The Pennsylvania Dutch Ornaments are a pair of novelty balloons from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
The Pennsylvania Dutch Ornaments made their debut in the 1985 Macy's Parade, alongside a fleet of other ornamental novelty balloons. The balloons depicted the folk art of the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were descendants of early German immigrants to Pennsylvania. Drawing inspiration from their colorful artwork, the balloons popped in the Thanksgiving morning sun with colors of red, yellow, blue, and orange.
The balloons would continue to make several more appearances in the Parade over the next decade, soon becoming Parade staples and perennial favorites. Following the 1995 procession, both of the Pennsylvania Dutch Ornaments were briefly retired.
In 1997, only the blue and red ornament returned to the line of march, flying alongside a Flower Ornament. Due to the high winds, however, both balloons were pulled from the route shortly before their appearance on the NBC Parade telecast.