Photographs and text by Stephen Harmon
The Thanksgiving Day Parade is a day away, but the balloon inflation is today. Every year, I post photos of the great balloons from vanished times. I wonder how many kids today would recognize these balloons?? I hope you enjoy the images.
Steve
Cool pics. Love that you were able to take them on CPW
They used to not rotate the traffic lights out of the way?
There were collisions with lights in 1997 and 2005, including spectator injuries in 2005. I didn’t know the lights are rotated now, but maybe that’s why.
As a toddler in the ‘50s I used to watch the parade from my grandparents’ window at CPW near 91st. Then it simply stopped showing up. Couldn’t understand it.
I remember all of them! And, alas, I witnessed Olive Oyl’s arm being ripped off one year in high winds. That was the version with Swee’Pea and he was traumatized!!!!!
My thirteen-year-old knew every character except Underdog—an oversight in his education we quickly remedied by watching several episodes (along with a bit of Tennessee Tuxedo). By bedtime, he was singing the Underdog theme song from memory!