Q 01/05

Which silent-film cartoon star became the first character balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927?

A) Betty Boop

B) Popeye the Sailor

C) Felix the Cat

D) Krazy Kat

Answer · why

C) Felix the Cat

Felix the Cat was designed by the store's own window-display artist, and character balloons soon replaced live animals as the parade's signature attra...

Q 02/05

What did Macy's do with its giant balloons after each Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1928 to 1932?

A) Released them into the sky

B) Auctioned them off for charity

C) Donated them to hospitals

D) Popped them for the crowd

Answer · why

A) Released them into the sky

Macy's released them into the sky to leak slowly and drift back down over about a week, with a reward for whoever found one. A near plane crash ended ...

Q 03/05

Although it was held on Thanksgiving morning, Macy's first parade in 1924 was named after which other holiday?

A) Easter

B) Halloween

C) New Year's

D) Christmas

Answer · why

D) Christmas

Christmas was the point: the store wanted to whet shoppers' appetites for the gift-buying season and show off its newly expanded, block-long flagship.

Q 04/05

Which figure, crowned "King of the Kiddies" at the first Macy's Parade in 1924, still closes the procession every year?

A) Santa Claus

B) Uncle Sam

C) Father Time

D) Mother Goose

Answer · why

A) Santa Claus

Santa Claus was enthroned above the store entrance in 1924 and has brought up the rear ever since, apart from one parade in the early 1930s that he le...

Q 05/05

Which children's TV character's balloon was knifed and stomped flat by police during the windy 1997 Macy's Parade?

A) Big Bird

B) Clifford

C) Barney

D) Arthur

Answer · why

C) Barney

Barney was punctured by a lamppost and crashed onto his handlers, and officers finished the job with knives and boots as the crowd cheered.