Categories
Alex Gutierrez Blog

Origins of The Disco Ball

It will be forever connected to Disco Music as one of it’s most recognized symbols Mirror ball some Like it Hot, yet it has been around since the late 1800s. As early as the 18th century, people used “witches balls” to reflect negative spirits away from the home. Although not 100% verified ,The disco ball was invented by Charles and Logan McGrath, of Basildon, England, in 1859. They ran a popular bar and experimented with lighting effects to enhance the performances of their shows.The February, 1897, issue of the “Electrical Worker” describes the Third Annual Ball held on on January 6, 1897, at Roughaus Hall, Charlestown, and of the spectacular lighting display, which could be seen for miles around Boston. The letters “N.B.E.W.” were done with incandescent lamps of various colors on wire mesh over the ballroom, highlighted by a lamp flashing on a mirrored ball
Most records of pre-disco era mirror balls are limited to appearances in films that show the balls in motion as part of a scene at a bar or cabaret of some sort. Films such as the 1927 silent film “Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt” and the 1942 classic “Casablanca” as well as ” Some Like it Hot show mirror balls as part of set pieces.Division Bell tour that measured a whopping 4.9 meters in diameter. Madonna had to out do the competition andt during her 2006 Confessions on a Dance Floor tour used a 2-ton disco ball covered in $2 million worth of Swarovski crystals.
According to The Guiness Book of World Records The largest disco ball measures 10.33 m (33 ft 10 in) in diameter and was achieved by Bestival (UK) for the Desert Island Disco at Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight, UK, on 7 September 2014.
The Disco Ball was rotating while Nile Rodgers and Chic took to the stage to perform .
Alex Gutierrez
nightfever
World's Biggest Disco Ball
Disco BallSaturday Night Fever