The New Macy's Parade Wikia
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Eben Bear is an original Macy's character, hailing from Boston as a mascot of Macy's iconic Santaland display.

History with the Macy's Parade[]

In 1995, the Boston-dwelling, ever-so-cuddly Eben Bear made his Macy's Parade debut. Recycled from the Snuggle Bear balloon, the 62-foot tall Eben carried a tasty candy cane confection in his right paw as he sported a large red winter hat, green vest, and a red-and-green striped stocking. The balloon is one of the only balloons to be self-sponsored in the Parade's history, alongside the Elf on the Shelf. The balloon made four consecutive appearances, and was retired after the 1998 Parade.

It is speculated that the balloon still survives in the float warehouse, although this remains uncertain.

The balloon would later be referenced in the 1999 edition of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade snowglobe collection, appearing as a small-scale sculpt alongside other Parade characters such as BullwinkleBig BirdBarney and the Rugrats.

Incidents[]

  • In 1997, after gusty winds caused the Cat In The Hat balloon to spiral out of control and critically injure four people, it was decided that the last two balloons, Eben Bear and Miss Petula Pig, would be removed from the Parade for safety concerns at 77th Street. Because of this, he nor Petula were mentioned on the NBC telecast.

Defects[]

  • In 1996, Eben's right hand was deflated, as he probably wasn't inflated very well. 
  • In 1997, before his removal, his nose and right arm were deflated, possibly for the same reason as 1996.
  • In 1998, his candy cane was missing.
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