The iconic Smiley Face is an American icon of happiness. Created in 1963 by Harvey Ball, the friendly ball became a pop culture icon, being on 50 million pins in 1971.
History with the Macy's Parade
In contrast with its usual iconic status, Smile is one of the most mysterious and obscure balloons in the parade's existence. The balloon was recycled from the Elsie the Cow balloon, and it was 27 feet tall, 27 feet in length, 27 feet wide, and its weight was 290 lbs. and could contain 10,306 cubic feet of helium. It was originally scheduled to debut in the 1971 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside a brand-new Mickey Mouse balloon, but due to extreme, high winds reaching up to 40 mph and rain mixing together to create weather unsuitable for flying balloons, thus resulting in the only instance in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade history where the giant balloons were grounded. The balloon finally marched down the parade route in 1972, leading the Parade that year. The balloon did not return afterwards, and it was later recycled into many other parade units, such as the hot-air balloon for the Alvin and the Chipmunks falloon from 1986, which was later recycled once again into the Babar the Elephant balloon in 1991.