Jojo Siwa loves it. Mike Pence fears it. And once it’s entered a room, it will live there forever. It’s time to talk about glitter.
It’s not featured in the rainbow, but glitter has been the subject of human interest longer than purple has been a color.
In the Upper Paleolithic era, humans were figuring out the bare essentials: the first needles for sewing clothing, the first hunter-gatherer economy and, of course, glitter. Long before there was a word for it–or at least a word modern people know of–little flecks of red, black and white mica were used to make paint glimmer. The shiny rock was featured in some of the first cave paintings all the way back in sparkly 40,000–10,000 BCE. This mica glitter was also used by the Mayans for very special occasions.
If anyone were to shimmer centuries ago, it would be the “it girl” of the ancient world: Cleopatra. The famed ruler of Egypt crushed up beetles for a quasi-glitter effect and even combined crushed lapis lazuli and flecks of gold-colored pyrite to create a shimmery, deep blue eye shadow.
As time passed, glitter remained a necessity. Even the word “glitter” provokes a history: it comes from the Norse “glitra,” which has the same meaning as glitter when used as a verb. By the 19th century, glitter was largely made from powdered glass, often sold under the name “diamantine.”
Plastic glitter did not emerge until the Great Depression, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the birthplace of modern glitter was New Jersey. Henry Ruschmann ground up plastics and other materials from landfills to create the first modern glitter, and, as only glitter can do, it scattered into all cracks of society.
This overtaking of plastic glitter was not only because glass glitter sounds somewhat hazardous. As World War II set on, glass glitter could no longer be manufactured at the same capacity without German glass. In fact, the U.S. Army even briefly considered shooting glitter out of their airplanes during the war to interfere with radar.
Glitter became more and more popular, embraced by the most fabulous celebrities in the later decades of the 20th century and then by absolutely everyone in the ‘90s. Body glitter was a necessity for any good night out, and Lip Smackers, glitter pens and sparkly eyeshadow carried the masses into the early 2000s.
Glitter has always been a staple of humanity, but it has become a controversy too. Most recently, in 2019, glitter became the subject of quite the conspiracy. This 2018 New York Times article “What is Glitter?” sparked the questioning when a reporter was denied access to a glitter factory and faced odd answers and dodges when trying to answer its titular question.
The most stand-out portion of the article was the immense secrecy surrounding Glitterex, a prominent glitter manufacturer. However, the factory refused to disclose how they made the glitter and, most interestingly, who served as their biggest market, hinting that it was something well-known and that “you would never guess it. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Naturally, the internet interneted with this and proposed all sorts of theories, from cosmetic companies to military operations. The secret of glitter has still not been disclosed.
No matter how glitter is being used, it remains important. For decades glitter has been used in performance and by queer activists campaigning for LGBTQIA+ rights. The Glitter + Ash movement allows churches to show support for queer members of their faith by mixing purple glitter in with the ashes used on Ash Wednesday. “Glitter bombing” has also been used against homophobic politicians or protesters, a form of activism where anti-LGBTQIA+ people are showered in glitter.
People love shiny things. It’s in human DNA. Thus, it's no wonder why glitter has been a part of human society since human society was invented. All that glitters is not gold, but it’s all beloved nonetheless.
Katie Millard is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Tell Katie by tweeting her at @katie_millard11.
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