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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year!




On the eve of not only a new year, but a new decade, best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy New Year! Don't you love these vintage postcards? I do! I have a different one on my web site What's New page and another below - couldn't decide on just one! The one above I find particularly sweet with the dear cherub, presumably Baby New Year? dressed in red and carrying a gold ornament-bedecked Christmas tree.



This postcard has great symbolism with the old year heading into the sunset perhaps, depicted by the old man, and the young, new year coming on - maybe that's actually a new sunrise? I guess you could read it either way. And I love the holly artwork. Just a beautiful image.

It's already 2010 "down under"! Shout out to all the revelers down there where it's summertime for you folks! That said, we're bracing in the Northeast for a double-whammy of two snowstorms heading our way. Mother Nature's New Year's gift to us!

My ancestors are of Scottish descent and in Scotland there is a New Year's Eve tradition called the "First Footing". To insure good luck for the household in the new year, the "first foot" within should be "a dark male" and he should bring with him symbolic items like a piece of coal, shortbread, salt, "black bun" and "a wee dram of whiskey"! Sounds like a party! For years we practiced our own sort of "First Footing" by putting money outside the door before midnight and bringing it back into the house after midnight - symbolizing the first thing coming into the household is money, meaning a prosperous new year for the family. Hasn't quite worked for us, maybe we're doing something wrong! But - it can't hurt!

Whatever your holiday traditions within your family, enjoy a fun night! Next time I'll revisit more of the results of a customer survey from back in the fall and maybe a few New Year's resolutions too.

Cheers!

2 comments:

Kim said...

Wendy,
We always do that tradition with the dark haired man. We always have a few friends in and the last man to leave after midnight - we make him walk to the top of the yard and then come back in! I've never heard of anyone else doing it. Glad to know my family isn't strange!!!

Simply Wendy said...

Kim, that's a great family tradition! It must get a few quizzical looks from the man, unless he's used to it each year! ;-) We fell asleep before midnight so never got a chance to do our First Footing. Hope that's not bad luck for the new year!