Most of us cannot remember a time when we did not watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. That made us ask the question, when did this tradition start? Here are some fun facts thanks to the good people at the official website of Times Square.
- Revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. Seven versions of the Ball have been designed to signal the New Year.
- The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime “dimout” of lights in New York City. Nevertheless, the crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked at the base of the tower—a harkening-back to the earlier celebrations at Trinity Church, where crowds would gather to “ring out the old, ring in the new.”
- The current Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds.
- The Ball is covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles that vary in size, and range in length from 4 ¾ inches to 5 ¾ inches per side.
- For Times Square 2019, 192 Waterford Crystal triangles introduce the new Gift of Harmony design of small rosette cuts flowing into each other in beautiful harmony.
This site is full of fun facts so please read more when you have time. It is well worth the time spent. In the meantime, all of us at Put Another Way wish you a very happy and healthy new year!
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