Thousands of people pack into New York’s Times Square to watch the descending of the ball each New Year’s Eve. How and when did this tradition originate?
Times Square was once known as Longacre Square. In 1904, the widely successful New York Times newspaper, founded in 1851, moved its location to Longacre Square, and in a moment of company egotism, ownership immediately set out to have the location’s name changed to Times Square. The state granted their request later that year, and on December 31 the New York Times planned a joint celebration, not only for their new location and Square name change, but to also ring in the new year. The celebration was publicized and thousands attended the event.
Shortly before midnight, dynamite was exploded as a signal that fireworks were to begin, and giant numerals, 1-9-0-5, were illuminated atop the New York Times building in the direction of theaters, hotels and restaurants downtown.
This annual New Year’s celebration with fireworks continued for the next two years. In 1907, New York banned fireworks, and a new way to ring in the new year was sought. It was decided a ball would descend on a pole atop the New York Times building, indicating the new year once it came to rest on the rooftop. The ball was constructed of wood and iron and was illuminated with 216 electric lamps. The photo below of the illuminated ball is from that very event on December 31, 1907 to ring in 1908. The streets were blocked off to traffic and the crowd was kept back from the building in case of an incident should the ball malfunction, possibly becoming a threat to those below, hence why the scene seems bare.
The ball has changed locations through the years, its move to its current location at One Times Square occurring in 2009. The dropping of the ball has been an annual tradition in Times Square since December 31, 1907, the only exceptions being 1942 and 1943 in observance of wartime blackouts.
Do you have any traditions or superstitions you partake in on New Year’s Eve/Day to ensure a successful year ahead? Take a look at these eight unusual ones from the late 19th century.
1. Matchmaking: Wealthy people would hold “open houses”, inviting all the local eligible bachelors into their homes to meet their unmarried daughters. Eligible bachelors would spend about 15 minutes chatting with the unmarried daughter, provide her with his calling card and then move on to the next home. If interested, the daughter would call upon the bachelor for another visit to talk some more and meet her family. (The image below is of an “open house” calling card. The flap reads “Only Happy Hours” and when opened, reveals a photo of the bachelor).
2. New Clothes: New clothing was worn on New Year’s Day to symbolize fresh beginnings and leaving behind all the past year’s hardships.
3. The Threshold: If the first visitor of the year to cross the threshold by stepping into one’s home (whether family, friends, etc.) had dark hair, it meant good fortune was ahead for the family. If the person had blonde hair, it meant troubles loomed.
4. Pigs & Clovers: Postcards were often sent to and from loved ones, a number of them containing pigs and clovers, as they were considered bearers of good fortune for the year ahead.
5. Cleaning the Hearth: Cleaning out ashes from the hearth was to be done on New Year’s Eve as a sign of sweeping away all the past year’s misfortunes and ushering in the new year with a clean slate.
6. Pocket Money: Having money in your pocket was believed to ward against poverty and misfortune in the new year. This included children having money in their pockets as well.
7. Divination: People would playfully predict one another’s fortunes for the new year by interpreting each other’s tea leaves and by engaging in bibliomancy, which is opening a Bible to a random page and reading aloud the first passage that came into sight.
8. Bell Ringing: Many people rang bells at midnight to chase away evil. Just prior to midnight the front door would be opened. As the clock struck midnight, marking the new year, those in the home would ring bells loudly in each room of the house. It was believed that any negativity within each room would be forced out and leave through the open front door. This may have led to the present day tradition of noisemakers, party horns, etc.
To those curious as to the fate of August H. Rux (the bachelor pictured on the card below), he married Mary M. Beck in 1916; they had two children together. This 19th century calling card may not have found him love at the time, but things eventually worked out for him.
