It’s after 10 p.m. now, and the first few test fireworks have already been shot off. People all over our time zone are getting ready to ring in the new year by making lots of noise or watching someone drop something large from one point up high to another point not quite as high. Black-eyed peas are being soaked to cook up tomorrow for luck in the new year. People are wearing paper hats and sparkly headbands that they wouldn’t be caught dead in any other day of the year.
And I want to know why.
Many of the answers are speculative, of course, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting. I initially planned to write a blog about unique new year’s traditions around the world, but decided the ones right in my own backyard were weird enough to explore.
Fireworks and Making Noise
We can lay the blame for the midnight noise on a variety of different cultures. The ancient Celts, among others, were said to bang pots and even smack bread against the walls at midnight to ward off evil spirits. At the stroke of 12, they would open the door to let out the old—and presumably to let in the new.
The Chinese—who invented fireworks—used these and other noise-making tactics to keep evil spirits away during important transitions such as births, funerals, the crowning of a new ruler, or the start of the new year.
These days, many people see the fireworks themselves as the evil, with the sounds that send pets into a frenzy and flaming bits of debris leaving a mess everywhere. And this is what led to one of the other big new year’s traditions.
Dropping the Ball in Times Square
At midnight, TVs all over will be tuned in to watch a 12,000 pound crystal “drop” down a flagpole in Times Square. Cities and towns throughout the country will imitate the New York display by dropping everything from a peach (Atlanta) to a chile pepper (Las Cruces, New Mexico) to an electric pickle (Mt. Olive, North Carolina.)
Why? I understand that they drop a 138-foot music note in Nashville to put their own twist on the New York tradition, but where did the New York tradition come from? The ball drop originated on New Year’s Eve in 1907 because the owner of the New York Times wanted something to keep the crowds coming to the square in front of his building to celebrate after the city banned fireworks. He asked the newpaper’s chief electrician to devise something that would create a spectacle without violating city ordinances. The electrician, Walter Palmer, was inspired by a clock on the Western Union building, which featured an an an iron ball descending a pole on the roof at noon each day. This is turn dated back to naval traditions where a ball would drop down a rooftop pole at the same time each day in port cities to enable to ships to sync navigational instruments. For instance, the red “Time Ball” atop the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England has been signaling the mid-day hour since 1833. At 12:55 p.m., the ball rises half the distance up the mast. Then three minutes later, it completes the ascent, and it descends to the bottom promptly at 1 p.m. (Maybe this is why the Brits consider 1 p.m. the time for lunch.)
The first ball drop in Times Square garnered quite a bit of attention, drawing tens of thousands of people who let out shouts that drowned out all other sounds for some minutes in a “wild human hullabaloo of noise.” This account is according to the New York Times, and certainly wouldn’t have been exaggerated.
Black-Eyed Peas
Growing up, we always ate black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, and the first year that I spent the day with my husband’s family, his sister served black-eyed peas and insisted that he had to eat one for good luck despite the fact that he hates them. I grew up outside Chicago and my husband’s family was from Baltimore, but both our mothers were raised in Texas, and that’s probably where the pea tradition came from. There are numerous theories about the origins of this one, but the popularity is undeniable.
Some people say that the peas bring luck and prosperity because they’re round like coins and served with collard greens which represent “folding money.” If that was the case, I’d think we’d be eating green peas or carrot slices or something that actually is round because if I tried to spend any coins shaped like black eyed peas, I wouldn’t be able to buy much.
One theory I read is that during the Civil War, the Union soldiers believed the peas to be fit only for animal food, so they left them when they were taking or destroying other foods during their destructive march through the South. Black eyed peas signaled good luck to southerners who found them because that meant they’d have something to eat.
Other theories center on the connection between black-eyed peas and enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. and Brazil. They were fed peas and rice during the passage from Africa and continued to rely on these foods after the Civil War, so starting the new year with a meal of black-eyed peas and rice is seen as a way of honoring ancestors.
Some Traditions Have or Need No Explanation
I haven’t found any good explanations at all as to why people wear funny hats for New Year’s Eve celebrations. I have seen people put on lamp shades and toaster covers during the course of the festivities, but I think they’re just acting under the assumption that they must wear a hat because it’s New Year’s.
As for the champagne at midnight, I don’t think it needs an explanation. In fact, I would like an explanation as to why we don’t drink champagne earlier in the evening, every evening.
Whether the excess drinking common on New Year’s is to celebrate the fact that a bad year has ended or drown fears for the coming year, I’m not sure. If you’re drinking excessively on the last night of the year just because it’s a tradition, it seems a shame to start the first day of the year with a hangover.
Regardless of how the last few minutes of this year go for you, remember that it will soon be over, and I wish you nothing but the best in 2025. Happy New Year!