Clarence the Clown, originally referred to as Laffo the Clown, is a character that flew twice as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Laffo first brought Parade-viewers a bucket of laughs in the 1940 Parade, having been recycled from the previous year's Tin Man balloon. The balloon once again returned in 1941, now undergoing a name change to "Clarence the Clown". That year marked Clarence's final appearance in the Parade, as it was one of the many balloons to be dismantled and donated to war efforts for World War II in the form of 650 pounds of rubber.
75 years after the balloon's retirement, the balloon would make a cameo appearance in the 2016 Ghostbusters film, appearing as one of the haunted Parade balloons alongside many other early Goodyear balloons, such as The Inspektor, Pinocchio, Little Man-Big Man, and Morton the Nantucket Sea Monster.