Living: Balloonacy Blooms and Booms

POP! Tokens of affection, celebration or dislike

There are many ways to pay tribute to a loved one: with one perfect rose or, better, as Dorothy Parker observed, one perfect limousine. The newest and most colorful form of testimonial needs neither vase nor gasoline. It is a bouquet of balloons. In virtually every major U.S. city, balloonery is, well, soaring. A cluster of two dozen rubber bubbles costs around $25, not too much more than a florid array of earthbound blossoms. At many ballooneries, the fee covers the cost of delivering the gaudy globules by a messenger dressed as a magician,...

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