At left, a photo of the first (or at least an early) advertising balloon. Ad balloons were pioneered by the Nakayama Taiyo-do 中山太陽堂 cosmetics company in 1913. However, it seems that ad balloons did not become common until the late 1920s or early 1930s. See: Ad Balloons on the Ginza: Float, Young Advertisers! (1890-1989)
