Macy's Parade & Balloons

41 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which 2006 Nathaniel Philbrick bestseller retells the Pilgrim story?
- A. Bunker Hill
- B. Mayflower
- C. In the Heart of the Sea
- D. The Last Stand
Show answer
Mayflower
Did you know? Philbrick's Mayflower won broad acclaim in 2006.
2.Which Dr. Seuss character's 1997 balloon accident led to new safety rules?
- A. The Grinch
- B. Horton
- C. The Cat in the Hat
- D. The Lorax
Show answer
The Cat in the Hat
Did you know? The 1997 Cat in the Hat mishap brought tighter balloon rules.
3.After Philadelphia, which city claims the nation's second-oldest Thanksgiving parade (1924)?
- A. Seattle
- B. Houston
- C. Denver
- D. Detroit
Show answer
Detroit
Did you know? Detroit's parade also launched in 1924.
4.The 1924 inaugural parade featured live animals borrowed from where?
- A. A Brooklyn farm
- B. The Central Park Zoo
- C. A circus train
- D. The Bronx River
Show answer
The Central Park Zoo
Did you know? Central Park Zoo animals marched in the first parades.
5.Which 18-minute Arlo Guthrie talking blues is a Thanksgiving radio tradition?
- A. "Highway 61 Revisited"
- B. "City of New Orleans"
- C. "Desolation Row"
- D. "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"
Show answer
"Alice's Restaurant Massacree"
Did you know? Guthrie's 1967 epic spills an illegal-littering tale.
6.Roughly how many trained handlers guide each giant balloon?
- A. One
- B. About 90
- C. About 900
- D. About 9
Show answer
About 90
Did you know? About 90 handlers walk beneath each balloon.
7.Which fast-food chain has long headlined Chicago's Thanksgiving parade?
- A. McDonald's
- B. Burger King
- C. Kentucky Fried Chicken
- D. Wendy's
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McDonald's
Did you know? McDonald's has sponsored the Chicago parade.
8.On the night before the parade, balloons are inflated near which Manhattan museum?
- A. The Guggenheim
- B. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- C. The Museum of Modern Art
- D. The American Museum of Natural History
Show answer
The American Museum of Natural History
Did you know? Inflation Eve draws crowds around the natural history museum.
9.In which year did the Four Freedoms paintings debut in print?
- A. 1939
- B. 1943
- C. 1945
- D. 1941
Show answer
1943
Did you know? All four covers ran during 1943.
10.Which sailor's 1957 balloon caught rain in its hat and toppled onto Broadway?
- A. Moby Dick
- B. Sinbad
- C. Popeye
- D. Captain Ahab
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Popeye
Did you know? Popeye's rain-filled hat made headlines in 1957.
11.Which Philadelphia TV station heads the parade's modern broadcast?
- A. 6abc (WPVI)
- B. Fox 29
- C. CBS 3
- D. NBC 10
Show answer
6abc (WPVI)
Did you know? WPVI-TV 6abc has carried the parade for decades.
12.Macy's first 1924 procession was billed under what name?
- A. The Turkey Promenade
- B. The Autumn Fete
- C. The Christmas Parade
- D. The Harvest Parade
Show answer
The Christmas Parade
Did you know? The 1924 debut ran as Macy's Christmas Parade.
13.Handlers wear what counterweight gear to control the balloons?
- A. Weight belts
- B. Lead shoes
- C. Steel vests
- D. Anchor ropes
Show answer
Weight belts
Did you know? Weight belts offset each balloon's lift.
14.Which Texas grocer headlines Houston's Thanksgiving parade?
- A. Kroger
- B. Whole Foods
- C. Walmart
- D. H-E-B
Show answer
H-E-B
Did you know? Houston's parade carries H-E-B's name.
15.Which middle-school diarist's balloon debuted in 2013?
- A. Nate Wright
- B. Junie B. Jones
- C. Charlie Brown
- D. Greg Heffley
Show answer
Greg Heffley
Did you know? Diary of a Wimpy Kid's Greg Heffley floated in 2013.
16.Detroit's parade is officially titled what?
- A. The Great Lakes Gala
- B. The Wolverine Parade
- C. America's Thanksgiving Parade
- D. The Motor City March
Show answer
America's Thanksgiving Parade
Did you know? Detroit stages America's Thanksgiving Parade.
17.Which web-slinging hero first ballooned down Broadway in 1987?
- A. Superman
- B. Batman
- C. Iron Man
- D. Spider-Man
Show answer
Spider-Man
Did you know? Spider-Man's balloon debuted in 1987.
18.Which avenue carries Detroit's Thanksgiving parade?
- A. Jefferson Avenue
- B. Woodward Avenue
- C. Michigan Avenue
- D. Gratiot Avenue
Show answer
Woodward Avenue
Did you know? The parade marches down Woodward Avenue.
19.Which original 1927 character returned as a new balloon in 2016 for the parade's anniversary years?
- A. Betty Boop
- B. Felix the Cat
- C. Koko the Clown
- D. Buster Brown
Show answer
Felix the Cat
Did you know? Felix the Cat returned with a new balloon in 2016.
20.Gimbels, founder of Philadelphia's parade, closed all its stores in which year?
- A. 2001
- B. 1945
- C. 1986
- D. 1965
Show answer
1986
Did you know? Gimbels went out of business in 1986.
21.Which blue video-game hedgehog debuted as a parade balloon in 1993?
- A. Crash Bandicoot
- B. Sonic the Hedgehog
- C. Knuckles
- D. Pac-Man
Show answer
Sonic the Hedgehog
Did you know? Sonic was the parade's first video-game character balloon.
22.Along which Philadelphia parkway does the Thanksgiving parade march?
- A. Kelly Drive
- B. Broad Street
- C. Roosevelt Boulevard
- D. The Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Show answer
The Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Did you know? The route finishes along Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
23.Which anime hero first appeared as a parade balloon in 2018?
- A. Luffy
- B. Sailor Moon
- C. Naruto
- D. Goku
Show answer
Goku
Did you know? Dragon Ball's Goku was the first anime-character balloon.
24.Which flying squirrel and moose pair debuted as a balloon in 1961?
- A. Rocky and Bullwinkle
- B. Chip and Dale
- C. Tom and Jerry
- D. Wallace and Gromit
Show answer
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Did you know? Rocky and Bullwinkle soared in 1961.
25.Which green ogre's balloon ran from 2007 to 2010?
- A. Shrek
- B. Grinch
- C. Yoda
- D. Hulk
Show answer
Shrek
Did you know? Shrek floated from 2007 through 2010.
26.Balloons are grounded when sustained winds exceed about how many miles per hour?
- A. 60
- B. 45
- C. 5
- D. 23
Show answer
23
Did you know? Sustained winds above 23 mph keep balloons grounded.
27.In 1958, a helium shortage left balloons deflated and carried by what?
- A. Drones
- B. Cranes
- C. Horses
- D. Trucks
Show answer
Cranes
Did you know? A 1958 helium shortage put balloons on cranes.
28.Which Connecticut city hosts a parade spectacular the Sunday before Thanksgiving?
- A. Bridgeport
- B. Hartford
- C. New Haven
- D. Stamford
Show answer
Stamford
Did you know? Stamford's Parade Spectacular runs the Sunday before.
29.Tony Sarg described his parade creations as what, inverted?
- A. Sky jellyfish
- B. Floating kites
- C. Upside-down marionettes
- D. Rigid statues
Show answer
Upside-down marionettes
Did you know? Sarg called them marionettes whose strings faced the ground.
30.The Four Freedoms exhibition tour raised roughly how much in war bonds?
- A. Around $130 million
- B. Around $13 billion
- C. Around $1 million
- D. Nothing
Show answer
Around $130 million
Did you know? The 1943 tour sold war bonds on a huge scale.
31.Which hybrid creations mix balloons with motorized vehicle frames?
- A. Skyboxes
- B. Blimpets
- C. Floatoons
- D. Balloonicles
Show answer
Balloonicles
Did you know? Macy's "balloonicles" pair balloons with powered frames.
32.Which Canadian city's Oktoberfest parade marches on Thanksgiving Day?
- A. Montreal
- B. Kitchener-Waterloo
- C. Calgary
- D. Ottawa
Show answer
Kitchener-Waterloo
Did you know? Kitchener-Waterloo's Oktoberfest parade falls on Canadian Thanksgiving.
33.The first parade was staged by Macy's employees, many of whom were what?
- A. Broadway actors
- B. First-generation immigrants
- C. Zookeeper staff
- D. Retired soldiers
Show answer
First-generation immigrants
Did you know? Immigrant employees celebrated with an old-country style festival.
34.Whose satirical play The Thanksgiving Play made her the first Native American woman playwright on Broadway, in 2023?
- A. Lin-Manuel Miranda
- B. Larissa FastHorse
- C. Suzan-Lori Parks
- D. Quiara Alegría Hudes
Show answer
Larissa FastHorse
Did you know? FastHorse's comedy reached Broadway in 2023.
35.Which production company stages Detroit's Thanksgiving parade?
- A. Macy's Studio
- B. Feld Entertainment
- C. Disney Live
- D. The Parade Company
Show answer
The Parade Company
Did you know? The Parade Company produces the Detroit event.
36.During the WWII suspension, Macy's donated the balloons' material to the war effort — what was it?
- A. Silk
- B. Paper
- C. Rubber
- D. Helium
Show answer
Rubber
Did you know? Deflated balloons gave about 650 pounds of scrap rubber.
37.Which Captain Underpants author wrote the picture book 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving?
- A. Marc Brown
- B. Dav Pilkey
- C. Jeff Kinney
- D. Mo Willems
Show answer
Dav Pilkey
Did you know? Pilkey's 1990 picture book parodies the classic poem.
38.Which Detroit parade troupe sports giant paper-mâché heads?
- A. The Tin Army
- B. The Big Head Corps
- C. The Masked Marchers
- D. The Faceless Few
Show answer
The Big Head Corps
Did you know? The Big Head Corps wears the parade's signature heads.
39.Through 1932, parade balloons were released into the sky carrying what?
- A. Tiny radios
- B. Postage stamps
- C. Return-address tags
- D. Weather gauges
Show answer
Return-address tags
Did you know? Finders could mail the tag home for a reward prize.
40.Which 1983 children's book about a Russian immigrant's doll became an Oscar-winning short?
- A. The Keeping Quilt
- B. Thank You, Jackie Robinson
- C. Molly's Pilgrim
- D. Yussel's Prayer
Show answer
Molly's Pilgrim
Did you know? Barbara Cohen's Molly's Pilgrim won the 1986 short Oscar.
41.El Paso's Thanksgiving-morning parade is named for which college football game?
- A. The Fiesta Bowl
- B. The Sun Bowl
- C. The Cotton Bowl
- D. The Rose Bowl
Show answer
The Sun Bowl
Did you know? El Paso's parade carries the Sun Bowl name.

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