Personifying the New Year as a baby seems quite logical, but who can tell me something about the history of this custom?

sjhodges825

The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus. The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century. http://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm Dec 31 06, 5:18 PM

lanfranco

A silver noisemaker to you, sj, because that's exactly the site I was looking for. I love the fact that it plays "Auld Lang Syne." I've actually seen a 15th-century German New Year's card, produced from a woodcut and depicting a winged infant draped in a banner. Dec 31 06, 5:24 PM