Modern commercial glitter was invented by a New Jersey machinist and farmer named Henry F. Ruschmann in the 1930s, who created a machine that finely cut film and foil into tiny reflective pieces.

Who actually “invented” glitter?

  • Archaeological evidence shows people in the Americas used shiny minerals like powdered galena for glittery decoration thousands of years ago, long before modern plastics.
  • However, the first modern plastic glitter is credited to American machinist Henry F. Ruschmann, who developed a cutting process in the 1930s in New Jersey.
  • His machine could cross‑cut photo films and other shiny materials into countless tiny particles, creating what we now recognize as commercial glitter.

How Ruschmann’s glitter started

  • Ruschmann’s early cutting machines sometimes “stuttered,” dropping tiny glossy cellulose pieces on the floor that workers began using as decorative “snow” on Christmas trees.
  • During World War II, glass glitter became harder to get, and Ruschmann found a market in grinding scrap plastics and metallized film into small reflective bits.
  • He first referred to his sparkly cuttings as “schnibbles” and later “Metallic Jewels” before they evolved into today’s familiar glitter products.

First glitter factory and patents

  • In 1943, Ruschmann bought Meadowbrook Farm in Bernardsville, New Jersey, and began cutting glitter there on a small developmental machine.
  • He formally founded Meadowbrook Farm Inventions (later Meadowbrook Inventions, Inc.) in 1948, which became one of the world’s oldest and most influential glitter manufacturers.
  • Ruschmann also filed patents related to mechanisms for cross‑cutting films and other glitter‑making technologies, helping standardize industrial glitter production.

What glitter was made of

  • Early modern glitter used metallized cellulose acetate and polished aluminum foil as the base material, cut into tiny geometric shapes.
  • Over time, manufacturers expanded to substrates like polyester, PVC, iridescent and complex laminated films, improving durability and color effects.
  • Contemporary craft and cosmetic glitter is often made from PET plastic, though environmental concerns are now driving interest in biodegradable alternatives.

Fun note: ancient sparkle vs. modern glitter

  • Long before Ruschmann, various cultures created sparkle using crushed stones, insects, and minerals such as mica, galena, and other reflective pigments in art and body decoration.
  • The key difference is that modern glitter involves machine‑cut, uniform plastic or metalized pieces, making Ruschmann the go‑to answer when someone asks “who invented glitter” today.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.