Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

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

Have you ever watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?  Did you like the music, the floats, the balloons?  Did you ever wonder why this parade (and very few others) uses balloons?  Who came up with the idea of using balloons?  That person was Tony Sarg, a well know puppeteer from Europe who was encouraged by R. H. Macy.  Tony Sarg helped with the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 1924.  But, there weren’t any giant balloons in this first parade.  Instead, there were real animals from the Central Park Zoo.  Soon after, Mr. Macy gave Tony Sarg a new challenge for the parade.  Replace the live animals!  We know that today’s parade has huge balloons, but how did a puppeteer go from marionettes hanging below strings to balloons floating above strings?  To learn more about Tony Sarg visit, http://www.michenermuseum.org/bucksartists/artist.php?artist=234.   Or, to find more interesting books by Melissa Sweet visit, http://melissasweet.net/.

Shared by Mrs. Manore from Orenda