NEW YEAR TRADITIONS
Other traditions of the season include the
making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition
also dates back to the early Babylonians.
Popular modern resolutions might include the
promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The
early Babylonian's most popular resolution was
to return borrowed farm equipment.
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886.
In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club
decorated their carriages with flowers. It
celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in
California.
Although the Rose Bowl football game was first
played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in
1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the
following year. In 1916, the football game
returned as the sports centerpiece of the
festival.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new
year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was
their tradition at that time to celebrate their
god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a
basket, representing the annual rebirth of that
god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians
also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
Although the early Christians denounced the
practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby
as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to
reevaluate its position. The Church finally
allowed its members to celebrate the new year
with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth
of the baby Jesus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Years
banner as a symbolic representation of the new
year was brought to early America by the Germans.
They had used the effigy since the fourteenth
century.
FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR
Traditionally, it was thought that one could
affect the luck they would have throughout the
coming year by what they did or ate on the first
day of the year. For that reason, it has become
common for folks to celebrate the first few
minutes of a brand new year in the company of
family and friends. Parties often last into the
middle of the night after the ringing in of a
new year. It was once believed that the first
visitor on New Year's Day would bring either
good luck or bad luck the rest of the year.
It was particularly lucky if that visitor
happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
Traditional New Year foods are also thought to
bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything
in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it
symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a
year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe
that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring
good fortune. Many parts of the country celebrate
the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These
legumes are typically accompanied by either hog
jowls or ham. Cabbage is another "good luck"
vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day
by many.
