7 photos of vintage balloons from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

posted Monday, November 19, 2012 at 7:15 PM EDT

The 86th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with be held this Thursday, Nov. 22, with millions of people lining the streets around Central Park in New York City (and tens of millions watching live on TV) to get a glimpse of the colorful gigantic balloons and floats.

While the balloons have changed over time -- the Donald Duck balloon was introduced in 1962, while SpongeBob SquarePants didn't debut until 2004 -- the overall concept hasn't changed much since the first years of the parade in the 1920s.

Here are seven photos of some all-time classics.

(Via Flavorwire)