Welcome Christmas and New Year's Eve 2019!

On the third Friday of December each year, people all over the U.S. decide to don hilariously hideous Xmas sweaters and inflict this sight on everyone around them. From garish green and red colors to pom-poms and nonsensical designs, there seems to be no end to the dreadfully silly designs on display. You’ll see these knit monstrosities at the office, out on the street, and especially at holiday parties. This isn’t happening by accident. The fashion-savvy and playful hearted participants in this trend are celebrating National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day.

When Did Ugly Sweaters First Enter Public Consciousness?

How did National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day get it start? Like many trends, this one began in fits and starts and has waxed and waned in popularity over the decades. The ugly sweater first became a household meme in the 1980s with The Cosby Show’s, Bill Huxtable leading the way. Chevy Chase’s character in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation added the holiday twist to this look. These well-known leading actors were playing decidedly unhip characters, who had no fashion sense at all. But for some reason, the idea of wearing awful sweaters as an ironic statement, somehow caught on. For a while, ugly holiday sweaters for women and men were easy to find. Then things kind of petered out in the nineties. Perhaps the trend was no match for a decade that was having a love affair with drab emo apparel?

The First Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Revives the Trend                                 

In the early 2000s, the first ugly holiday sweater party was held in Vancouver, Canada. All the guests were instructed to wear a hideous sweater, and interest in ugly sweaters was reborn. Today, the party is still an annual hit and the event routinely sells out the Commodore Ballroom. Not surprisingly, the U.S. picked up on the idea and now there are thousands of ugly sweater parties held all over the nation each year. They can be fundraisers, office holiday parties, community events, pub crawls, or private affairs. The only rule is that they take place in mid-December and everyone MUST wear a tacky sweater.  You can read more here.

How about some New Year’s Folklore and Superstitions!

First Kiss: One of the more popular beliefs is that kissing your beloved at the stroke of midnight ensures twelve months of continuing affection. Failing to do so is said to produce the opposite effect.

Debt Free: Never begin the New Year with unpaid debts.

Bare Cupboards? Empty cupboards at the turn of the year foretell a year of poverty.

Comings and Goings: The first person to enter your home after midnight foretells the kind of luck you’ll have in the coming year. A tall, dark, handsome male bearing small gifts is said to bring the best luck. According to this same tradition, no one should leave the house until someone first enters from outside, and nothing should be removed from the house on New Year’s Day.

Air It Out! Opening all doors and windows at midnight lets the old year escape.

Lucky Duck! Babies born on New Year’s Day are said to have the best luck throughout their lives.

Best Foot Forward: A Polish tradition states that if you wake up early on New Year’s Day, you will wake up early for the rest of the year. And if you touch the floor with the right foot when getting up from bed, you could expect a lot of good luck for whole new year

You can read more here.  

Here are some Superstitions that are attached to the beginning of the New Year!

Letting the Old Year Out:   At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are flung open to assist him in finding his way out.

Loud Noise:   Make as much noise as possible at midnight. You’re not just celebrating; you’re scaring away evil spirits, so do a darned good job of it! According to widespread superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise. We celebrate by making as much of a din as possible not just as an expression of joy at having a new year at our disposal, but also to make sure Old Scratch and his minions don’t stick around. (Church bells are rung on a couple’s wedding day for the same reason.)

The Weather:   Examine the weather in the early hours of New Year’s Day. If the wind blows from the south, there will be fine weather and prosperous times in the year ahead. If it comes from the north, it will be a year of bad weather. The wind blowing from the east brings famine and calamities. Strangest of all, if the wind blows from the west, the year will witness plentiful supplies of milk and fish but will also see the death of a very important person. If there’s no wind at all, a joyful and prosperous year may be expected by all.

Born on January 1:   Babies born on this day will always have luck on their side.