By Staff Reporter (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Nov 27, 2013 10:46 PM EST

It is that time of the year again, when the festive spirit is in the air. As ubiquitous as turkey and pumpkin pie, one of the traditional events of the season is the Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The following are some bits of facts that have formed the lore in this annual event.

Fact 1

The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was very different from the current form seen now. The first parade took place in 1924 and used animals from the Central Park Zoo. The use of balloons came about in 1927, where one of the first balloons in the parade was Felix the Cat, a soldier and a dragon, CNN notes.

Fact 2

The annual parade has been held 86 times already, with its only hiatus was during the three years of World War 2, Huffington Post reports. During these three years, the organizers donated the rubber and the helium from the balloons towards the war efforts. 

The 1929 parade was the first time that helium was used for the balloons as well as safety valves, the report notes. The grand finale then was the release of the balloons at the end of the parade, which much to the surprise of the organizers and parade watchers then, the balloons burst when they got too high off the ground.

Facts 3

The 2013 edition of the parade, according to Macy's spokesperson Orlando Veras in an interview with Yahoo!, would have fifteen giant character balloons and thirty seven other "balloony wonders," which are also infatables. He adds, "The other balloons are either generic characters we created, or the addition of some sort of balloon element to another part of the parade."

Fact 4

Many balloon characters have made repeat appearances in the annual parade. Amongst them are Mickey Mouse, with his first appearance in 1934, followed by three other appearances in 1977, 2000 and 2009. Superman had appeared in 1939, 1966 and 1980, with the last appearance holding the record of the largest ballooon to join the Macy's Parade at 104 feet in length. The most number of appearances is Snoopy, according to a Weather.com report, with seven all in all. 

Fact 5

The total cost of the parade is a trade secret of Macy's and the Cartoon Network. Veras added, "We see the parade as a gift to New York City and the nation. And when you give a gift, you take the price tag off." According to Time estimates, construction costs for a float can run between USD30,000 and USD100,000. With the parade floats numbering fifty as well as the need for police assistance, rerouting and televison coverage, the total cost can easily top $7 million.

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