It is a huge american tradition to celebrate Thanksgiving, but it wasn't formally introduced until the civil war. In the annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade, hundreds of giant floats of movie characters, cartoon characters, video game characters, etc.. To make these floats, studio designers in Hoboken,NJ make three feet tall models for people at a designing studio, where they make the huge floats that are shown in the parade by Macys. Lots of different tech is used to create these floats, read on to find out.
To make all the balloons for the parade, it takes a year round effort right after the last parade ends. They start making completely different molds with styrofoam blocks, and cut them with hotwire. All details that make the model are made by hand, or hand-sculpted. After the mold is done, they cover it with hard-co, a fire retardant plastic that gives it a waterproof shell for weather protection. After making a solid mold, the final balloon version is made at a manufacturer called Aero-Star. The balloon is test inflated to check for leaks or tears, so it will last for the approximately 6 hour parade. After all the balloons, actors, celebrities, and other forms of entertainment at the parade are ready to go, the parade starts.
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