According to the book The Lore of Birthdays (“A Sabedoria dos Aniversários”, no translation into Portuguese), by the American anthropologists Ralph and Adelin Linton, birthdays deserve celebrations since Ancient Egypt, that is, the fashion emerged around 3000 BC
Both the Egyptians and the Greeks, who adopted the custom, restricted celebrations to superior beings only: pharaohs and gods. Over time, the habit was extended to mortals and also contaminated the Romans, who gave the privilege to the emperor, his family and senators. In early Christianity, the custom was abolished because of its pagan origins.
It wasn’t until the 4th century that the Church began to celebrate the birth of Christ, Christmas. Hence, the habit of celebrating birthdays reappeared and little by little symbolic pieces emerged: the cake, the candles, the “Happy Birthday to You”, etc.
AGAINST ASTRAL HELL
Just like “happy birthday”, the habit of giving gifts to birthdays has the original objective of warding off evil spirits. This already happened in Ancient Egypt and Rome. During the Middle Ages, in Germany, there are records of a kind of Santa Claus, who was given the function of distributing gifts.
FLESH COLOR BALLOON
It is believed that balloons were children’s first toys. Of course, the first ones weren’t made of plastic, but of (gasp!) dead animal intestines and guts, inflated with air. They started to appear at birthday parties as a treat for children.
SOUND IN THE BOX
“Happy Birthday to You” appeared in 1875. In fact, that year the Americans Mildred and Patricia Hill created the melody of “Good Morning to All”, which, after changes here and there, gave rise to “Happy Birthday to You”, in 1924. Since then, the song has earned $2 million a year for Warner. In 1942, the Brazilian version was decided in a contest between Tupi radio and the Academia Brasileira de Letras, won by Bertha Celeste Homem de Mello from São Paulo.
BLOWING OUT THE CANDLES
The cake and candles were inherited from the Greeks. Every 6th, they had parties to the goddess Artemis in which they placed candles on a pie, symbolizing the full moon, which, according to mythology, was the way in which the goddess expressed herself. In the Middle Ages, for unknown reasons, the Germans resumed the habit at children’s parties.
THE BRIGADEIRO IS OURS!
The most famous sweet on birthdays is really Brazilian and appeared in the presidential race of 1945. Voters of Brigadier Eduardo Gomes created the “Brigadier’s Sweet” trying to win votes through the electorate’s palate. The candy was a success, but the brigadier ended up losing the elections.
I AM REALLY SORRY
The tradition of sending birthday cards began in England in the early 20th century. The cards served as a loving apology when the person couldn’t visit the birthday person. Today many people prefer to deliver the card in person.