Ever wonder where the birthday spanking came from? Or when people began forking out loads of money hiring entertainers to perform at their child’s party? Here’s a brief history of the birthday party, and what traditions look like around the world.
The Birthday Party: Why?
As far as anyone can tell, birthday parties began in Europe as a way of warding off evil spirits. It was believed that evil spirits were somehow more attracted to people on their birthdays, so family and friends would gather around to protect people on their special day.
Kids’ parties began in Germany, and it is here that the western traditions of cake, decorations, and games began. Prior to the Kinderfest (which translates to ‘child’s party’), only royalty had big birthday celebrations.
Interesting Traditions from Around the World:
The Birthday Spanking: This is an American tradition in which a child gets spanked on the bottom for each year they’ve been alive. It is meant to be reminiscent of birth—when the doctor spanks a baby to stimulate life—and is therefore good luck for the recipient.
The Birthday Bump: Coming out the UK, Ireland, and Canada is a tradition in which the honorary birthday boy/girl gets picked up and bumped on the floor once for each year they have been alive, and one for good measure. In the UK, the kid gets picked up by their hands and feet and then bumped. In Ireland, the victim gets picked up and flipped upside down before being bumped while inverted. Sometimes, the bump is replaced by a kick—but I imagine that this can’t be too common these days.
The Arm Tap: Variation of the bump and the spanking, but Puerto Ricans are less violent.
The Ear Pull: Brazil, Hungary, and Argentina are known to tug on the earlobe as many times as you are old.
The Waltz: Many Latin American countries including Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Mexico have a tradition for girls to dance a waltz with their fathers on either their fifteenth or sixteenth birthdays.
The Chair Raise: In Israel, it is common for a child in kindergarten to sit in a decorated chair on their special day and be raised up the number of times as they are old, plus one.
The Cake-Smash: Be glad you are not in Venezuela, where the goal of party guests is to smash your face in the cake as you blow out your candles.
Piñatas: These are hugely popular in Mexico and Cuba—now in the United States with its increasing Mexican-American population. Piñatas are filled with treats and suspended from a beam or a tree branch, and party guests take turns donning a blindfold and swinging at the piñata with a bat or a stick. Often, the event happens with music playing.
The Western Birthday Now:
If you are particularly wealthy, you might take your child’s party well past a small-scale event with a decorated cake. Many parents in the U.S. now splurge on parties for their children that include bounce houses, magicians, clowns, Disney princesses, and various characters from children’s shows.
Writer Madeline Croft lives in Brooklyn with her cat, Fig, and the entire box set of Sex and the City.
The Birthday Party: Why?
As far as anyone can tell, birthday parties began in Europe as a way of warding off evil spirits. It was believed that evil spirits were somehow more attracted to people on their birthdays, so family and friends would gather around to protect people on their special day.
Kids’ parties began in Germany, and it is here that the western traditions of cake, decorations, and games began. Prior to the Kinderfest (which translates to ‘child’s party’), only royalty had big birthday celebrations.
Interesting Traditions from Around the World:
The Birthday Spanking: This is an American tradition in which a child gets spanked on the bottom for each year they’ve been alive. It is meant to be reminiscent of birth—when the doctor spanks a baby to stimulate life—and is therefore good luck for the recipient.
The Birthday Bump: Coming out the UK, Ireland, and Canada is a tradition in which the honorary birthday boy/girl gets picked up and bumped on the floor once for each year they have been alive, and one for good measure. In the UK, the kid gets picked up by their hands and feet and then bumped. In Ireland, the victim gets picked up and flipped upside down before being bumped while inverted. Sometimes, the bump is replaced by a kick—but I imagine that this can’t be too common these days.
The Arm Tap: Variation of the bump and the spanking, but Puerto Ricans are less violent.
The Ear Pull: Brazil, Hungary, and Argentina are known to tug on the earlobe as many times as you are old.
The Waltz: Many Latin American countries including Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Mexico have a tradition for girls to dance a waltz with their fathers on either their fifteenth or sixteenth birthdays.
The Chair Raise: In Israel, it is common for a child in kindergarten to sit in a decorated chair on their special day and be raised up the number of times as they are old, plus one.
The Cake-Smash: Be glad you are not in Venezuela, where the goal of party guests is to smash your face in the cake as you blow out your candles.
Piñatas: These are hugely popular in Mexico and Cuba—now in the United States with its increasing Mexican-American population. Piñatas are filled with treats and suspended from a beam or a tree branch, and party guests take turns donning a blindfold and swinging at the piñata with a bat or a stick. Often, the event happens with music playing.
The Western Birthday Now:
If you are particularly wealthy, you might take your child’s party well past a small-scale event with a decorated cake. Many parents in the U.S. now splurge on parties for their children that include bounce houses, magicians, clowns, Disney princesses, and various characters from children’s shows.
Writer Madeline Croft lives in Brooklyn with her cat, Fig, and the entire box set of Sex and the City.
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