On the last day of each year, it became a ritual for large crowds to gather in the well-lit chaos of New York’s Times Square to start new beginnings. At 11:59 pm, a dazzling ball descends over a pole, while participants – and millions of people tuning in from home – count down from 60. At midnight, the crowd erupts in a cacophony of sound, often pulling on their loved ones. for a ceremonial kiss.
New Year’s Eve has its own set of rituals: throwing the ball, resolutions and sealing the new year with a kiss. Credit: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images
The Times Square Ball had seven different designs. Credit: RW / MediaPunch / IPx / AP
This will mark the first year since 1904 that crowds will be banned from crowding in Times Square. Although the launch of the ball was canceled for two years during World War II, people still came to observe tradition and keep a minute’s silence.
Over the past century, the symbol of the New Year – the luminous ball – evolved from an iron and wood cage adorned with lamps to a stunning technicolor crystal object.
But how did this New Year’s Eve celebration begin, and why do we celebrate the occasion by watching a ball go down a pole?
Nautical inspiration
The Times Square dance began thanks to a Ukrainian immigrant and metallurgist named Jacob Starr and former New York Times editor Adolph Ochs. The latter managed to draw crowds to the newspaper’s new skyscraper in Times Square by means of pyrotechnics and fireworks to commemorate the coming year, but city officials banned the use of explosives after just a few years.
In 1907, Ochs commissioned Starr, who worked for the signage firm Strauss Signs (later known as Artkraft Strauss, of which Starr served as president), to create a new visual display.
Crowds gather in Times Square on December 31, 1938. The intersection has welcomed New Year’s Eve celebrations since 1904. Credit: – / AFP / Getty Images
The new concept was based on time balls, nautical devices that gained popularity in the 19th century. As the timing became more accurate, ship navigators needed a standardized way to set their timers. Every day, ports and observatories would raise and lower a metal ball at the same time to allow sailors to synchronize their instruments.
Both Ochs and New York Times chief electrician Walter Palmer were responsible for the idea, supposedly inspired by the Western Union building in the center of the city, which launched a time ball every day at noon. But Starr’s granddaughter, Tama, who joined Artkraft Strauss in 1982 and now owns the business, said in a telephone interview that she believes it was her grandfather who came up with the concept of the ball being lowered and lit with the numbers of the new year at midnight.
One of the designs for the New Year’s Ball was an aluminum cage equipped with lamps. Credit: David Handschuh / AP
“The idea was … to light it up with the brand new electricity that had just arrived in the neighborhood,” said Tama, who for many years served as a precursor to throwing a ball in Times Square. “And it was downloaded by hand … starting in a minute until midnight, and that’s how it was done for many years.”
“It was an adaptation of something old and useful,” she added. “It was instantly popular. People just loved it.”
When the ball reached the parapet with a plaque displaying the numbers of the year, “the electrician used the switch, turning off the ball and turning on the numbers at the same time,” said Tama. “So it looked like the falling ball became the set of numbers.”
Artkraft Strauss, a sign company founded by Jacob Starr, was responsible for the design of the ball and its launch for almost a century. Credit: Marty Lederhandler / AP
All of Times Square entered the theater. In the first year, waiters from nearby restaurants and hotels wore battery-powered “1908” top hats, which lit up at midnight.
“It seemed like magic to people,” said Tama.
‘One minute out of time’
There have been seven different Times Square balls since its first descent, from a 700-pound iron frame equipped with 25-watt bulbs, to a lighter aluminum frame after World War II, to a “Big Apple” during the administration of city former mayor Ed Koch.
During Mayor Ed Koch’s administration, the ball changed to an apple as part of the “I Love New York” campaign. Credit: Lederhandler / AP
In 1995, when the ball was updated with rhinestones, strobe lights and computer controls, traditional flags were no longer needed – meaning that Artkraft Strauss, the company that brought the ball to Times Square, was no longer needed either. . Today’s ball is a collaboration between Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting, using 32,256 LEDs that can be programmed to display millions of colors and patterns on their surface.
However, Tama fondly remembers her years on the roof of One Times Square. She took turns with her brother supervising and playing timekeeper. When the last minute of the year came, workers lowered the ball using a complex system of pulleys.
Using a series of tape markers on the mast, Tama was responsible for telling them to speed up or slow down. With every ounce of his attention focused on the task, even the team’s breathing synchronized for the 60 seconds, she said.
For the millennium, the Times Square ball gained a new look, with crystal design from Waterford Crystal and Philips lighting. Credit: Kathy Willens / AP
In performing this ritual year after year, Tama sees an intrinsic link between the countdown, which she calls “one minute out of time”, and making New Year’s resolutions.
“When you’re concentrating a lot, time seems to slow down,” she said. “It felt like the longest minute in the world. It felt like you had time to wash your hair, call your mom, change your life. You can really change your life in a minute – you can decide to be different. You can decide to be kinder. is better. “