In the meantime, as you can see in the photo from this Smithsonian Magazine article, Saturday morning cartoon staple Mighty Mouse appeared in 1951. The humble and lovable Underdog, another cartoon hero, debuted in 1965.
After that, it took 20 years before another new superheroic face hit the parade route. That face belonged to Spider-Man, who became the first Marvel character to appear in balloon form in 1987. Spidey was followed by Sonic the Hedgehog in 1993, Super Grover in 2003 (he counts!), a superhero version of Hello Kitty in 2007, the Red Power Ranger in 2014, and Red Titan in 2020.
If you watch the parade, you know that some of these characters, if not their original balloons, still make regular appearances. Spidey, for instance, is getting a facelift this year. Meanwhile, former parade stalwart Superman hasn’t shown up since 1987. The fact that that’s the same year the Spider-Man balloon first took off may or may not be a coincidence.
If superheroes are not your thing, Macy’s still has plenty of comics-related balloons for you to enjoy. Snoopy and his Peanuts pals are the most prominent: they’ve had a presence (inflatable or otherwise) at virtually every parade since 1968. They were far from the first, however.
The first year that comics-themed balloons appeared was in 1929 when characters from The Katzenjammer Kids floated above the crowds. The next year saw appearances from now-forgotten titles like Our Boarding House, Toonerville Folks, and Boob McNutt (it was a different time). Various Disney characters have come and gone through the years after they dominated the 1934 parade, culminating in the upcoming debut of Minnie Mouse.
Popeye sailed into view in 1957, and Garfield was a staple through the 1980s and ’90s. Not bad for a lazy cat! The Smurfs made a somewhat belated debut in 2008. Popular anime and manga characters like Pikachu, Goku, and Monkey D. Luffy have also delighted parade watchers in more recent years.
Whether you’re celebrating anything this week or not, I hope you have a good time, and be kind to yourself. In years like this when it may seem like there’s little to be grateful for, it’s important to grab whatever joy you can with both hands, whether it is to be found in the change in seasons, a nice meal, or an oversized balloon.
