Macy's Parade & Balloons

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

1.Balloon handlers are typically at least how old?
- A. Eighteen
- B. Thirty
- C. Sixty
- D. Twelve
Show answer
Eighteen
Did you know? Handlers must be at least 18 years old.
2.Which American city hosts the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day parade, dating to 1920?
- A. Detroit
- B. Boston
- C. Chicago
- D. Philadelphia
Show answer
Philadelphia
Did you know? Philadelphia's parade dates to 1920, older than Macy's.
3.The parade has been televised nationally by NBC since which year?
- A. 1965
- B. 1953
- C. 1980
- D. 1948
Show answer
1953
Did you know? NBC began its national broadcast run in 1953.
4.In which magazine did Rockwell's Four Freedoms first appear in 1943?
- A. The Saturday Evening Post
- B. Collier's
- C. Look
- D. Life
Show answer
The Saturday Evening Post
Did you know? The Post ran the four covers in 1943.
5.In which year did Snoopy first fly as a parade balloon?
- A. 1975
- B. 1990
- C. 1950
- D. 1968
Show answer
1968
Did you know? Snoopy first soared over Broadway in 1968.
6.Which downtown Chicago street hosts the Thanksgiving parade?
- A. Clark Street
- B. State Street
- C. Michigan Avenue
- D. Wacker Drive
Show answer
State Street
Did you know? The parade marches up State Street.
7.Why was the 2020 parade held without roadside spectators?
- A. A subway strike
- B. A blizzard
- C. The COVID-19 pandemic
- D. A security alert
Show answer
The COVID-19 pandemic
Did you know? The 2020 parade was retooled for TV during the pandemic.
8.Many radio stations play "Alice's Restaurant" each year on which holiday?
- A. Christmas
- B. July Fourth
- C. Halloween
- D. Thanksgiving
Show answer
Thanksgiving
Did you know? The "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" tradition spans decades.
9.Which green Muppet first ballooned down Broadway in 1977?
- A. Yoda
- B. Kermit the Frog
- C. Big Bird
- D. Miss Piggy
Show answer
Kermit the Frog
Did you know? Kermit the Frog debuted as a balloon in 1977.
10.The parade returned from its wartime break in which year?
- A. 1941
- B. 1946
- C. 1950
- D. 1945
Show answer
1945
Did you know? The 1945 parade drew record crowds downtown.
11.About how long does "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" run?
- A. About 3 minutes
- B. About 18 minutes
- C. About 45 minutes
- D. About 8 minutes
Show answer
About 18 minutes
Did you know? The 18-plus-minute song fills a radio slot.
12.Which yellow Pokémon first flew as a balloon in 2001?
- A. Jigglypuff
- B. Mewtwo
- C. Pikachu
- D. Charizard
Show answer
Pikachu
Did you know? Pikachu debuted as a balloon in 2001.
13.The war years of 1942-44 aside, the parade has run how often since 1924?
- A. Only since 1950
- B. Every other year
- C. Every single year
- D. Only in even years
Show answer
Every single year
Did you know? Macy's has never missed another Thanksgiving.
14.Rockwell's Four Freedoms paintings were inspired by which 1941 presidential speech?
- A. Washington's farewell
- B. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech
- C. Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
- D. Kennedy's inaugural
Show answer
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech
Did you know? Roosevelt's January 1941 address named four freedoms.
15.Which figure's arrival traditionally closes the Macy's parade?
- A. Santa Claus
- B. The Easter Bunny
- C. The Statue of Liberty
- D. Uncle Sam
Show answer
Santa Claus
Did you know? Santa's sleigh always closes the parade.
16.Which balloon, the parade's most redesigned character, has flown in eight different versions since 1968?
- A. Garfield
- B. Woodstock
- C. Mickey Mouse
- D. Snoopy
Show answer
Snoopy
Did you know? Snoopy leads all characters with eight balloon designs.
17.The modern parade route ends in front of Macy's flagship at which street?
- A. 34th Street
- B. 125th Street
- C. 42nd Street
- D. Wall Street
Show answer
34th Street
Did you know? The parade finishes at Herald Square on 34th Street.
18.The modern route covers about how many miles of Manhattan?
- A. About 1
- B. About 6
- C. About 2.5
- D. About 10
Show answer
About 2.5
Did you know? The trimmed route runs about 2.5 miles downtown.
19.The original 1924 route ran six miles from Harlem to which commercial square?
- A. Times Square
- B. Union Square
- C. Columbus Circle
- D. Herald Square
Show answer
Herald Square
Did you know? The six-mile route ended at Herald Square.
20.Parade balloons are steered from the ground by handlers holding what?
- A. Kite strings
- B. Giant poles
- C. Radio remotes
- D. Tether ropes
Show answer
Tether ropes
Did you know? Handlers steer via long tether ropes.
21.Which live animals pulled Santa's sleigh in the earliest parades?
- A. Dogs
- B. Goats
- C. Horses
- D. Reindeer
Show answer
Reindeer
Did you know? Live reindeer drew Santa's sleigh in the zoo-animal era.
22.The telecast's Herald Square finale features numbers from which New York theater scene?
- A. Las Vegas
- B. London's West End
- C. Broadway
- D. Off-Off-Broadway
Show answer
Broadway
Did you know? Broadway casts perform live at the finale.
23.Which turkey-themed float traditionally leads the parade lineup?
- A. Tom Turkey
- B. Old Gobbler
- C. Plymouth Pride
- D. Sir Strut
Show answer
Tom Turkey
Did you know? The stately Tom Turkey float opens the march.
24.The modern route steps off near Central Park on which west-side avenue?
- A. Broadway
- B. Central Park West
- C. Fifth Avenue
- D. Riverside Drive
Show answer
Central Park West
Did you know? Balloon lines form on Central Park West at 77th Street.
25.During which war was the parade suspended for three years?
- A. The Korean War
- B. World War II
- C. The Vietnam War
- D. World War I
Show answer
World War II
Did you know? World War II canceled the parades of 1942-44.
26.Which tall yellow Sesame Street bird flew as a balloon from 1988?
- A. Big Bird
- B. Woodstock
- C. Tweety
- D. Kermit
Show answer
Big Bird
Did you know? Big Bird first floated in 1988.
27.Which Massachusetts town hosts "America's Hometown Thanksgiving" parade?
- A. Salem
- B. Plymouth
- C. Provincetown
- D. Concord
Show answer
Plymouth
Did you know? Plymouth stages America's Hometown Thanksgiving celebration.
28.About how many spectators watched the very first 1924 parade?
- A. Around 60
- B. Around 3 million
- C. Around 5,000
- D. Around 250,000
Show answer
Around 250,000
Did you know? A quarter-million lined the first six-mile route.
29.Which Norman Rockwell painting, the last of his Four Freedoms, shows a family at a roast-turkey dinner?
- A. Freedom from Fear
- B. Freedom of Speech
- C. Freedom from Want
- D. Freedom of Worship
Show answer
Freedom from Want
Did you know? Freedom from Want pictures the holiday-style feast.
30.Balloons began floating on helium in which year?
- A. 1935
- B. 1928
- C. 1950
- D. 1924
Show answer
1928
Did you know? Helium took over from air-filled designs in 1928.
31.Which department store founded Philadelphia's Thanksgiving parade in 1920?
- A. Strawbridge's
- B. Macy's
- C. Wanamaker's
- D. Gimbels
Show answer
Gimbels
Did you know? Gimbels launched the 1920 Philadelphia parade.
32.About how many Macy's employees marched in the first 1924 parade?
- A. About 20
- B. About 40
- C. About 4,000
- D. About 400
Show answer
About 400
Did you know? Some 400 employees marched that first Thanksgiving morning.
33.Which 1969 film adapts Alice's Restaurant, starring Arlo Guthrie?
- A. Easy Rider
- B. Woodstock
- C. Alice's Restaurant
- D. Five Easy Pieces
Show answer
Alice's Restaurant
Did you know? Arthur Penn directed Guthrie in the 1969 film.
34.Which redheaded orphan debuted as a parade balloon in 1982?
- A. Cinderella
- B. Dorothy
- C. Pippi Longstocking
- D. Annie
Show answer
Annie
Did you know? Little Orphan Annie floated in 1982.
35.Which Detroit department store founded its Thanksgiving parade in 1924?
- A. Sears
- B. The J. L. Hudson Company
- C. Montgomery Ward
- D. Marshall Field's
Show answer
The J. L. Hudson Company
Did you know? Hudson's launched Detroit's parade the same year as Macy's.
36.Which puppeteer designed the parade's first giant balloons in 1927?
- A. Sergei Obraztsov
- B. Jim Henson
- C. Tony Sarg
- D. Bil Baird
Show answer
Tony Sarg
Did you know? Tony Sarg invented the upward-facing balloon puppets.
37.Which Massachusetts museum holds Rockwell's Freedom from Want?
- A. The Metropolitan Museum
- B. The Whitney
- C. The Norman Rockwell Museum
- D. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Show answer
The Norman Rockwell Museum
Did you know? Stockbridge's Rockwell Museum keeps the painting.
38.Which Disney star first flew as a parade balloon in 1934?
- A. Donald Duck
- B. Goofy
- C. Pinocchio
- D. Mickey Mouse
Show answer
Mickey Mouse
Did you know? Mickey Mouse debuted as a balloon in 1934.
39.Which coffee chain co-brands Philadelphia's Thanksgiving parade today?
- A. Dunkin'
- B. Peet's
- C. Starbucks
- D. Tim Hortons
Show answer
Dunkin'
Did you know? The parade is now the 6abc Dunkin' Thanksgiving Day Parade.
40.Which 1947 film incorporated real footage of the 1946 Macy's parade?
- A. Miracle on 34th Street
- B. It's a Wonderful Life
- C. Holiday Inn
- D. White Christmas
Show answer
Miracle on 34th Street
Did you know? The film wove in actual 1946 parade footage.

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