Daeyounfa

For some, the shiny disco ball is a shiny beacon of bad taste and vulgarity, but for many others this gleaming object encompasses dreams, joys and euphoria on the dance floor. The disco ball has established itself firmly in popular culture and you can even find online guides about how to make a disco ball for you next party or how to go about if you want to own your very own disco ball necklace.

The history of the disco ball starts in a Europe where a relieved population celebrates the end of World War I. The economy is blooming and the night clubs are filled with flappers, a new breed of young women that have turned in their constricting corsets for dance-friendly dresses and newfound freedom. Together with the young men of the 1920s, the flappers danced the nights away under shiny mirror balls – also referred to as glitter balls and ball mirrors.

During the 1970s the mirror balls became a prominent feature in the popular discotheques and daughters and granddaughters of the flappers could be seen under them, dancing their socks of to Marvin Gaye, Donna Summer, and Marty Angelo. The older names – mirror ball, ball mirror and glitter ball – were replaced by a new term: disco ball. Later on, the disco ball found a new niche for itself as more and more nightclubs began installing infrared visual infects. The disco ball was now used to disperse the infrared signals.

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