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How Did The Tradition of Birthdays Begin?
Have you ever wondered where the celebration of birthdays started? In the simplest of terms, itās a time for friends and family to come together and celebrate you, the anniversary of your birth, and another year of your life under your belt.
But thereās so much more to it than that.
Itās been constantly evolving throughout, turning into what we know it to be today. This widely used tradition started somewhere and thatās what we are looking to uncover here today.
Weāve pieced together the hypotheses of several historians, making this one huge piece of our culture a little bit more comprehensible.
Hereās what we know:
1. Birthdays didnāt begin until calendars were created.
Early civilizations had no way to keep track of time other than by using the moon, sun, or some other important event. This made it difficult for them to pay attention to the anniversary of a personās birth.
As time went on, everyone realized that they all experienced the effects of aging, they just didnāt have a means to mark a special milestone for it.
It wasnāt until ancient people began taking note of the moonās cycles that they began paying attention to the change in seasons as well. They also noticed this pattern repeated itself over and over again. They began marking these changes in time.
This is what bore the first calendars, which marked time changes and other special days. From this type of tracking system came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other significant events and anniversaries each year.
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How Did The Tradition of Birthdays Begin?
by admin | Feb 3, 2017 | Birthday History | 0 comments
How Did The Tradition of Birthdays Begin?
Have you ever wondered where the celebration of birthdays started? In the simplest of terms, itās a time for friends and family to come together and celebrate you, the anniversary of your birth, and another year of your life under your belt.
But thereās so much more to it than that.
Itās been constantly evolving throughout, turning into what we know it to be today. This widely used tradition started somewhere and thatās what we are looking to uncover here today.
Weāve pieced together the hypotheses of several historians, making this one huge piece of our culture a little bit more comprehensible.
Hereās what we know:
1. Birthdays didnāt begin until calendars were created.
Early civilizations had no way to keep track of time other than by using the moon, sun, or some other important event. This made it difficult for them to pay attention to the anniversary of a personās birth.
As time went on, everyone realized that they all experienced the effects of aging, they just didnāt have a means to mark a special milestone for it.
It wasnāt until ancient people began taking note of the moonās cycles that they began paying attention to the change in seasons as well. They also noticed this pattern repeated itself over and over again. They began marking these changes in time.
This is what bore the first calendars, which marked time changes and other special days. From this type of tracking system came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other significant events and anniversaries each year.
2. It all started with the Egyptians.
Scholars who study the Bible say that the earliest mention of a birthday was around 3,000 B.C.E. and was in reference to a Pharaohās birthday. But further study implies that this was not their birth into the world, but their ābirthā as a god.
When Egyptian pharaohs were crowned in ancient Egypt, they were considered to have transformed into gods. This was a moment in their lives that became more important than even their physical birth.
Pagans, such as the ancient Greeks, believed that each person had a spirit that was present on the day of his or her birth. This spirit kept watch and had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday that particular individual was born.
3. You can thank Greeks for all those birthday candles.
Gods and goddesses were a huge part of Greek culture. Greeks offered many tributes and sacrifices to appease these gods. The lunar goddess, Artemis, was no different.
As a tribute to her, the Greeks would offer up moon-shaped cakes adorned with lit candles to recreate the glowing radiance of the moon and Artemisā perceived beauty. The candles also symbolized the sending of a signal or prayer. Blowing out the candles with a wish is another way of sending that message to the gods.
4. Birthdays first started as a form of protection.
It is assumed that the Greeks adopted the Egyptian tradition of celebrating the ābirthā of a god. They, like many other pagan cultures, thought that days of major change, such as these ābirthā days, welcomed evil spirits. They lit candles in response to these spirits almost as if they represented a light in the darkness. This implies that birthday celebrations started as a form of protection.
In addition to candles, friends and family would gather around the birthday person and protect them from harm with good cheers, thoughts, and wishes. They would give gifts to bring even more good cheer that would ward off evil spirits. Noisemakers were also used to scare away the unwanted evil.
5. The ancient Romans were the first to celebrate the birth of the common āman.ā
This seems to be the first time in history where a civilization celebrated the birth of non-religious figures. Regular Roman citizens would celebrate the birthdays of their friends and family members. The government, however, created public holidays in honor of more famous citizens.
Any Roman turning 50 years old would receive a special cake baked with wheat flour, olive oil, grated cheese, and honey. But an important thing to note is that only men would experience this birthday celebration. Female birthdays were not celebrated until about the 12th century.
6. Birthdays were first considered to be a pagan ritual in Christian culture.
In Christianity, it is believed that all people are born with āoriginal sin.ā That, in combination with early birthdays being tied to pagan gods, led Christians to consider birthdays to be celebrations of evil. This lasted for the first few hundred years of the existence of the Christian Church.
It wasnāt until the 4th century that Christians abandoned that way of thinking and began celebrating the birth of Jesus, also know as Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Jesus was partly enacted to recruit those who already celebrated Saturnalia, the Roman holiday.
7. German bakers invented the birthday cake as we know it today.
At this point, birthdays had been celebrated around the world, even in China, where a childās first birthday was more special than most.
Kinderfeste, which started in the late 18th century, was the name for a German birthday party that is closest to todayās style of parties. This party was held for German kids, or ākinder,ā and featured a birthday cake adorned with candles.
Kids were given one candle atop the cake for each year they had been alive, plus one for the hope of living for at least one more year. Blowing out these candles while making a wish was a big part of these celebrations.
8. The Industrial Revolution made a way for everyone to enjoy sugary cakes.
Sugary cakes were a birthday commodity only wealthy people had access to for quite some time. This was because the ingredients these sugary treats required were considered to be a luxury.
Then, the time in our history known as the Industrial Revolution allowed birthday celebrations in all cultures to proliferate. The required ingredients became more widely available. This, in combination with advances in mass production, allowed bakeries the option of offering customers pre-made cakes at lower prices.
9. The tune of āHappy Birthdayā was actually a remix of sorts.
Two sisters, Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill, who happened to both be Kentucky school teachers wrote a song called āGood Morning To Allā in 1893 that was published in a book for other school teachers. The original intent of this song was to be sung in class by students before starting the day.
Of course, when anything catches on, there are variations that are made. This song is no different. Robert Coleman published a songbook in 1924 that featured this song with a few extra lyrics that quickly came to overshadow the original lyrics. These new lyrics to that popular old tune became what we know as āThe Birthday Songā today.
In 1933, this new version was used in an Irving Berlin musical. One of the founding Hill sisters sued on the grounds that they held the copyright to the tune. They won the case and the copyright still holds to this day. Some even believe this song is under copyright until the year 2030. Copyright proceeds are split with the copyright owner and the Hillās estate, estimated at around $2 million a year.
