A toy balloon is a very old plaything. Children have floated them on strings for over 100 years. They were around until a few decades ago when long balloons appeared.
These were soon turned by magicians into huge animals, but when "pencil balloons" appeared, the art of making animals from balloons really developed.
Toy balloons are small, inflatable rubber bags. They first appeared at the Paris Exposition of 1889.Two sheets of gum rubber, with the edges pounded together, were made to look like one of the large hot-air balloons, which had been seen since 1783. This toy quickly became popular and has been developed and improved to the present day.
It is thought the art of twisting and sculpturing balloons began about 1920. After World War II skinny balloons, made first in Japan, arrived in America. Crude directions showed how to combine several balloons to make items such as dogs, giraffes, hats and airplanes.
But they were a very cheap novelty with poor quality rubber so only an expert could work without breaking the balloons. They were also very difficult to inflate.
But when millions were bought, mostly by mail-order, American balloon companies joined in. They packed their ordinary airship balloons as balloon animal kits. Three short balloons and one long were needed to make a balloon dog.
The skinny-twister balloons which are mostly used today appeared over 50 years ago in 1950. They were a much better quality, with bright colours, and almost anyone could blow them up. Best of all they were not too expensive.
Today balloon sculptors appear at parties, pantomimes, circuses and fairgrounds all over the world. And many a balloon animal, bird, sword or hat is treasured until it simply goes down.
Look for the Toys for you competition in our competition section!
These were soon turned by magicians into huge animals, but when "pencil balloons" appeared, the art of making animals from balloons really developed.
Toy balloons are small, inflatable rubber bags. They first appeared at the Paris Exposition of 1889.Two sheets of gum rubber, with the edges pounded together, were made to look like one of the large hot-air balloons, which had been seen since 1783. This toy quickly became popular and has been developed and improved to the present day.
It is thought the art of twisting and sculpturing balloons began about 1920. After World War II skinny balloons, made first in Japan, arrived in America. Crude directions showed how to combine several balloons to make items such as dogs, giraffes, hats and airplanes.
But they were a very cheap novelty with poor quality rubber so only an expert could work without breaking the balloons. They were also very difficult to inflate.
But when millions were bought, mostly by mail-order, American balloon companies joined in. They packed their ordinary airship balloons as balloon animal kits. Three short balloons and one long were needed to make a balloon dog.
The skinny-twister balloons which are mostly used today appeared over 50 years ago in 1950. They were a much better quality, with bright colours, and almost anyone could blow them up. Best of all they were not too expensive.
Today balloon sculptors appear at parties, pantomimes, circuses and fairgrounds all over the world. And many a balloon animal, bird, sword or hat is treasured until it simply goes down.
Look for the Toys for you competition in our competition section!