Blow Out the Candles: A worldwide look at birthday traditions, customs and celebrations
I love birthdays. Not just my own, but everyone’s. A birthday is the one day each year that you’re in the spotlight. A day that’s all your own. It’s time to be remembered by family and friends with cards and gifts; to be serenaded with song and toasted with good wishes.
At my house, the birthday person gets breakfast in bed and chooses the dinner menu. After dinner, a decorated cake is brought out, the candles are lighted and a secret wish is made before they’re blown out. Then the birthday boy (or girl) cuts the shape of cross into the cake’s icing to symbolize blessings for the year to come. If I forget any of our family’s “birthday rituals,” my sons will remind me.
Some traditions we’ve created. Others we’ve inherited, repeating them year after year without really knowing why. So, to put an end to some of the mystery, here’s a quick look at birthday lore, customs and how some families in foreign lands celebrate the passing of another year.
Candles, Cards and Other Customs
It’s a familiar sight to see a birthday cake dotted with candles – one representing each year of life for the honoree, and one to grown on. But where did this custom begin?
We can thank Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and hunting. Worshippers would place honey cakes on the altars of her temple on the sixth day of every month. It was believed that the candles had the power to grant a wish and ensure a happy year. The wish had to remain secret and would come true only if all the candles were blown out with one puff. The candles lost their magical power if the wish was uttered aloud.
The custom of sending birthday cards began in England in the 1850s. Today, about 1.2 billion birthday cards are sent each year, according to Kansas City’s very own Hallmark Cards.
Parties and Gifts
Believe it or not, birthday celebrations have only been around since 4000 B.C. That’s about the time the calendar was invented. And since only king’s births were recorded, they were the only ones to have a birthday celebration (maybe this is how the tradition of birthday crowns began). Europe was home to the first birthday party, but the reasons why are somewhat ominous. Europeans feared that evil spirits were drawn to people on their birthdays. To ward off harm, friends and family would come to the birthday person’s home to bring good thoughts and wishes.
Giving gifts added to the good cheer and was thought to keep evil spirits away. As time passed, children became included in birthday celebrations. Children’s birthday parties, called Kinderfeste, were originated in Germany.
That First Birthday
In Egypt when a child turns 1 year old, flowers and fruit are used to decorate the party as symbols of life and growth.
When a Chinese girl or boy turns 1, a variety of objects and toys is placed on the floor around the child. According to ancient beliefs, the object the child chooses is a symbol foreshadowing the profession he or she will pursue in life.
Special noodles are served for lunch in honor of the birthday child in Hong Kong and some other Chinese communities. The extra-long noodles symbolize long life.
Paegil, known as the 100th day after a child’s birth, is a day of feasting for Korean families. On the child’s first birthday, a party called a Tol or Dol is held. Family and friends gather to enjoy food together and offer the 1-year-old gifts of money.
Decorations and Festivities
Filipino families display blinking colored lights to show that someone is having a birthday at their home. The whole family usually goes to church together to thank God, and then family and friends are invited to a party.
Mexican birthday celebrations feature piñatas filled with candy and small toys. While blindfolded, children take turns hitting the piñata with stick until it breaks open. When the treasures hit the floor, everyone scrambles to collect them. People believe that the child who breaks open the pinata will have good luck.
“Birthday bumps” are given to Irish children in honor of their birthday. While held upside down, the birthday celebrant is gently bumped on the floor one time for each year of age – plus one extra “bump” for good luck!
Children in Argentina receive pulls on the earlobe for their birthday. Traditionally, they get one pull for each year of their life.
While a Danish birthday child is asleep, gifts are placed around the bed, so presents will be the first thing in view when the child awakes.
Norwegian children dance in front of their class with a friend while the rest of the students sing a happy birthday song. Norway’s national flag also is displayed outside the home of a birthday person.
Birthdays are ready-made chances to share good times and learn more about our family’s heritage and culture. At your next birthday celebration, consider adding an international flavor. Try a new custom or adopt a novel tradition. Irish birthday bumps, extra-long Chinese noodles or Argentinean ear pulls might be fun.
Claire Yezbak Fadden is gearing up for a milestone birthday later this year.