Can Kentucky’s Disco Ball Industry Survive?

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For almost half a century, Omega National Products in Louisville, Kentucky has been the #1 place for people to buy disco balls. The dance craze kicked off by Saturday Night Fever in the 1970s had the factory working at full strength, with dozens of employees each painstakingly hand-assembling 20 disco balls a day. But once disco died out, Omega has struggled to keep going. The company still makes disco balls, but they’re finding that it’s hard to compete on price with low-quality imports.

What’s next for this Kentucky business? Will they stop making their signature product? This charming and slightly sad video from the Wall Street Journal follows their employees through the process of making a disco ball and lets them talk about their feelings toward the future. What can we do to keep disco balls in America? We already have like sixteen hanging throughout the office, but we’re running out of ceiling hooks and the landlord’s a little upset.