The 5 Weirdest Things Dropped on New Year’s

Why drop a massive crystal ball when you can drop a marshmallow Peep?

For most of us, New Year’s Eve is an annual let-down. What’s supposed to be filled with kickass parties, overflowing booze, and enough women to give you a heart attack typically turns into a drunken evening at home watching a live broadcast of the ball drop in Times Square. Boring, yes, but if we’re going to be stuck in the 15X5 cell that passes for a studio apartment, what else are we gonna do? Well, in these cities, New Year’s Eve marks the drop of some decidedly different items…

Mobile, AL: A 350 lb. Electronic MoonPie


Since 2008, Mobile, Alabama – home of MoonPie, the favorite snack of potheads everywhere – has been throwing a huge New Year’s Eve bash for its residents. The grand finale? A 350lb. electronic MoonPie Logo dropping amid a fireworks show. Not only is the product a symbol from the first Mardi Gras celebration, but the city also is known for consuming more than four million of the marshmallow treats a year. Clearly, this town takes their New Year’s resolutions as seriously as we do. 

Bethlehem, PA: Giant Peep

Home to the fluffy sugar bunnies we horde every Easter, the little town of Bethlehem drops an enormous, multi-colored Peep at the strike of 5:45 on NYE to ring in the New Year, despite the fact that it isn’t actually the New Year yet. Once it reaches the bottom, community members flock to the illuminated Peep and gnaw on it like savages until the stroke of midnight. (Just kidding. But that would be awesome.)

Lebanon, PA: 200 lb. Bologna Stick

A 225 lb. hunk of bologna may not scream “Happy New Year” to the average person, but to the people of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, it’s the perfect way to celebrate. Except for when the viewers go home and find it nearly impossible to rid themselves of preservative meat stench.

Key West, FL: A Drag Queen Named Sushi In A Giant Shoe

Yes, you read that correctly: In the land of Spring Breakers and bath salts, the countdown to midnight is celebrated by the lowering of a giant ruby slipper occupied by a drag queen named Sushi. Think about that next time you’re down there sipping down Mai Tais. Or don’t. 

Kennett Square, PA: 700 lb. Mushroom

Pennsylvania is officially fucking bizarre… In celebration of its overwhelming mushroom population – sorry kids, not the psychedelic kind – Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, will be ringing in 2014 by dropping a 700 lb. mushroom made from stainless steel. Worth a whopping $6,000, it’s pretty clear that the authorities who agreed to this were on mushrooms on the time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJNsZx7gIfI