Every year, millions of revelers gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop at midnight. Billions around the globe watch it live on television. This simple custom has become a crucial part of New York’s history. How did such a well-loved and famous tradition start? What does the ball drop have to do with starting a new year?
Beginning in the year 1907, the city officials of New York feared the fire hazards that fireworks created in a city where buildings are built side by side. Due to this problem, they banned all forms of pyrotechnics. However, this didn’t stop the people of New York from putting on a show to celebrate and acknowledge the new year. Jacob Starr, an electric sign designer, was the man to create the first New Year’s Eve ball. Weighing over 700 pounds and using iron, wood, and lots of lights, this spectacle became a new tradition. Why did they choose to use a ball? This takes inspiration from maritime time balls, used to tell sailors the time and help with navigation. In today’s age, it symbolizes the passage of time.
Almost every year since the first ball drop it has been a continued ceremony. That is, except for in 1942 and 1943 during World War II due to the wartime dimouts in major cities, which made it more difficult for enemies to possibly find highly populous areas during the night. Despite this, crowds still showed up to celebrate new beginnings. These years were welcomed with a minute of silence and the ringing of bells as a nod to when celebrations were held at the Trinity Church.
There are eight well known versions of New York’s time ball. Of course, the first one is the original. The second was created in 1920 and composed of 400 pounds worth of wrought iron. It was replaced in 1955 with an aluminum ball that weighed less than half of the previous one. During the 80s, New York used a giant apple-shaped ball for the “I Love New York” marketing campaign. After that, it returned to the traditional ball of white lights until 1995 when it got new aluminum skin, rhinestones, strobe lights, and could now be controlled with just a computer. 2000 had mostly upgrades to the lights. The Centennial Ball was used in 2007 to mark the 100th anniversary of this tradition and was never used again. The most recent ball weighed about 11,875 pounds and is twelve feet wide.
For over a hundred years, these have represented a brand new start and the passing of another year. This New Year, the ninth ball in New York’s history will be used for the first time. This one, named the Constellation Ball, will supposedly be the biggest one New York has ever had, coming in at 12,350 pounds and 12.5 feet in diameter. Carrying on this tradition, New York, as well as the entire world will be able to celebrate not only a new year, but a long, cherished history.
SOURCES :
https://timessquareball.net/ball-history/
https://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye-history-times-square-ball
https://www.balldrop.com/article/history-of-times-square-ball-drop
