People celebrate the new year in many different ways. From dressing up and going out to the bar, or staying close to home with family, there has been one accessory that remains constant through it all… New Year’s glasses. After almost a decade, it is finally time to be able to have two circles to see through instead of having a “1” blocking the view.
The novelty glasses were invented in 1990 by Richard Sclafani and his friend and business partner, Pete Cicero but were no longer sold around 2010 due to an abundance of knockoff versions that made their venture unprofitable.
For 119 years, a Pennsylvania-based company, Party Express, has been selling New Year’s novelties to consumers and businesses and this year they have seen an increase in pairs sold. Mark Sullivan, Party Express manager, explained that 2000 to 2009 was the easiest when it came to designing the glasses as no thought really had to go behind it. This year makes the glasses fun because of the irony with 20/20 vision.
Since 2000, this is the most interest Party Express has had with the glasses as it was the turn of the millennium and the natural excitement of having three zero’s. With this year being a new decade and people celebrating “The Roaring ’20’s,” New Year’s sales as a whole have simply been bigger. However you dress up for the new year, we hope you started it with 20/20 vision!
Adapted from the Today Show’s “2020 will be the best year in a long time for those New Year’s glasses” by TODAY.
