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On the last day of each year, it has become a ritual for large crowds to gather in the lit chaos of Times Square in New York City to signal a new beginning. At 11:59 pm, a dazzling ball descends on a pole, as participants – and millions of people listening from home – count down from 60. At the stroke of midnight, the crowd erupts into a sonorous cacophony. , often pulling their loved one for a ceremonial kiss.
New Year’s Eve has its own set of rituals: the ball, resolutions and sealing the New Year with a kiss. Credit: Bettmann Archives / Getty Images
The Times Square Ball had seven different models. Credit: RW / MediaPunch / IPx / AP
This will mark the first year since 1904 that crowds will be banned from visiting Times Square. Although the bullet drop was canceled for two years during World War II, people still came to observe the tradition and hold a minute’s silence.
Over the past century, the symbol of the New Year – the luminous ball – has evolved from an iron and wooden cage adorned with light bulbs to a dazzling technicolor crystal object.
But how did this New Year’s Eve celebration get started and why do we commemorate the occasion by watching a ball drop off a pole?
Nautical inspiration
The Times Square ball started with a Ukrainian immigrant and steelworker named Jacob Starr and former New York Times editor Adolph Ochs. The latter had managed to draw crowds to the newspaper’s new skyscraper in Times Square with pyrotechnics and fireworks to celebrate the coming year, but city officials have banned the use of it. ‘explosives after only a few years.
In 1907, Ochs commissioned Starr, who worked for the sign-making company Strauss Signs (later known as Artkraft Strauss, of which Starr was president), to create a new visual display.
Crowds congregate in Times Square until December 31, 1938. The intersection has been hosting New Year’s celebrations since 1904. Credit: – / AFP / Getty Images
The new concept was based on time balls, nautical devices that had gained popularity in the 19th century. As timing became more precise, ship mariners needed a standardized method for setting their stopwatches. Every day, ports and observatories raised and lowered a metal ball at the same time to allow sailors to synchronize their instruments.
Ochs and New York Times chief electrical engineer Walter Palmer were credited with the idea, allegedly inspired by the downtown Western Union Building, which dropped a ball of time every day at noon. But Starr’s granddaughter Tama, who joined Artkraft Strauss in 1982 and now owns the business, said in a phone interview that she believed it was her grandfather who came up with the concept of the ball. lowered and illuminated with New Years digits at midnight. .
One design for the New Year’s Eve was an aluminum cage fitted with light bulbs. Credit: David Glove / 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 the foreman at the downfall of Times Square. “And it was lowered by hand … from a minute until midnight, and that was how it was done for many years.”
“It was an adaptation of an old and useful thing,” she added. “It was instantly popular. People loved it.”
When the balloon hit the parapet with a sign displaying the year digits, “the electrician would flip the switch, turn off the balloon and turn on the digits at the same time,” Tama said. “So it looked like the descending balloon turned into a set of numbers.”
Artkraft Strauss, a sign company founded by Jacob Starr, was responsible for the design of the balloon and its downfall for nearly a century. Credit: Marty Leather Handler / AP
All of Times Square entered the theater. During the first year, waiters in nearby restaurants and hotels wore “1908” battery-powered top hats that they lit up at the stroke of midnight.
“It sounded like magic to people,” Tama said.
‘One minute out of time’
There have been seven different Times Square bullets since it was first shot, from a 700-pound iron structure with 25-watt bulbs, to a lighter post-WWII aluminum frame, to a “big apple” during the administration of the city. former mayor Ed Koch.
During the administration of Mayor Ed Koch, the bullet turned into an apple as part of the “I Love New York” campaign. Credit: Leather Dealer / AP
In 1995, when the ball received a glitzy update with rhinestones, strobe lights, and computer controls, traditional signs were no longer needed – which meant Artkraft Strauss, the company that brought the ball to the 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 its surface.
Nonetheless, Tama fondly remembers his years on the roof of One Times Square. She took turns with her brother to supervise and play the timekeeper. When the last minute of the year arrived, workers lowered the ball using a complex pulley system.
Using a series of tape markers on the pole, Tama was in charge of telling them to speed up or slow down. With every ounce of their attention focused on the task, even the team’s breathing would synchronize during the 60 seconds, she said.
For the millennium, the Times Square ball has had a facelift, with a crystal design from Waterford Crystal and lighting from Philips. Credit: Kathy Willens / AP
By performing this ritual year after year, Tama sees an intrinsic connection between the countdown, which she calls “a minute out of time,” and the making of New Year’s resolutions.
“When you concentrate really hard, time seems to slow down,” she says. “It was like the longest minute in the world. It felt like you had time to wash your hair, to call your mother, to change your life. You can really change your life in a minute – you can decide to be different. You can decide to be nicer and better. “
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