Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
Historic Treasure of the Week -
December 29, 2002
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
New Year’s Day an old tradition
The marking of a new year is a tradition that has been going on for hundreds of years, yet not always on Jan. 1, ad we are accustomed to celebrating it.
Since the earliest of times, New Year’s celebrations have been linked to the cycles of nature as they relate to seasonal renewal. The ancient Egyptians celebrated their new year in summer when the Nile River overflowed its banks. The Persians and Babylonians set it in early spring, when nature showed new life in tiny plants. Some Native-Americans believed that ripening acorns and the salmon run were signs of a new year in August.
New Year’s Day was undoubtedly the first holiday celebrated by ancient man. The earliest documented New Year’s celebration took place in Babylonia in 2600 B.C., with sacred processions followed by dramatic presentations and contests to welcome in the new year. In 45 B.C., ancient Romans began celebrating the new year on Jan. 1 with Julius Caesar’s new calendar, the Julian calendar.
Throughout history, various countries developed their own ways of ringing in the new year. For Chinese, this was the most important holiday of the year and rites included a family feast with treats for all the children. The Japanese adorned their homes with special decorations and considered the first day of the year to be everyone’s birthday. In Scotland, young men wore costumes and went from house to house performing plays. The Germans had street carnivals. Dressed in animal skins, they paraded through towns and rode wooden hobbyhorses on wheels.
Noise-making has been associated with bringing in the new year. People have believed that making noise drives away all evil spirits. This thinking has resulted in welcoming in the year with the ringing of church bells, firing guns, rattling noisemakers and fireworks.
In the United States, thousands of well-wishers gather each Dec. 31 in Times Square in the heart of New York City, on the Las Vegas Strip, and in many other locales to celebrate the new year. Family gatherings, football games and parades are all popular traditions as a new year begins.
Preferences vary when it comes to celebrating New Year’s Day or New Year’s Eve. Some enjoy a party atmosphere with friends, food, music and noise-making. Others are perfection content to stay at home welcoming the year quietly.
Even in the uncertain times we live in, each new year is a beginning, a time of hope and promise. We at the Vigo County Historical Museum wish that 2003 will be a year when all the hopes and promises of our readers are fulfilled.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Web site: http://web.indstate.edu/community/vchs.