In the 1920s Neil Tillotson designed and produced a latex balloon with a cat's face and ears from a cardboard form which he cut by hand with a pair of scissors. He managed to make his first sale of these balloons with an order of 15 gross to be delivered for the annual Patriots' Day Parade on April 19, 1931. The first colored balloons were sold at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair.