Hello everyone and welcome back! This is the last blog I’m writing in 2022 so let’s celebrate with the great American New Year classic: The Ball. The ball drop in New York is a staple when it comes to celebrating the coming year, but why on earth is that the custom? Well let’s get into it!
The ball has gone through seven different iterations starting in 1907. With New York banning fireworks, a man by the name of Adolph Ochs was tasked with finding a new way to celebrate. Inspired by a 19th century maritime timekeeping tradition of dropping a ball to calibrate their chronometers. The first ball was crafted by a metal worker named Jacob Starr made of iron and wood, weighed in at a whopping 700lbs, and was adorned with 100 lightbulbs that was lowered by a pulley system. This magnificent display solidified the ball drop as an American tradition forever. By 1927, the ball needed a facelift and was redesigned to be made of wrought iron. This ball was significantly lighter as well, weighing in at a skinny 400lbs. However due to the war, this ball did not make its yearly appearance in 1942 and 1943. By 1955, the ball was reworked again and made of aluminum weighing 150lbs. The ball keeps shedding more weight and it’ll disappear!
The fun thing about the ball is that it doesn’t have to be a sphere, in 1981 the ball was fashioned with red and green lights in the shape of an apple as part of the “I Love New York” campaign and persisted until 1988. 1989 saw the return of the ball, now with strobe lights, aluminum skin, and rhinestones but came with a major upgrade to a computer run ball dropping program. To celebrate Y2K, Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting teamed up to design a new ball made of crystal that lit up the night sky in a very dazzling manner. By 2007 the ball was redesigned once again. Aside from the apple, the ball was always comprised of white lights, but not this time. 2007 was officially the 100-year anniversary of the first ball drop, so the redesign included LED lighting that could change colors for a magical look and was aptly named the “Centennial Ball.”
Last year in 2021, the ball was once again redesigned, spanning 12ft and weighing 11,875lbs. Even the ball wasn’t safe from those pandemic pounds, I know I wasn’t. The ball was comprised of 2,688 Waterford Crystals, 32,256 LED lights, and displayed 16 million colors in an even more stunning display than the “Centennial Ball.” Unsurprisingly 2022 was also updated by Waterford as a part of their “Gift of Wisdom” design.
I wonder what 2023’s New Year Ball will look like!? Hope you all have a great rest of the year and a wonderful start to the new one!
