Our city residents have been commemorating the ending of one year and the beginning of another with food, music and family and friends for more than 150 years but cultures around the world have been celebrating for several millennia.
Sometimes these were simply an opportunity for people to eat, drink and make merry, but in some places the festivities were connected to the land or astronomical events.
When I married into my husband’s family, their traditions included running around the house at midnight with suitcases (which they said invited new adventures in the New Year) and eating 12 grapes (one for every month to bring year-long good luck). As you and yours make merry with whatever traditions you hold dear, do you ever wonder where they came from? Well, we’ve done the research and here are some facts about the holiday and its associated traditions.
What does “Auld Lang Syne” mean, and why do we sing the song at midnight on New Year’s Eve?
The words to the song “Auld Lang Syne” are attributed to Scotsman and poet Robert Burns in the late 1700s. The first verse of the song has come to be firmly associated with New Year’s celebrations. Literally translated, the first line is translated into English as “Old Long Since.” The lyrics are about friends having a drink and recalling adventures they had long ago, maybe not a far stretch from what New Year’s Eve revelers do as we say goodbye to one year and welcome in a new one.
When the Canadian-born bandleader Guy Lombardo and his band played the song at the turn of the new year in a series of radio broadcasts in 1929 that continued for more than 30 years, he created the tradition in North America.
So belt out the lyrics of the song this year at midnight. It’s tradition.
Who determined that January 1 was going to be the start of the year?
January 1 hasn’t always been the first day of the New Year. In centuries past, other dates have marked the start of the calendar, including March 25 and December 25. In the 1570s Pope Gregory XIII commissioned Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius to come up with a new calendar. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar was implemented, omitting 10 days from the former calendar and establishing a new rule that only one of every four years should be a leap year. Since then, people have gathered on January 1 to celebrate the precise arrival of the New Year.
Why do we make resolutions for the new year?
People have been making New Year resolutions for thousands of years.
For early Christians, the first day of the New Year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future.
Even though it has roots as a religious tradition, why not resolve to focus on one or two things to improve in your life in the coming year? When setting goals, keep them SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
Why do some people eat collard greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day?
Collards represent cash and black-eyed peas represent coin to bring wealth in the New Year. Honestly, forgo meat for one meal and you’re already saving money.
How long has New York been hosting its famous ball drop?
The famous ball in New York’s Times Square has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943 (when the ceremony was suspended because of WWII).
The current ball, weighing nearly six tons and 12 feet in diameter, is covered with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles and illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon LEDs.
While the Times Square ball drop is arguably the most famous, the annual tradition of ball “dropping” dates back to the early 1800s.
What are some New Year traditions in other parts of the world?
In Denmark, throwing unused dishes against the doors of friends and family to banish evil spirits. They also stand on chairs and jump off them at midnight to ‘leap’ into January in hopes of good luck. In Ecuador, they celebrate by burning paper-filled scarecrows at midnight. They also burn photographs from last year, all in the name of good fortune. In Greece, it’s traditional to hang an onion on the front door of your home on New Year’s Eve as a symbol of rebirth in the New Year. The following day parents wake their children by tapping them on the head with the onion.
While there’s no definitive proof that any of these traditions actually work, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try one or two out. It’s sure to make for a memorable New Year’s Eve