Web Page No 2648

30th December 2019

1st Picture. Greeting

 2nd Picture. Wow

3rd Picture. Typical 1960’s home party

4th Picture. Trafalgar Square

New Year

As we approach New Year’s Eve we are all aware  of the dazzling New Year’s fireworks that ignite skies along the Thames. But what happens around the world, many unique traditions illuminate little pockets of the globe as well. From smashed plates and scarfed grapes to pink undies and burning effigies, here are some of the weird and wonderful ways people across the planet bring in the new year.

Bottom of Form

Round everything (Philippines)

Filipinos gobble grapes… and oranges, and watermelons, and apples and cantaloupe. The custom is to gather 12 different fruits — one for each month of the year — but they have to be round, because that represents wealth and prosperity. It’s all about those cash dollars in the Philippines — locals also wear clothes carrying polkadots and stuff their pockets with round coins to cash in on the ritual.

Throwing paper out the window (Argentina)

The pieces of confetti fluttering through the streets of Buenos Aires around lunchtime on December 31st appears celebratory, but the explanation behind the custom is more practical: Argentines shred all their old documents and papers before the curtain falls on the year, to symbolise leaving the past behind. It’s hardly the most hazardous thing flying out of windows around the world on New Year’s, though — many other Latin American countries are fond of throwing buckets of water, while South Africans inelegantly deposit their old furniture onto the street from great heights.

Smashing plates (Denmark)

If you want to make a new Danish friend for the new year, smash a plate against their door. The tradition is meant to bring the recipient good luck for the year ahead — the bigger the pile of shattered crockery on your welcome mat, the more good fortune you receive. Danes also jump off chairs to literally leap into the new year (hopefully avoiding any smashed tableware upon landing), and stay glued to their TVs for Queen Margrethe’s annual address plus a screening of black-and-white German comedy Dinner For One (known in Denmark as The 90th Birthday).

Gobbling grapes (Spain)

What began as an excuse for grape-growers to shed their excess produce a century ago has blossomed into a much-loved Spanish tradition, with Spaniards scarfing down grapes to each stroke of the clock at midnight. Each of las doce uvas de la suerte (the 12 lucky grapes) provides one month of good luck — completing the challenge means a full year of fortune, but fall a couple of munches short and you mightn’t have much to look forward to next November and December.

Burning effigies (Ecuador)

Ecuadorians say ‘adios’ to the old year by incinerating huge effigies, or viejos, representing the old year. Families construct these enormous scarecrows out of paper and old clothes, pop a painted mask on top (anything from beloved cartoon characters to hated politicians), then ignite their creations when the clock strikes 12 to put the previous year to bed. Ecuador also shares a tradition with next-door neighbours Colombia of walking around the block with a suitcase, representing all the travel they’ll enjoy in the new year.

Wearing specific underpants (everywhere)

Argentines looking for love also don pink underwear, and they’re not the only ones paying so much attention to their undies on December 31st. Red lingerie in Turkey flies off the shelves, Mexicans and Bolivians slip into yellow underpants for luck, red is worn around the Mediterranean to court love, while Brazilians wear white for good fortune.

Casting of tin (Finland)

Finns are able to see into the future — and it looks a little something like a melted piece of metal. The Nordic tradition involves melting a small horseshoe (for luck, of course) then tossing the molten metal into a bucket of cold water, where it re-hardens into a warped shape that predicts your fortune for the year ahead. Bubbles? Great, money’s on the horizon. Tin breaks up in the water? That’s not good.

Talking to the animals (Romania)

Dr. Dolittle, eat your heart out. Romanian farmers spend their New Year’s trying to communicate with their livestock, earning good luck if they succeed. And the unusual Romanian New Year’s traditions don’t end there — people also throw coins into rivers for luck, and dress up in bear skins then dance and play instruments from door to door, a ritual that’s intended to ward off evil spirits.

Putting mistletoe under the pillow (Ireland)

Single women in Ireland do a little more to find a hubby than simply slipping into a new pair of knickers. The Irish custom entails placing mistletoe — the wild berry associated with fertility in European mythology, and a kissing magnet over Christmas — under your pillow on New Year’s Eve, then burning it in the fire the next day in the hope of luring love in the next 12 months. Another unique Irish tradition involves hitting the walls and doors of your home with Christmas bread to ward off evil spirits.

Hogmanay (Scotland)

We can’t finish an article about New Year’s without Hogmanay and the strange Scottish customs that accompany it. The legend goes that a strapping man is meant to rock up at your front door at midnight carrying whisky, coal, short bread and a black bun (fruitcake), and the tradition continues today, with the first person to cross the threshold of a home in the new year bearing gifts. There’s also plenty of fire, derived from pagan influences — Edinburgh’s torchlight procession on 30th December fills the streets of the capital with a sea of light, while locals in Stonehaven spend their Hogmanay parading through the streets wielding enormous fireballs.

All this makes drinking a glass of Sherry whilst watching Joules Holland a bit tame.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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News and Views:

ON THIS DAY 30^TH DECEMBER 1960-1965:

On 01/01/1960 the number one single was Starry Eyed - Michael Holliday and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was North by Northwest. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Stephanie Baird was beheaded. She was murdered and decapitated at a YWCA hostel and her killer was thought to have escaped by bus.

On 01/01/1961 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was The Russ Conway Show (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/01/1962 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Another Black & White Minstrell Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/01/1963 the number one single was Return to Sender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/01/1964 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/01/1965 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.