Birthday Party Supplies

Birthdays
We look forward to our birthdays for 364 days a year! We invite special people to celebrate with us at a birthday party. .The birthday person will have a party to which friends and family are invited. Visitors to the party bring presents for the birthday special person. Birthday games are still played.Many birthday parties nowadays are celebrated with an evening birthday party - at which the tables are decorated with birthday tableware, there are birthday party crackers and birthday balloons and streamers, even confetti cannons and party table bombs as well as the traditional birthday cake and birthday candles & party hats. UK party stock a wide range of party tableware, party decorations, party balloons, party table bombs, party confetti cannons and much more.

The first Calendars
Before humans had a way of keeping time, no one paid much attention to the anniversary of important events, such as birthdays. Only when ancient peoples began taking notice of the moon's cycles, did they pay attention to the changing seasons and the pattern that repeated itself over and over. Eventually, the first calendars were formulated in order to mark time changes and other special days.

Pagan Times - Birthdays
From this system tracking came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other significant anniversaries the same day each year. Evidence of birthday observances dates back before the rise of Christianity. In pagan cultures, people feared evil spirits - especially on their birthdays. It was a common belief that evil spirits were more dangerous to a person when he or she experienced a change in their daily life, such as turning a year older. As a result, birthdays were merry occasions celebrated with family and friends, who surrounded the person of honour with laughter and joy in order to protect them from evil. Instead of gifts, most guests brought positive thoughts and happy wishes for the upcoming year. However, if well-wishers did bring gifts, it was considered an especially good influence for the birthday person.

The Queen has two birthdays
Some notables, particularly monarchs such as Queen Elizabeth of England have "official birthdays" which do not match their actual birthday, but on which celebrations are held.

The queen celebrated her Golden jubilee (50 years since her accession) in 2002.

Queens 80th Birthday
Various events are being planned to mark The Queen's 80th birthday in 2006

Birthday Unknown
In cases where an historical figure's actual birthday is unknown, e.g. Jesus, it is common for a particular date to be substituted.

Leap Year Birthdays
Persons who are born on the 29th of February, which only falls on Leap years, often celebrate their birthday annually on the 28th, or the 1st of March.

Saints Birthdays
In Roman Catholic countries such as France, it is common also to have a 'name day'/'Saint's day'. This is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but is held on the official day of the saint that the person is named after.

Birthday Bashes - Birthday parties
Although historians are certain that people have observed their birthdays for quite some time, there are few records of such celebrations that still exist. Of these few descriptions, only those birthdays of kings, high-ranking nobility, and other important figures have been documented. Common people and especially children never celebrated their birth when the idea came about. This trend has been explained by a theory that nobility were the only people wealthy enough to throw such celebrations, and quite possibly were the only ones deemed important enough to have been written about or remembered. Some historians believe these early birthday bashes resulted in the custom of wearing birthday "crowns" as time went on.

Eventually, birthday celebrations became a tradition around the world with young and old, rich or poor. Although birthday customs are quite similar in some countries today, not everyone celebrates in the same way. Different people have incorporated their own rituals into the birthday celebration, based on spiritual beliefs and ancient cultural traditions. While you may find some of them odd, or even humorous, each one is unique. Birthday Parties
The earliest birthday parties in history were held because people thought that evil spirits would visit them on their birthdays. They stayed close to their family and friends for protection. Later parties became social gatherings where friends and family would bring gifts or flowers to the person having their birthday. Today birthday parties are held just for fun!

Birthday presents
Presents are opened as soon as we awake. We can't wait for the birthday cake later in the day!

Birthday Cards
Friends and family send birthday cards. Sending birthday cards is a custom that began in England about 100 years ago. Originally cards were often sent as an "apology" when a person couldn't visit somebody in person. Today we often sent birthday cards even if we can!

Birthday Cake - Traditions
The birthday cake is decorated on a theme. A candle for each year is lit and placed on top and the child blows out the candles making a wish.here are a few possible explanations as to why we have birthday cakes, nobody is completely sure how the tradition started.

One possible reason is because the ancient Greeks used to take cakes (round to represent the full moon) to the temple of their goddess of the moon, Artemis. The Greeks are said to have placed candles on the cake to make it look as if it was glowing like the moon

Birthday Candles on the Cake
There are a few possible explanations as to why we have candles on birthday cakes, nobody is completely sure how the tradition started.

One possible reason is because the ancient Greeks used to take cakes (round to represent the full moon) to the temple of their goddess of the moon, Artemis. The Greeks are said to have placed candles on the cake to make it look as if it was glowing like the moon.

It has also been claimed that the Germans invented birthday cakes, and celebrated birthdays with a cake called "Geburtstagorten". The Germans were known to have been skilled candle makers and may have put small candles on their cakes, possibly for religious reasons.ke that is said to have been used to celebrate birthdays.

Happy Birthday Song
Singing "Happy Birthday to You" has also been a long-standing tradition on birthdays as well. It was written by two American sisters in 1893, and has been translated into several languages around the world. In most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song "Happy Birthday" to the honoured person celebrating their birthday.

This happens traditionally at a birthday party while someone brings a birthday cake into the room, which is often darkened. The birthday cake is traditionally a highly decorated cake, and is typically covered with lit candles when presented; the number of candles equals the age of the person. The person whose birthday it is will make a silent wish and then blow out the candles. If done in one breath, the wish is supposed to come true. Another superstition associated with birthday wishes is that if you reveal your wish, it won't come true. It is also very common for the "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" to cut the initial piece of the cake, except for young children.

For special birthdays and for when the number of candles might be considered a fire hazard, special candles might be substituted for the many individual candles. These candles are in the shape of a numeral; for example on one's 5th birthday there may be only one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral 5, and on one's 50th birthday there may be only one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral 50.

Birthday Tradition - The Bumps
It used to be traditional for the birthday child to have the bumps. Friends would hold the child by the legs and under the arms and lift the child up and down bumping them gently on the ground. The number of bumps given is the age of the child plus one for extra good luck.

Birthday Custom in America
The majority of American children, celebrate birthdays with a cake topped with lighted candles. Most families use the candles to represent how old a person is turning, (i.e., one candle for a one-year-old, etc.). When the cake is set before the guest of honour, he or she is supposed to make a wish (without telling anyone what it is) and blow out the candles. If all the candles go out with one breath, it's believed that the wish will come true!

Birthday Customs in Britain
Another old tradition still practiced by some English people is to make a birthday cake with symbolic objects baked inside. In medieval times, objects such as coins and thimbles were mixed into the batter. People believed that the person who got the coin would be wealthy, while the unlucky finder of the thimble would never marry. Today, small figures, fake coins and small candies are more common. Guests are warned ahead of time as well, so no one injures their teeth or swallows a tiny treasure.

Birthday Customs in Denmark
When it's somebody's birthday a flag is flown outside the window. For children's birthdays, the presents are placed around the child's bed while they are sleeping, so they will see the presents as soon as they awake!

If a man or a woman has not been married, by the age of 30, he will be called a "pepper man" ("pebersvend") and she will be a "pepper maid" ("pebermø"). Friends give the person a peppermill or a pepper shaker to mark the occasion!

Birthday Customs in Germany
In Germany, a children's birthday celebration is called a Geburtstagsparty. Historians attribute Germans with the first birthday parties for kids.

Birthday Tradition in Holland
People in Holland hang birthday calendars to remind them of the birth dates of all their family and friends. Adults often bring a birthday cake to work to share with co-workers on their special day.

Birthday Customs in Ireland
The birthday child is lifted by hands and feet, and "bumped" on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps given is the age of the child, plus one for luck!

Birthday Customs in Japan
Until quite recently, most Japanese children used to celebrate their birthdays on January 1st, regardless of which day of the year they were actually born on. Today however, most Japanese children celebrate on their actual birthdays.

Birthday Customs in Korea - child's 1st birthday
On a child's first birthday, the birthday child is dressed in special clothes. The friends and family all visit for a big feast, and leave money for the child. The child's future is foretold by the items it picks up.

Birthday Customs in Mexico
A piñata, made from paper mache and filled with sweets or other treats, is made in the shape of an animal. It is hung from the ceiling by a rope, and the birthday child is blindfolded, and hits the piñata with a stick, until it cracks open. Once the piñata is broken open, all the children share the treats.

Birthday Customs in Norway
Norwegian children dance in front of their class with a friend while the rest of the students sing a happy birthday song. Norway's national flag is also displayed outside the home of a birthday person. When important people have birthdays, the streets in Norway are decorated with flags.

Birthday Customs in Russia
Instead of a Birthday Cake, many Russian children are given a Birthday Pie! Instead of using icing to spell a message, Russian Birthday Pies have the message carved into the pie crust.