[AMERICANA]. Small collection of photographs related to Tony Sarg, inventor of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Ca 1930s.

18 snapshots, each 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 in., featuring parade displays including floats, balloons, and marchers in costume. Several show larger-than-life balloon characters designed by Tony Sarg, including a 120-foot-long dragon balloon, and balloons depicting a Native American and Mickey Mouse. One photograph shows a float with balloon-headed figures advertising "Santa Claus to Gimbels Toyland."

Anthony Frederick Sarg (1880-1942) was a German-raised puppeteer, cartoonist, and wide-ranging designer, creating animated window displays, high-end department store interiors, and even printed art for the 1939 World's Fair in New York.

His work for the department store, Macy's, included designing the now-iconic tethered helium balloons resembling animals, humans, and mythical creatures that continue to amaze and entertain parade audiences to this day. He partnered with Bil Baird in 1928 to create the balloons for that year's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which, by the early 1930s, was attended by more than one million people.

A comprehensive exhibition exploring the life and career of Tony Sarg entitled, "Tony Sarg: Genius at Play" debuted at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA in 2023, and moved to the Nantucket Whaling Museum in the summer of 2024. Deborah Sorensen, curator of Exhibitions at the Nantucket Historical Association declared 2024 the "Summer of Sarg," with other exhibition focused on particular aspects of Sarg's career appearing at The Whitney Gallery at the NHA Research Library and the Hadwen House Map Gallery. (Timpson, Carly. "Tony Sarg: Genius at Play—The Nantucket Whaling Museum." Antiques and the Arts Weekly. 21 may 2024.)

Toning - uneven in some cases - and light wear to edges and corners.

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Katie Horstman

VP, Head of Department, American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

[email protected]513.666.4958

Ms. Horstman has spent over a decade specializing in historic photography and Americana at auction. During her tenure, she has overseen several notable single owner auctions, including property from the inventory of celebrated Americana and antique arms expert Norm Flayderman. During her time with the firm, she has maintained an active membership in the Daguerreian Society. Ms. Horstman holds an MA in Art History from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in Art History from The Ohio State University.

American Historical Ephemera and Photography

[AMERICANA]. Small collection of photographs related to Tony Sarg, inventor of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons. Ca 1930s.

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