New year's eve traditions / history of the event??

shellsuit

supersavershal wrote: »

I loved NYE as a child.Im working this New year but we usually dress up, have a buffett for tea the grown ups have champagne and the children have pop, at midnight a dark haired person goes out the back door with a piece of coal and bread and salt and comes in the front door, this is to bring the new years good luck in the coal to make sure you have warmth and the bread and salt to make sure you have food.We then gather on the front common to wish all our neighbours happy new year and we listen to the foghorns from the boats on the mersey.I will be sad to miss it this year.

Do you mind me asking where you live? Only from what you've said, you could be one of my neighbours lol!

diable

Scottish ritual for NYE = drink non stop for 3 days ;o))))))

Spendless

My eldest wanted to try this game at Hallowe'en after seeing it on an Agatha Christie film. Fortunately he 'forgot' as I'd want to try it myself before I spend an evening down A & E answering why I thought it a good game for kids. But for anyone older who wants to try it, or has done it before I'm interested in knowing more. It's suppossed to be a game played around this time of year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap-dragon_(game)

tizerbelle

As kids we used to leave our slippers by the front door on New Years Eve so that Mother Goose would leave us presents of small bottles of pop and sweets in them for New Years Day.

I have absolutely no idea if this was a widely followed tradition and the story behind it or if it was just something made up by parents to appease kids sent to bed early while they went off partying.

Can't remember why it was Mother Goose either and what the symbolism of it was - we were little kids, we didn't care, we just knew if we went to bed early and stayed there there would be treats galore in the morning for us.

[Deleted User]

supersavershal wrote: »

... at midnight a dark haired person goes out the back door with a piece of coal and bread and salt and comes in the front door, this is to bring the new years good luck in the coal to make sure you have warmth and the bread and salt to make sure you have food...

We used to do the same as children - although in our family it was someone with blonde hair. Maybe because there are no dark-haired people in our family.

supersavershal

shellsuit wrote: »

Do you mind me asking where you live? Only from what you've said, you could be one of my neighbours lol!

I no longer live in the pool but still live on the banks of the mersey.xx A fellow liverpuddlian is always a neighbour wherever you are.

onlyroz

Jools Holland, a bottle of Champers, and the kids in bed by 9 pm. Bliss...