Disco balls, those big shiny round things on nightclub ceilings. Aren’t they just awesome? The way they reflect all the lights around in tiny circles throughout the club. They have a certain mystique about them that just make you smile. For many, they have different connotations. Many will simply think of all the great times they’ve had clubbing, while others will think of the ’70s and the disco era (hence “disco” ball). Star Wars fans may even think of the Death Star when seeing a disco ball, but shinier and less destroying of planets going on.
But who created these shiny things? Why did they do it? Like all great inventions, it had to start somewhere. It seems that two brothers named Charles and Logan McGrath from England were the geniuses behind the disco ball, who created it way back in 1859! Yes, disco balls are ancient! They ran a bar in the town of Basildon and wanted to experiment with lighting effects to see if it would make their dancing girls look better to customers. Ironic that a symbol of partying and fun on weekends was created by a pair of bosses who wanted to find a way to further control their workers and exploit the public to make more money.
Like any invention, it took time for disco balls (then simply known as “mirror balls”) to really take off in the nightclub world. It finally became a nightclub staple worldwide around the 1920s. Just to think, our great-grandparents were also partying to these giant shiny balls above the dance floor (though they “partied” to incredibly lame tunes by the likes of Louis Armstrong).
Disco balls have since become synonymous with nightclubs and will forever be there for future generations of drunk young people to stare at while they’re tripping (disco) balls, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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