My dear reader, it would be an understatement to say that 2020 has been a dumpster fire of a year (plague, murder hornets, political and social unrest, and fire everywhere… need I say more?). I’m sure that I had high hopes for the start of a new decade like many others have. Perhaps 2020 would be reminiscent of the Roaring 1920’s, the Jazz Age, a Golden Age? But alas, this decade has a mind of its own and refuses to bow to the expectation of mankind.
Even with the pandemic looming over our everyday lives’, I still feel the need to revel in this time of year. For as long as I can remember, New Year’s has been one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. The appeal for me was the ritual of wrapping up the year in a neat little bow and beginning the next with a clean slate. It’s also a conclusion to the busyness of the the past few months with their respective holidays; with the promise that soon I can take a deep breath and relax into the coziness of winter’s embrace and just be for a moment, without social obligations hovering overhead.
With 2020 being such an unusual year, we can’t expect it to end in our usual way. Perhaps, this year we can look to the past at how previous generations have celebrated the start of a new year. And just maybe, we can try out a new-to-us tradition this year.
Continue reading “18th and 19th Century New Year’s Traditions”
The Historical Homemaker 