This year wasn’t a very
good one for me. I’ve had family situations to deal with and then in November,
I lost my dad, which meant the holidays weren’t very jolly for me. As a result
of all of this stress as well as trying to stay on track with work, my reading
has suffered. However, I am already back reading and have finished one and am reading
another. Reviews will return with the New Year. In thinking about the New Year
and hoping it will bring better times, happier events, and I’m hoping less
stress, I wondered about some of the traditions we associate with it. I’ll bet
you wonder about them too.
December
31st is the last day of the year and as we know it, New Year’s Eve.
It’s a night of celebration for some eager to see the old year go, sadness for
others because it might be saying goodbye to memories of better times, or it
might just be a continuation of the holiday happiness that December brings. I
always try to think of it with optimism, that the New Year will bring more good
times, good health, prosperity, and new adventures. I generally don’t celebrate
it in any particular fashion but do see it as a new beginning.
For
many, it’s a night to throw a party, attend a gathering, toast with champagne,
and exchange good wishes for a Happy New Year. I’m all for that but never seem
to do more than just watch the clock and say, “and so it goes.” How about you?
How do you celebrate?
In
England, when the clock strikes midnight (actually the New Year doesn’t
officially begin until one second later and this year, we have an additional
second added onto 2016 to correct for the rotation of the earth so it will
actually be two seconds after the clock strikes midnight). Well, when it’s
official, all across the UK folks cross their arms over their chests, link hands
with all those nearby, and sing “Auld Lang Syne.” I’ll bet you sing it every
year but never knew what that song was about…did you?
“Auld
Lang Syne” is an old Scottish song first written down in 1780 by Robert Burns. Although,
it was in existence many decades before that, his transcription got the most
attention so it’s most commonly associated with him. “Auld Lang Syne” is from
an old Scottish dialect and translated it means “Times Gone By.” This poem/song
is about love and friendship in times gone by. When we sing about “We’ll take a
cup of kindness yet”, we’re referring to sharing a drink symbolizing
friendship.
In
Scotland, this song is sung but the Scots celebrate the New Year with much more
revelry and drinking, and usually for longer than one night. They celebrate
Hogamany, which traditionally lasts for a day or more into the New Year. Sounds
good to me…a bigger party. Since Christmas had been banned in Scotland for a
very long time and they worked on through the days following the Winter
Solstice, the Scots’ only time to truly celebrate was when the New Year rang
in. So they would ensure their debts were paid, the house cleaned, and when the
clock struck midnight, they’d sing Auld
Lang Syne, and celebrate with drink and merriment…it was and still is one
of the rowdiest New Year’s Eve celebrations in the world. I mean they get really rowdy.
The Scots also
practiced the tradition of the first
footing.
First Footing or the first foot in
the house after midnight is still quite common across Scotland. To ensure good
luck for the house and the family inhabiting it for the New Year, the first
foot should be a dark male. He should bring with him symbolic pieces of coal to
ensure the house be warm, salt and shortbread to ensure the family never go
hungry, and a wee dram of whiskey…well, they are Scots. It’s possible the
preference for a dark male harkens back to the times of the Vikings. After all,
a big blonde stranger arriving at your door with a big axe meant huge trouble
and probably not a very happy New Year.
The
celebrations usually continue through the 2nd of January, which is
an official holiday in Scotland. There are fireworks galore, more drinking, and
merriment to ensure the New Year starts off right. I guess the Scots know how
to do it up right! Happy Hogamany!
Here
in the US, we usually watch the ball descend in Times Square…no matter where we
are or what partying is happening, everyone seems to stop and watch. But where
did that tradition come from? Well, it seems it might have been more about
promoting newspapers than anything else.
Come
Saturday night, millions will watch the most famous New Year's Eve celebration
in the world—the ball drop in Times Square. Well, it seems it was all the idea
of a man named Adolph Ochs, the son of Bavarian Jewish immigrants. After the
European revolutions of the 1840’s, his parents, Julius and Bertha Levy Ochs, immigrated
to the US and lived in Knoxville, Tennessee before the Civil War. As war
approached, they moved to Cincinnati, where Adolph was born, and a few years
later they moved back to Knoxville. At first, all was well, Adolph’s father prospered
as a merchant. They lived in a large house, and Julius Ochs was a prominent
citizen, a justice of the peace, and a leader of the Radical Republican Party. In
fact, he helped found Knoxville's first synagogue, Temple Beth-El. Then came
the economic collapse of 1867, and the Ochses had to move into a cheaper and
much smaller home. The sons had to go to work. Adolph, being the oldest, got a
job with the local Republican newspaper, the Knoxville Chronicle, which was then located on Market Square. He
began as a paperboy, but eventually worked his way up to apprentice printer.
By
the time Adolph was 19, he had done some writing as well as printing, and was now
rather sure he could run a paper himself. At the time, Knoxville was overloaded
with newspapermen but Adolph had heard about a struggling newspaper in
Chattanooga called the Chattanooga Times.
With the help of some investors, he bought it and hired several members of his own
family to come help him run it, including his father. Adolph turned it into a
very successful newspaper.
In
1896, Adolph got wind of another failing newspaper called the New York Times, and it was for sale so
he bought that one too. Using his experience in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Adolph
made it into a very successful newspaper and added features like the book
review and the weekly magazine. He changed the newspaper, and he changed the
map of Manhattan as well. He moved the Times to the intersection of Broadway
and Seventh Avenues, which was a very busy place but not yet famous. He
persuaded the city to give it its own subway stop, and in 1904, Adolph renamed
it Times Square after his newspaper. (Before that, it was locally known as
Longacre Square.)
Now
Adolph Ochs liked the idea of celebrating a holiday in a big public way. He
also liked to promote the Times, and New York so he decided he wanted to
celebrate a holiday that was a holiday for everybody. He picked New Year’s Eve,
and originally celebrated the arrival of midnight with fireworks only that drew
complaints. So he came up with a quieter and more legal way since fireworks
were also banned in New York. In 1907, based on a method of signaling ships in
the harbor, they lowered a giant electrically lit ball along a rooftop mast on
top of One Times Square. In an era when electric lights were still new to the
public, seeing them move was a remarkable sight. Moreover, in the right mood
and on a particular night in December, it still is…
Happy
New Year Everyone!
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