The Silly Seaside Clowns & Sea Creatures are a clown unit from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
The Bathtub Clowns debuted in the 1999 Macy's Parade, featuring clowns in old-fashioned bathing suits taking a hot bath on a chilly Thanksgiving morning with their Rub-A-Dub Bathtub clown vehicle. Several clowns also carried props of oversized towels and bars of soap.
In 2002, a group of Bathing Beauties were added to the unit, which had been previously used as float escorts to the Rocking Lobster Toy Float. Aptly, the group was renamed to the Bathtub and Bathing Beauties Clowns. Props added to the group included inflatable pool toys, parasols, and umbrella hats.
In 2005, the clown unit dove into an ocean of laughter as they were renamed to the Silly Seaside Clowns.
Over the years, float escort costumes would be added to the group from an array of floats. In 2006, sea horses, sea turtles and starfish (all originating from the Dixie Georgia-Pacific float) joined the oceanic oddities, and in 2015 angel fish, jellyfish and a pair of sea anemone stilt walkers were taken from the SeaWorld float. Recent additions to the group include sharks from the Pirate's Booty float, and palm trees from the King's Hawaiian float.
The Silly Seaside Clowns were scheduled to don masks and make a special appearance at the reimagined 2020 Parade. However, as COVID-19 cases rose throughout New York City in the weeks leading up to the Parade, a reduction of participants was made and several elements were pulled from the line of march, including the Silly Seaside Clowns.
The group returned to the lineup for the 2021 and 2022 Parades, composed of Bathing Beauties, palm trees, starfish and sharks.
See also[]
- Rub-A-Dub Bathtub, a clown vehicle that appeared with the group until 2006.