Mr. Write's Page

Happy New Year. To mark the occasion, I present herewith some interesting facts about new year traditions around the world, past and present.

New Year’s Day is the world’s oldest holiday. The first new year celebration happened about 4,000 years ago in Babylon.

Scholars think the tradition of celebrating the new year with fireworks is based on the ancient idea that noise and fire will dispel evil spirits.

In Spain, the tradition is to eat 12 grapes on New Year’s Eve at midnight. This ensures 12 happy months in the coming year.

Peru has the same tradition, but they eat a 13th grape to seal the deal.

In Germany, leaving one bite of each item on your plate past midnight will guarantee you a stocked pantry in the year ahead.

The Japanese decorate their homes for the new year with pine branches for longevity, bamboo stalks for prosperity, and plum blossoms for nobility.

In Mexico, Bolivia, and Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day. This ensures good luck during the year ahead.

In Sicily, lasagna is served on New Year’s Day. Serving any other type of pasta is considered bad luck.

In the U.S. and Europe, eating cooked greens — collards, turnips, kale, cabbage — is a popular New Year’s Day tradition. A Danish favorite is stewed kale sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

Another American new year tradition: eating cornbread and black-eyed peas for future prosperity; not eating them risks the opposite.

In December, the Japanese have Bonenkai or “forget-the-year parties” to bid farewell to the concerns of the past year and prepare for a new beginning.

At midnight on Dec. 31, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times, to expel the 108 human weaknesses (greed, cruelty, rage, etc., etc.) identified by Buddhism.

In Chinese, the word for fish sounds like the word for abundance, so fish is a popular food on New Year’s Day. The fish is served with head and tail intact to ensure a good year from start to finish.

In Turkey, pomegranates are eaten to celebrate the New Year. Their red color represents life, fertility, and the heart. The seeds represent prosperity.

In the Philippines, a new year’s custom is to eat 13 pieces of round fruit, 13 being a lucky number. In Europe and the U.S., the custom is to eat 12 pieces of round fruit, one for each month of the year.

A Greek tradition is to serve vasilopita, or St Basil’s cake, on New Year’s Day. A silver or gold coin is baked into the cake. Whoever finds the coin in their slice of cake will have good luck during the coming year.

In many Asian countries, long noodles are served on New Year’s Day because they signify longevity.

In Spain, Portugal, Austria, and Hungary, eating pork is a new year tradition. In those countries, pigs are a symbol of forward progress; they never move backward, and they push their snouts forward along the ground when rooting for food.

Avoid eating lobster on New Year’s Day. Lobsters crawl backwards, which could foreshadow a setback.

Also avoid eating chicken. Chickens scratch backwards, which could represent regret or dwelling on the past.

Likewise, avoid eating winged fowl, because your good luck might fly away.

The ancient Persians gave each other eggs, a symbol of fertility.

Many cultures attribute good luck to giving or accepting anything in the shape of a ring on New Year’s Day. It symbolizes “coming full circle.”

Forty-five percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions each year; 25 percent of them give up on their resolutions by the second week of January.

The New Year’s Eve Ball in Times Square was first dropped in 1907, replacing a series of fireworks displays.

Back then, it was a 700-pound ball made of iron and wood, embellished with 25-watt bulbs. Today, the ball weighs 11,875 pounds, is 12 feet in diameter, and is covered with 2,668 Waterford crystals.

The ball wasn’t dropped in 1942 or 1943 because of wartime blackouts.

In Britain, when Big Ben strikes 12, people gather around to sing Auld Lang Syne, a poem written by Robert Burns in the 1788 and later set to music.

In Scots, auld lang syne means “old long since” — as in “days gone by” or “the old times.”

Now you know all about the holiday. Don’t forget the greens, the cornbread, and the black-eyed peas!