According to NBC News, disco is dead. That’s not entirely true as different genres of music have taken up the slack by utilizing bits and pieces of the once thriving culture, implementing them into their own styles. The same goes the way of disco ball production here in the United States. A once prominent industry four decades ago, Omega National Products, the Louisville company used to pump out 25 disco balls a day with 25 employees at the helm. Now, only one lone soul keeps this once thriving business alive here in the United States. Yolanda Baker, 69, assembles half a dozen per week at $125 a pop for a 12-inch ball, struggling to keep up with the outsourced industry where you can buy one produced in China for about $25 on Amazon.
“They don’t give off the light like ours do,” Baker said. “It’s not a ball that’s going to last.”
Debuted during the spring, an 11-foot, 2,300-pound, $50,000 glass-covered globe was made for display in Louisville where the product was patented back in 1917. Making it the largest disco ball in Kentucky, their loyal and observant residents are moved by the sentiment and want to build an even larger reminder of a time where disco balls reigned supreme with original designs putting the current record holder (England’s Isle of Wight) to shame with a massive seven story display. Following the post disco days, Omega has built the reflective orbs for Beyonce, Kid Rock, Shakira and Madonna which is quite the feat.
