The history of birthday party celebrations is age old. Soon as the human race began to be able to read the cycle of the moon and calculate when a full year had passed, they began to hobnob with the idea of anniversaries. Believe it or not, the first birthdays were celebrated as a means to ward off evil spirits by conglomerating all one's kith and kin in one place.



Traditions most popularly encountered at a birthday party are:

Birthday cake – cakes used to be round previously; today they come in many shapes

Birthday candles – number of candles is traditionally equal to the person's age; some people take one candle more than the age and leave it aflame for good luck

Blowing out of candles/Birthday wish – if all the candles are blown out in one attempt, the person asks for a wish secretly and gets it!

Birthday song – ‘Happy Birthday to you' is most popular

Birthday gifts and cards

Birthday decorations –balloons, crepe streamers, confetti, whistles and cheerfully coloured long pointed paper hats

One cannot do without celebrating one's birthday with a party. Especially because planning a birthday party has become very simple these days.

Birthday party supplies were never so freely available. Cakes, candles, balloons, crepe streamers, return gifts – you name it and you have it – in packets neatly arranged according to popular party themes.

Birthday party supplies are themed, too –

Age – birthday party supplies for age-themed parties are easily available for all ages – one or seventy. All décor items bear the figure or come in the shape of that figure.

Colour – select a colour and order supplies in that colour. Choose solid colours or prints or stripes.

Culture – choose your theme from among many like Egyptian, Oriental or Island.

Apparel – the dressing up theme is a great hit with children. Themes like fairy tales, toon characters, world leaders is selected and the guests are asked to dress according to the theme – also, the birthday party supplies are ordered accordingly.

All birthday parties are incomplete without birthday party balloons.

‘Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon,' was what Winnie the Pooh said and summarised what every young one felt.

There is a history behind balloons. The first balloon was made in 1824 by Professor Michael Faraday in the Royal Institution, London for experimental purposes. Hydrogen was used as the filling gas.

Toy balloons were first made in 1825, a year after their experimental usage. Thomas Hancock, a rubber manufacturer, made them. The balloons, though, that we see today were closest in appearance to balloons made as late as in 1847.

The earliest models of today's balloons were made by J.G. Ingram who used vulcanized rubber.

In modern times, latex is used popularly as raw material for birthday party balloons. Latex being biodegradable, is one up the other material used – plastic.

The toy balloons are available as many variants.

• Colours – solid colours, prints, polka dots, stripes

• Themes – balloons carry messages like ‘Happy 70th birthday to you'

• Shapes – animal shapes, heart shape

• Filling gas – helium or hydrogen filled balloons stick to the ceiling owing to the lightness of the gases and give a different type of celebration effect – they may be utilized as a piñata modification!

• Walking balloons – these are the latest modification of all. Favourite characters are fashioned out of foil or latex into life-like figures and inflated with air. Thick paper pads are provided at the base of the figure to allow it to ‘walk'

• Foil cut outs – these are life size cut outs that float. They are filled with enough air to make them stay afloat for about a week

Colours – solid colours, prints, polka dots, stripes

Themes – balloons and other décor items carry messages like ‘Happy 14th birthday to you'

Shapes – animal shapes, heart shape

Filling gas – when helium or hydrogen is used as filler in the balloon, the balloon sticks up to the ceiling as these are light gases – this gives an innovative décor and such balloons may even be used in place of piñatas.

Walking balloons – these are the most modern changes in the balloon usage. Figures of popularity are cut out of latex or foil in large sizes and filled with air. Thick pads are provided in the base of the figure to weigh it down and help it walk.

Foil cut outs – life sized cut outs of favourite characters that have been designed to float. They are filled with air and volume of air helps it stay afloat for about a week

Make your birthdays fun with the all new birthday party balloons. They are so much fun!