Sometimes, it seems like our pals across the pond are in a constant state of celebration. They’re either in the thrill of a Super Bowl Party with beer, chicken and adverts; in thrall to Independence Day on the Fourth of July with fireworks; going all out on the Halloween costumes, stuffing their faces with turkey on Thanksgiving Day or doing Christmas to its glitzy, gaudy best. While they’re certainly not short of festivities in America, there are a few traditions that spend a little less time in the limelight.
We’ve teamed up with innovative stairlift manufacturer Acorn Stairlifts to bring you these; our 4 IDEAL lesser known American holiday traditions to celebrate.
MAY BASKET DAY
While it’s still honored in a few far flung corners of the country, May Basket Day doesn’t get the nationwide recognition that it once did. Or deserves, for that matter. Although the occasion isn’t officially marked until May 1st, preparations begin towards the end of April as people start to gather together flowers, sweets or other treats, and place them in baskets; deemed ‘May baskets’ for the celebration. Once filled, individuals hang these baskets from the doors of friends, loved ones and neighbors.
While May Basket Day marks an occasion for people to show their appreciation for those around them and their community, it’s also an opportunity to make plain your romantic intentions. If someone is caught hanging a basket by the person it’s intended for, the recipient is tasked with chasing the basket-hanger for a kiss.
RAGAMUFFIN DAY
Many people will find similarities between Ragamuffin Day and Halloween but actually, before Americans began to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve, Ragamuffin Day existed, involving children getting dressed up in costumes and masks. Once in their attire, they would knock on the doors of their neighbors and pose the question: “anything for Thanksgiving?”.
The occasion was marked to recreate the interactions that the poor used to make with those more fortunate who were celebrating Thanksgiving, as beggars went door to door during the holidays to request either food or fare. While Ragamuffin Day isn’t honored much nowadays, you can still see it being replicated in part during Thanksgiving; the ragamuffins have been transformed into the huge character balloons seen in street parades during the celebration.
CHRISTMAS DINNER WITH A DIFFERENCE
Think the biggest feast of the year is just a roast bird? Think again. Each state has their different, unique edible traditions, and they rightly take pride of place around the Christmas dinner table every year. If you’re from Virginia, for instance, then the festive feasting wouldn’t be complete without an oyster and ham pie. A New Orleans table will always have grits and whiskey cake (not together, of course), and New England offer up a delicious Lumberjack Pie; a mashed potato crusted, meat braise flavoured with cinnamon. Oh yes.
BARREL BURNING
Alongside Ragamuffin Day, Americans once used to participate in the ritual of Barrel Burning every Thanksgiving. Due to the fact that so many families were in possession of wooden trash barrels a few decades ago, the idea was that communities would stack as many of these items on top of one another and then set them all on fire.
A designated time and setting was provided for the Barrel Burning to commence — often at the end of Thanksgiving Day as a large social gathering of entire communities, once loved ones had eaten their Thanksgiving dinner and that barren period of food coma and a sense the day is over needed filling. Barrel Burning was practiced less and less once home televisions hit the mainstream across the US, until it was no longer marked as people chose to gather around their TV sets in an approach that sounded quite a bit safer.
