Morton the Nantucket Sea Monster, better well-known as the Nantucket Sea Monster, is one of the classic giant balloons from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
In August of 1937, the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts was caught in a stir when a local fisherman reported that he had seen a sea monster. This was initially dismissed as a lie, but when a second resident also claimed to have seen it, rumors began to spring up. When it's 66" by 45" footprints popped up on the beach, the town was convinced there really was something out there. About a week later, the townspeople were surprised to see the beast beached on the shore. It was a sea monster--a sea monster-shaped rubber balloon, that is.
The truth came out; local puppeteer Tony Sarg had brought in the 125-foot critter who was named Morton as he has created for the previous year's Macy's Parade in 1936, to stir up business for his store, which was starting to lose sales. While the business didn't profit from the stunt, the town did; people all across the country began to flock to the colossal creature. Eventually, Morton returned to New York in time for the 1937 Macy's Parade, by which point his scales had been repainted from green to red. He was last seen in 1938 and 1939 at the Boston's Santason Parade alongside the first Mickey Mouse, Officer SOS 13, and The Two Headed Pirate. He would later be disposed and donated as part of the 650 pounds of rubber to the U.S Military for World War II.
In 2016, Morton was one of vintage balloons to make a cameo in the 2016 Ghostbusters movie alongside many other vintage balloons.