Balloons were originally invented in 1824 in England. These early balloons were made from pig bladders and later from a rubber similar to the type used to make Wellington boots.

The modern-day latex balloon has been around for about 70 years. The man generally believed to have invented it was Neil Tillotson, a chemical engineer from New England, USA. It seems that in 1931, Mr. Tillotson was having a hard time trying to produce inner tubes from raw latex.

So, just to see what would happen, he drew the shape of a cat's head on a piece of cardboard, cut it out and dipped it in the liquid latex. When the rubber was dry, he blew up the little latex bag and was surprised to find that he had made a "cat balloon" ... complete with ears!

He produced about 2000 of these balloons, which were a big hit when he sold them at Boston's annual Patriot's Day Parade that year. Mr. Tillotson later founded one of the USA's oldest and biggest latex balloon manufacturers, Tillotson Rubber Company.

Today the company produces everything from industrial rubber products to latex examination gloves. However, their balloon division 'Dipco' still manufacture and sell their unique line of "Tilly®" latex balloons.

 

So we now know where and when latex balloons were invented ... and found out that the very first latex balloon actually had the shape of a cat's head!

Where does latex come from?

Latex is a milky fluid that comes from a tree growing in many of the world's rain forests: the rubber tree or 'Hevea brasiliensis'. Although first found in the Amazon basin, the country of Maylasia is now the world's largest producer of natural latex. For the tree, latex is said to be a defence against insect predators.

To collect the latex, the bark is cut with a knife and the fluid is then caught in a cup as it drips out. The great thing is, that this harvesting doesn't do any permanent damage to the tree. A single rubber tree can produce rubber for about 40 years!

Therefore they represent a nearly perpetual cash crop, which helps discouraging people from cutting them down. So, the need for natural rubber actually contributes to preserving the rain forests of the world for future generations.

 When latex balloons  are launched outdoors they often rise to an altitude of about five miles! There they begin to freeze in the cold atmosphere with temperatures of about -50 degree Fahrenheit (that is roughly -46 degree Celsius).

Additionally, because of the huge difference between the gas pressure inside the balloon and the near vacuum outside the balloon at that height the balloons tend to expand to the point were they eventually burst. As the latex is frozen, the bursting balloon tears into shreds (the exact scientific term is called "brittle fracture"). These tiny, spaghetti-like pieces then scatter over a wide area as they fall back to the ground, where they'll decompose completely within a few weeks to months, depending on the actual environmental conditions.

 

Foil Balloons

The history of Foil Balloons is much shorter than the latex balloons, as they were first developed for the New York City ballet in the late 1970s. These silver metalized balloons, often referred to as "Mylar" balloons, are almost always made from sandwiched sheets of plastic (polyethelene) and nylon that are then coated with aluminium.

That's why the balloon industry prefers to call them "foil" balloons. Their production costs are much higher than for latex balloons. And despite the fact, that their molecular structure is much "tighter" than stretched latex, even foil balloons will eventually lose the helium through the inflation seal and go saggy and flat.

Another big difference to latex balloons is, that foil balloons are not biodegradable, as they contain aluminium. But that's not the only reason why they should never be released outdoors. Because of their metal ingredients they conduct electricity. That means, if they got entangled with power lines they could cause commercial power outages.

 

 

 

A brief history of Balloons