A balloon blew into my car today, just as I closed my door. I jumped out to look for its tow - a wailing child - but there was none. So home it rode with me and sits on my desk, anchored by the toy bear key chain it flew in on. Funny, just this morning I was researching balloons, fact checking for the manuscript just launched. The fictional toy balloon gets just a line, barely a notice, but led to me these interesting facts:
The word balloon has been around for nearly 500 years, its origins perhaps from a game played with a leather ball.
Balloons have been refrenced in books as far back as Swiss Family Robinson and Moby Dick.
Before rubber, balloons were made from animal bladders.
Bed rolls were once called balloons, especially among loggers, and to "balloon it" meant to pack up and leave camp.