Baby New Year is the use of a baby to symbolize the new year. Pictorial representations of the New Years's baby usually depict a male infant or toddler dressed in diapers, a top hat and a sash with the new year written across it. Over the course of the year the baby ages rapidly, and ends the year as a white bearded man, depicted as Father Time.New Year Festival: Baby New Year
The Baby Parade
The earliest depictions of the Baby New Year appear in history around 600 B.C. in Ancient Greece. The Greeks paraded around with a baby in a basket to honor their fertility god, Dionysus, in hopes that he would bless their villages with fertility and abundance.The Traditions of New Year's: Baby New Year The Greeks and Egyptians celebrated the new year at the end of winter when the crops grew, not at the beginning of winter as people celebrate today. The Vancouver Sun: Pagan Party: New Year's Traditions That Hail From The Depths of Antiquit] German immigrants, whose ancestors had been using the Baby New Year as a symbol since the fourteenth century, brought the tradition with them to America.The Traditions of New Year's: Baby New Year
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Fast Facts
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New Years Day is January 1, according to the Gregorian calendar
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In 2009, New Years falls on a Thursday
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Many city hospitals publicize the birth of the first baby of the New Year in newspapers
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Custom said to have originated in Ancient GreeceThe Traditions of New Year's: Baby New Year
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Egyptians also used a newborn baby to symbolize rebirthThe Traditions of New Year's: Baby New Year
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Early Christians renounced the practice for years because of its pagan originsThe Traditions of New Year's: Baby New Year
