These photos prove that New Year's Eve has always been one of the world's wildest holidays.

Crowds pack into Times Square in New York City to ring in the New Year in 1954.Wikimedia Commons A 1907 New Year's Eve party at Restaurant Martin in New York City. Library of Congress Grand Central Station after the New Year's Eve festivities in 1969.Leonard Freed/Magnum Photos A couple kissing in Times Square on New Year's Eve. 1950-1951.Museum of the City of New York The New Year's Eve celebration at Times Square in 1938. Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy Stock Photo New Year's Eve at New York City's Studio 54 in 1978.Tod Papageorge/Brooklyn Museum A couple rings in the New Year with noisemakers and horns.Pinterest Children blowing horns on Bleecker Street in New York City on New Year's Day in 1943.Library of Congress Revelers standing at a bar in Detroit on New Year's Eve in 1942, wearing party hats.Library of Congress Three young men celebrate the New Year in 1971.Wikimedia Commons New Year's Eve at a cafe. Circa 1910-1915.Library of Congress Japanese Americans interned at the Central Utah Relocation Center celebrate New Year's Eve and the reopening of the West Coast with a big party in 1944.Wikimedia Commons A lively New Year's Eve celebration in Toronto in 1939.Toronto Archives A woman punctures a balloon with a fork at the 1939 New Year's party at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto.Toronto Archives A New Year's party at the Standish Hotel in Quebec. Circa 1950s.Library & Archives Canada For some reason, a broom made it into this New Year's photo, taken in the 1930s.Library & Archives Canada Revelers share a New Year's kiss at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio in 1943.San Antonio Light Collection/UTSA Libraries Special Collections A New Year's dance at the Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio. 1958.Zintgraff Studio Photograph Collection/UTSA Libraries Special Collections Exuberant revelers climb the statue of Lady Godiva in Coventry, England. 1971.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo "Party in the 1950s. A smiling young woman dressed in a costume however small, that resembles a sailor uniform, is sitting on top of the bar during a party at a film studio." Sweden, 1950.Classic Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo An at-home New Year's celebration circa 1960, complete with party hats and noisemakers.Sheri Blaney/Alamy Stock Photo A joyful New Year's celebration at a reveler's home. Circa 1960. Sheri Blaney/Alamy Stock Photo A couple shares a New Year's kiss at London's Trafalgar Square Fountain. 1960.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo Revelers take a dip in the fountain at Centenary Square in Birmingham, England on New Year's Eve. 1972.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo New Year's revelers in Chamberlain Square in Birmingham, England. 1968.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo "A happy group of revellers, undaunted by the frosty night, invite others to join in as they celebrate the start of a New Year in the spray of the fountains in Trafalgar Square, London." 1973.PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo "As 1972 fast approaches, 16-month-old Nicholas Millward, of Bristol, makes his grand entrance to welcome the New Year."PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo Two women at a celebration on Carnaby Street in London in 1969.PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo A couple at a 1956 New Year's Eve party in East Germany.Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy Stock Photo "A happy crowd of young people greet the New Year in high-spirits in Broadgate, Coventry." 1973.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo New Year's revelers sing "Auld Lang Syne" at the Leofric Hotel in Coventry. 1963.Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo A woman poses with balloons at a 1955 New Year's party in Sweden. Classic Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo A group of men blow horns to beckon in the New Year in Times Square in 1942.AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman Crowds flood into Times Square in 1930.AP Photo A Times Square New Year's celebration in 1966.AP Photo/Harvey Lippman A party gathers in Grand Central Station to watch the ball drop live on TV in 1963.AP Photo "New Years Reveller 1984. So Friendly: A policeman is kissed by a girl punk in Trafalgar Square as 1984 begins."Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo Friends celebrate the New Year in 1979.Werner Otto/Alamy Stock Photo A New Year's Eve celebration in 1965 at the Americus Hotel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.Wikimedia Commons Revelers joyfully celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square. Circa 1940s.YouTube A trash can the day after the 1952 Times Square New Year's Eve celebration.The Times Square Alliance Revelers blow horns to celebrate the New Year in Times Square in 1969.Librado Romero/The New York Times The date of December 31, 1954 marked the 50th anniversary of the first Times Square New Year's Eve celebration.The Times Square Alliance

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43 Mesmerizing Pictures That Capture What New Year’s Eve Looked Like Decades Ago View Gallery

Every year on December 31st, revelers around the world ring in the upcoming New Year by gathering with friends and family members, tuning in to the Times Square Ball Drop, popping champagne, sharing a kiss with a loved one, and singing off-key renditions of "Auld Lang Syne."

New Year's Eve is a time to reflect on the past year, and to look ahead to the new one. Some will make resolutions, coming up with goals for the next year. For many, it's also an exuberant celebration, a night of drinking, cheering, and going wild. And as these vintage New Year's photos show, these traditions have been ubiquitous in America — and beyond — for years.

But where did they begin?

The History Of The Times Square Ball Drop

NYPLBefore Times Square became New York City's premiere New Year's Eve destination, most revelers flocked to Trinity Church on Wall Street to hear the bells at midnight.

Every year, millions of people tune in to see the New Year's Eve Ball drop in Times Square in New York City, signaling the end of the past year and the beginning of a new one. For many, this tradition is almost synonymous with New Year's Eve itself. According to the official Times Square website, the idea came from Adolph Ochs, the former owner of The New York Times.

Starting in 1904, Ochs hosted raucous New Year's parties in Times Square, complete with magnificent fireworks displays, cementing the site as New York City's premiere destination to ring in the New Year.

But when the city banned fireworks displays in the area, Ochs came up with a flashy alternative. The ball drop was inspired by a 19th-century maritime tradition called "time-balls," in which a ball would drop at a certain time every day at observatories to help the captains of passing ships to accurately set their chronometers. Ochs decided to fashion a new version of the time-ball for his New Year's parties, and the Times Square Ball Drop was born.

At midnight on New Year's Eve 1907, the ball dropped for the first time from the flagpole on top of One Times Square. The first ball was a 700-pound orb made of wood, iron, and 100 lightbulbs that was five feet in diameter, but the ball has seen multiple evolutions throughout the years. Today, the ball is a massive 12 feet in diameter, weighs 11,875 pounds, is covered with 2,688 crystal triangles, and is illuminated by 32,256 LEDs.

Over the years, the emergence of television brought the ball drop ceremony into people's homes, allowing revelers around the world to incorporate it into their New Year's Eve traditions. And different towns have also come up with their own localized version of the ball drop. For instance, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania drops a giant, anthropomorphic pickle sculpture in its annual "Pickle Drop." And Tallapoosa, Georgia drops a stuffed possum.

The Origins Of The Midnight Kiss

Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Alamy Stock PhotoA couple shares a New Year's kiss in 1939.

Finding someone to kiss at midnight has long been a New Year's tradition, but how did it start? The origins of this custom are murky, but according to Reader's Digest, it can be traced back to two winter festivals.

The first is Saturnalia in ancient Rome, held during the winter solstice between December 17th and December 23rd. This was the biggest party of the year for the Romans, and because heavy drinking was involved, it's safe to assume there was some kissing involved as well, leading some experts to suggest this may have been where the New Year's kissing tradition began.

The second is the traditional Viking festival Hogmanay, which is still celebrated on New Year's in Scotland today. Per tradition, strangers and friends offer one another kisses to wish them a "Guid New Year."

The custom is also part of German and English folklore. Daniel Compora, an associate professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Toledo, said these traditions "indicate that whoever a person is with at midnight portends what type of luck they will have for the rest of the year."

As German and English immigrants made their way to the United States over the years, they brought their folklore with them, and over time, the New Year's kiss became integrated into American culture.

How Did "Auld Lang Syne" Become The Anthem Of New Year's Eve?

Wikimedia CommonsMillions tune in to see the ball drop in Times Square every year — and sing "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight.

If there's one song considered to be the New Year's Eve song, it's "Auld Lang Syne." The wistful Scottish folk song, whose title roughly translates to "Old Long Since" or "for old times' sake," is broadly interpreted to be about cherishing old friends and memories, making it a fitting choice for a day about reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the new one.

While the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" were written by Scottish poet Robert Burns, TIME reports that the tune's popularity as a New Year's song can be attributed to a Canadian man named Guy Lombardo.

Known as "the last great dance-band leader," Lombardo famously hosted a wildly popular annual New Year's Eve concert in New York City, starting in 1929. The event was broadcast on the radio and later on television, giving millions of people the chance to hear Lombardo's rendition of the song, which became the celebration's memorable "theme song."

Lombardo explained that the area of Ontario where he was from had a large Scottish population. There, it was traditional for bands to end dances with "Auld Lang Syne." It was a natural choice, then, to play it at the end of the New Year's concert. "Call it corny," Lombardo said. "I don't care."

After perusing these vintage New Year's Eve photos, learn about some of the most interesting New Year's traditions around the world. Then, check out these vintage photos of New York City at its weirdest.

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