mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
New Year traditions that all Americans are familiar with include the ball drop in Times Square, the Tournament of Roses Parade, fireworks, year-end lists, New Year’s resolutions, a toast and/or a kiss at midnight, Auld Lang Syne, and predictions for the year ahead. Here are some other customs you might not be as familiar with.
1. Años Viejos
In Ecuador, December 31st is time to ceremonially burn an effigy named Años Viejos, or Years Old. The dummies are made of old clothes and sticks or sawdust for stuffing, and often made to look like someone who has made a negative impact during the year, such as a politician. See pictures of many different Años Viejos here.
2. First-Footer
Scotland marks Hogmanay on December 31st, although the celebration lasts several days, with customs varying by locality. One of the customs associated with the new year is that of the first-footer, or the first person to visit your home after midnight on New Year’s Day. It is good luck if your first-footer is a tall handsome man with dark hair, preferably bringing a small gift. Remnants of this custom are found in America, too -I have a relative who gets very upset if the first person who calls her in the new year is a woman.
More traditions from all over, after the jump.
3. Twelve Grapes
New Year’s Eve is called Nochevieja, or the Old Night in Spain. The tradition is to eat twelve grapes at midnight, as the twelve chimes ring in the new year. Try stuffing twelve grapes in your mouth in twelve seconds, and you’ll see how funny this can be! The twelve grapes are also eaten at midnight in other countries that have a Spanish influence. In Spain, wearing red underwear for the new year brings good luck; in other countries, the underwear should be yellow. No doubt, clothing vendors cater to these traditions.
4. Olie Bollen
In the Netherlands, New Year’s Eve is a relaxed family holiday until midnight, then it’s party time in the streets with fireworks and revelry! The Dutch serve doughnuts or fritters called Olie Bollen, traditionally served for breakfast or snacks on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Make your own Olie Bollen with this recipe.
5. Black-Eyed Peas and Hog Jowls
In the American South, you must eat a meal of pork (originally hog jowl), black-eyed peas, and greens on New Year’s Day to ensure a good year ahead. Hog jowl symbolizes health (believe it or not), black-eyed peas represent good luck, and greens (originally cabbage, but mustard or collard greens are used also) symbolize money. Local variations include ham hocks, ham, or bacon for hog jowl, saurkraut, cabbage rolls, Hoppin’ John, or other soups or casseroles that contain these items.
6. Dinner for One
In Germany and Scandinavia, TV stations broadcast Dinner For One, a British comedy sketch about a woman celebrating her 90th birthday. The sketch has nothing to do with the New Year holiday, but has become such a tradition that it landed in The Guiness Book of World Records as the most repeated TV show ever! In the routine, Miss Sophie has outlived her friends, so her butler plays the part of each at the birthday dinner, which means he must drink multiple toasts. The most popular 18 minute version with a German introduction can be found at Google Video. YouTube has a 10 minute version of the same sketch, seen here.
What traditions do you observe for the New Year holiday?
Comments (22)
Comment
Personally, I would feel very lucky if a tall, dark, handsome man brought a gift to my house any day of the year!
posted by Miss Cellania on 12-30-2007 at 10:59 pm
The only one I knew of was the black eyed peas. I lived in Texas for a while and all the restaurants serve them no matter what you order.
posted by gus on 12-31-2007 at 6:56 am
I have spent many years in Germany while working for the US Army and “Dinner for One” is, in deed a phenomenon. So much so that the play’s catch phrase “Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie” “Same procedure as every year, James” has entered the culture. You could walk into any Gausetehaus and say the first part, and be assured the room would respond. It is one of the things I will miss tonight.
x-ray
posted by Frank ryan on 12-31-2007 at 7:11 am
I think “Dinner for One” actually was a german production, or at least a production for German TV, only with an English comedian.
posted by Joerg on 12-31-2007 at 7:58 am
Ham, black-eyed or crowder peas, collared greens, corn bread & sweet potato pie.
Sometimes I actually manage to stay up late enough to watch the Times Square ball or the Peach drop.
posted by Doc on 12-31-2007 at 8:09 am
Oyster stew & Dick Clark.
Imagine if a village only had one tall, dark handsome man for the 31st. He’d be busy! And broke. Then again, if that happened in my home town I could see several men dying their hair, bronzing their skin and walking on stilts.
posted by Kasee on 12-31-2007 at 8:15 am
Joerg, you are right… the TV production is German, but the story was written by British author Lauri Wylie in the 1920s. Which makes it really “classic”!
posted by Miss Cellania on 12-31-2007 at 8:15 am
We eat pickled herring - either in cream sauce or wine sauce on New Years Eve. It’s supposed to bring good luck. And we have a small family party- lots of munchies, board games, and movies. It was always a big deal when I was a kid, and now my kids love it. Plus, having done the Times Square thing (highly overrated) staying in is fun. Also, living in a rural area kind of limits what you can do. :)
posted by qt314159265 on 12-31-2007 at 8:25 am
It used to be Dinner for One, either on TV or acted out by family members. It’s often repeated multiple times the same day (on different stations), it’s basically impossible to turn on your TV on New Years Eve without DfO being on some channel.
posted by Ennika on 12-31-2007 at 8:46 am
We usually have pork & sauerkraut on New Years Day (for luck, of course).
posted by logista on 12-31-2007 at 9:22 am
ALways black eyed peas and cabbage for luck, and plenty of liquor to wash it down….
posted by Dany on 12-31-2007 at 9:47 am
All:
Yes, the most often played version is a German production. What I find interesting is that it is not that well-known in English speaking countries. At our office Christmas pary several yeas ago, we did a production of it. The staff of the brewery stood watching it with us. It was great.
Although, it has been stated several times that there is no refeerence to New Years , seem to recalling hearing James, as Sir Toby, saying “Happy new year Miss Sophie”. I could have imanged it. I will check it out later today to confirm. The curtain line “I shall try my best”. Ranks with “Nobody’s perfect” as a closer.
x-ray.
posted by Frank ryan on 12-31-2007 at 11:42 am
I think this year I am going to make a new tradition of watching Mojo TV. They are having a Three Sheets pub crawl special in New York city. What better way to bring in the New Year? It is on Mojo TV at 10pm. Happy New Year!!
posted by Laura on 12-31-2007 at 1:10 pm
Our family tradition (originating in North Florida) is similar to the rest of the South. To symbolize health, wealth and wisdom, we eat black eyed peas (wisdom) that have been flavored with hog jowl (health) and served over rice (wealth). Of course this isn’t all we eat; there is always plenty oh ham, turkey and sweet potatoes, dressing, green beans and several varieties of pie. Basically, we eat Christmas leftovers plus the additional “lucky” foods.
posted by Ashley on 12-31-2007 at 2:40 pm
Black Forest Cake!
We have had this cake every time for years. The first New Years that we had a new baby we could not go out. Plus given the sleep depavation of a new baby we had no desire to stay out late. So we went to the store and found a cake. We picked a Black Forest because it was least like a birthday cake. Now we have it every year.
posted by dr Howard on 12-31-2007 at 7:45 pm
I’m from Alabama, and the only tradition that I have ever heard for New Years in the South is to eat black eye peas and cornbread.
posted by Jessica on 12-31-2007 at 8:57 pm
My wife is Dutch (both parents emigrated from there as teenagers), so ole bolen (no ‘i’ in ole, but pronounced o-lee) is big with her family. I was pretty disgusted to find out that the literal translation of ole bolen is “fat balls”. Yikes (but tasty!)
Happy New Year, Miss C.!
posted by Dave on 12-31-2007 at 10:44 pm
For future reference, “Años viejos” should be translated “Old years”, as the adjective follows the noun in Spanish. ¡Un Próspero Año Nuevo!
posted by Barbara on 12-31-2007 at 11:19 pm
About the underwear thing, you have to wear differently colored underwear to get what you want, as in
red underwear = luck in love
yellow underwear = luck with money and business
green underwear = health
posted by Gaby on 12-31-2007 at 11:48 pm
As a Scot on new years day I can add a wee bit more info on the Scottish tradition of “first footing” the tall dark man should come carrying whisky and coal, whisky for your glass and coal for the home’s hearth in the year ahead.
Also when you open the door to him you have to open the back door too, to allow the old year out as the new year enters.
Oddly Scotland tends to breed shorter people than is the average in the UK and we have the highest levels of red headedness in the world, which can cause the a tall dark haired lad’s evening to be a bit busy.
posted by Pol x on 1-1-2008 at 5:51 am
But interesting if the dark-haired lad plays his cards right.
posted by Grey on 1-1-2008 at 5:47 pm
Russians (and post Soviets) usually wath film “Ирония судьбы или с лёгким паром”.
posted by jurkis on 1-2-2008 at 2:50 am