From The Archives: Found footage of the 1939 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Among the regular balloons featured at the time: The Tin Man, Santa, and Uncle Sam (introduced the year before).

No new balloons were introduced that year.

Footage finder Tom Pappalardo writes:

I bought this reel at a junk shop in Northampton, Massachusetts (I think?) abou

In Case You Missed It of the Day: "B. Boy," Tim Burton's somewhat traumatizing float, makes its inaugural appearance at the 85th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Created as part of the parade's imagination-encouraging "Blue Sky Galley" series, the float comes complete with