Parades Balloon Patrol, Birmingham, Alabama. Photo dated 1966.

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To attract shoppers to downtown Birmingham stores in 1966, the Downtown Action Committee announced that the night after Thanksgiving the Magic City would try and one up the long-running Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with its own balloon parade.

However, hosting such a parade in Birmingham posed a few big problems Macy's didn't face in New York City: power lines and traffic signals. To get around that, the balloons were mounted to floats rather than flying above the crowd.

Another problem? The balloons were very disturbing.

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The Balloon Parade in Birmingham, Alabama

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Jerry Moulder

Ain't nothing but a hound dog'... escorted by a pretty young lass. Parades, Balloon Parade Birmingham, Alabama The Birmingham News. 1966

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Historian Tim Hollis recounted the tale of the 1966 parade, and the follow ups each year through 1969, in his book, Christmas in Birmingham.

The Nov. 25, 1966 parade featured a "Fairyland" theme with characters including Peter Pan and Snow White. Oddly enough, the parade also featured a vampire and Frankenstein.

Some 100,000 people attended, reporter Hugh Merrill wrote for The Birmingham News. The "past-their-prime" balloons delighted children, but puzzled adults, Merrill wrote.

"They have the most horrible expressions on their faces," one woman told Merrill.

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Jerry Moulder

Parades. Balloon Parade. Birmingham, Alabama. Dragon Prowls and prances right down 20th street...young boys lend helping hand. The Birmingham News

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Parades. Balloon Parade. These animated creatures are getting all blown up for tonight's Balloon Parade through downtown Birmingham, being the dragon slain by St. George. Snow...White and all the seven dwarves and some frightening monsters like those created by Frankenstein. There will be 41 balloons in the parade and it will be led by bands from Abrams, Banks, Berry, Carver, Fairfield, Hueytown, Mountain Brook and Tarrant. 1966.

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According to Hollis, when the parade returned in November 1967, it was held on Saturday morning rather than at night. While some of the '66 balloons returned, the parade featured a Biblical motif, with religious-themed floats.

"What was a little weird for a Christmas parade is that they uniformly portrayed Old Testament figures, both heroes and villains," Hollis wrote.

That included Goliath and a balloon that was once Mary's little lamb painted to look like a golden calf.

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Parades - Balloon Parade - Birmingham, Alabama. One of the many king-sized balloons featured in extravaganza.

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Jerry Moulder

Balloon Parade-Balloons, Dragons, Clowns and Santa Claus Herald The Advent Of The Christmas Season In Birmingham, Alabama...And more than 100,000 people turned out to usher in the joyous season despite cold temperature and ripping wind The Birmingham News

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In 1968, the parade returned on a Saturday morning, about two weeks before Thanksgiving, this time with a circus theme, Hollis wrote.

"The city rented anything ... that looked even vaguely connected to the circus, including a procession of elephants, a rotund clown sure to give nightmares to those with phobias, a lion, a leopard, a circus pony and a number of others," he added.

The next year would be the last and arguably strangest of the downtown balloon parades.

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Parades. Balloon parade. Birmingham, Alabama.

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Dave Battle

This giant serpent was one of many giant balloon characters taking part in today;s Holiday Balloon parade. The characters, along with bands and pretty girls, marched through the downtown streets--as thousands watched--ringing in the holiday season for Birmingham. The balloons, which came in all designs from monkeys to dogs, cost more than $5,500 for the event, sponsored by the Downtown Action Committee. It was Birmingham's second major parade in less that a week. Monday saw the annual Veterans Day event, which is one of the largest in the nation, roll along the same parade route. The Birmingham News

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Parades in years past featured generic, non-licensed characters. The 1969 parade, however, was somewhat different in that it featured thinly-veiled knockoffs of kids' favorite characters.

"Just to be sure no one mistook them for the real things," Hollis wrote, "each monstrosity had a mutilated name painted on each wooden platform."

Imagine the joy lighting up each child's face as Charlie Braun, his dog "Snooper" and pals Linnus and Licy, rolled through Birmingham.

It was the last of the balloon parades, although Hollis says there was no explanation of why the parade ended.

"When 1970 rolled around, there was no mourning the loss of a tradition as far as the city was concerned," Hollis wrote.

For more on the parades, visit Birmingham Rewound.

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Jerry Moulder

Parades - Ballon Parade. Birmingham, Alabama. The parade's honored guest arrives on fire truck...Santa Claus, minus a sled and eight reindeer The Birmingham News