When the first confetti was made is still a mystery, but we know it was already a big deal in 1905. Police ordered its sale stopped and bars closed when Coney Island's Mardi Gras got too rowdy.
New Year's Eve gives confetti its biggest sales bounce of the year, when revelers want to celebrate with festive paper showers. But confetti is not just tiny pieces of paper anymore. Some sources say confetti comes in more than 1 billion shapes and sizes. Options include:
Die cut: Clean shapes like stars or dots perfectly sized. Looks modern.
Photo confetti: Double-sided one-inch confetti with the photo on each side. It's great for fancy birthday parties.
Metallic confetti: Comes in lots of different shapes and looks really shiny but very hard to clean up.
Dissolvable confetti: Made of rice paper that dissolves. Aids cleanup after an outdoor wedding.
Money confetti: Maybe perfect for New Year's Eve? Little dollar bills and green metallic shapes floating all around.
Many shapes: They'll make it into shamrocks, baseball bats, butterflies and other shapes.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
