Jan
2
Lucky Grapes and Lemon Pigs
I thought I’d start the year by sharing a couple New Year’s traditions I read about on ‘Atlas Obscura’….
Instead of welcoming the New Year by toasting with champagne or kissing their significant others, some people in Spain and Latin America stuff their mouths with twelve grapes — preferably white Aledo grapes from Alicante, Spain. Why? To ward off bad luck, of course.
It seems to have begun as a tradition in the late-19th or early-20th century, possibly by enterprising grape farmers in Alicante, though the circumstances are unclear. The superstition requires one to consume a grape upon each chime of the final 12-seconds countdown of New Year’s Eve — one for each month of the year. But, you also have to be thinking about the significance of the act, too. If you do it right, you will have a lucky year. Fail in any respect and things won’t go so well for you in the year to come.
Interesting custom from a cultural perspective. But, it is sad to see such superstition. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I pray for continued blessings but also ask for wisdom and grace in dealing with whatever comes. “Luck” is not real, and grapes are just grapes.
Maybe you’ve heard of this next one…
The idea of making pigs out of lemons was an easy and fun project/toy for kids to make which dates back at least to the late-19th century, as found in various publications of the time. Simply cut a slit for the mouth (under the more snoutish end) and two more for the ears, insert a pair of cloves or peppercorns for eyes, four toothpicks for the legs, and make a tail from a sprig of parsley or maybe twisted aluminum foil.
The New Year’s connection, however, probably didn’t occur until 1971, when it was included in the book 401 Party and Holiday Ideas from Alcoa with the caption, “For luck in the New Year, a Lemon Piglet is a must!” (Note: ALCOA was an aluminum company encouraging more use of their product, of course, which is where the idea for the aluminum curlicue tail came in.) In 2017, author Anna Pallai tweeted a picture she found (later traced back to the above book) of a lemon pig, and people loved it. They started posting pictures of their own attempts, sometimes using other fruits and vegetables, thus bringing about a resurgence of the lemon pig fad once again.
Somewhere along the line, people began inserting a penny into the pig’s mouth to go along with the wish for good luck. Many added, “What can it hurt?”
Sigh!
