As we dance into a new decade, let’s groove to the past and look into the mirrored disco ball.
It’s unclear as to who invented the mirrored ball, but it dates back to at least 1897! The February issue of The Electrical Worker describes a ballroom where the highlight was “a carbon arc lamp flashing on a mirrored ball.” The Third Annual Ball was held in Charlestown, Massachusetts and the light from the glittering ball was so spectacular it could be seen for miles.

By the 1920s, mirrored balls were fixtures in nightclubs around the globe. In fact, one can be seen in the 1927 German silent film, Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.

The brightest decade for the mirrored ball was of course the disco era — the 1970s.
Every discotheque from New York to Paris, from London to Tokyo, had one. The disco ball unified the professional and amateur dancer and made everyone look good!