HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

NEW YEAR’S EVE AND DAY – A TIME FOR CELEBRATION AND GREETINGS TO FRIENDS AND AQUAINTENCES TO WELCOME THE NEW YEAR

            New Year’s Day is the oldest and most universal holiday.  The Romans were the first to observe January 1 as New Year’s Day in 153 B.C. according to Hallmark research.  Julius Caesar developed the Julian calendar in 45 B.C. retaining January 1 as the beginning of the new year.  In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar still in use today, keeping January 1 as New Year’s Day.

Did you know?

         
* New Year’s Eve is the largest one-day party event of the year.

* Because the earth is divided into time zones, the first ones to usher in the new year are just west of the International Date Line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

* “Auld Lang Syne” is the traditional song sung at the stroke of midnight on January 1. The song, which translates as “old long since” and means “times gone by”, was written by Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns in 1788.

* The Tournament of Roses – Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California began in 1886.

* Dropping of the ball at midnight in Times Square, New York City began in 1907.

* Hallmark first made New Year’s cards in 1915.

   Today New Year’s greetings are usually included with our annual Christmas or Holiday greeting cards.  But there was a time when New Year’s cards were more commonly sent to friends and relatives.  They ranged from whimsical to sentimental.  Here are a few examples.