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Show Traditions Part Of New Year Day Traditions and superstitions have long been a part of the New Year scene around the world. The Chinese believe one must pay up all their debts if the New Year is to be a successful success-ful one. The English, on the other hand, consider it a good idea to start a savings account ac-count on January 1, since what you do on the New Year's Day is indicative of what you will do the rest of the year. One of the most widespread superstitions concerns the "first-footer," the first person to enter a household on New Year's morning. In early days women and lighthaired men were consitered "unlucky" first footers. Ancient custom in Japan was to scatter parched beans about the house, supposedly driving away evil influences and inviting in-viting good luck to enter. The Romans were accustomed accustom-ed to hanging tiny masks of Cacchus upon trees and vines, the idea being to impart fertility fertil-ity to every side of the tree to which the masks were turned turn-ed by the wind. Pleasant families in various parts of the world once baked special cakes for the New Year. The cake was dashed igainst the door and as. the family members gathered up the pieces to eat them they played that neither hunger nor want should enter the house during the new year. |