Who knew tennis balls could be so interesting?

A video showing how tennis balls are made is going viral. The Vimeo video has been viewed over 1.3 million times.

Benedict Redgrove shot the film and uploaded it to Vimeo. He wrote:

“I was commissioned to make a film and shoot a set of images by ESPN for Wilson, to show the manufacturing process of their tennis balls for the US Open. We flew to the factory, shot the film and stills in one day then flew home. Its an amazingly complex manufacture, requiring 24 different processes to make the final ball. It was hot, loud and the people who worked there, worked fast. So much beauty in each stage. I love the mechanics of how things are made, it fills me with great pleasure. I hope you enjoy the film.”

Some fun facts about tennis balls:

Tennis balls used to be white: The famous yellow color, best known as “Optic Yellow,” was introduced in 1972 after research showed it was the easiest color to be seen on television.

So many tennis balls: Penn, the maker of “America’s best selling ball,” says: “In 1910 (Penn’s first year of manufacturing), we produced a grand total of 13,000 tennis balls. Now, more than 100 years later, our state of the art factory produces more than 13,000 tennis balls each hour!”

Repurposing: Tennis balls are tough to recycle, which is why you often see them used on the bottom of chair legs.