The audio version of this article was first shared in Episode 46: A Bookchat about The Secrets of Emberwild with Stephenia McGee & a Review of The Hidden Prince by Tessa Afshar
With my oldest recently turning 16, we had three separate birthday parties. Needless to say, this took up a bit of my time. But I got to wondering where the tradition of birthday celebration came from. So, here’s a little history lesson on Birthdays.
In ancient Egypt, Egyptians celebrated the birthdays of what they considered their gods. Once a pharaoh was coronated he was considered a deity thus the date of coronation is considered his birth as a little “G” god.
We actually have a Biblical reference to Pharaoh’s birthday in Genesis 40:20 The old King James says, “And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.”
This is the story of Joseph who interprets the dreams of the chief butler and the chief baker. The baker was hanged and the butler restored.
Speaking of bakers…
German bakers began baking birthday cakes in the 18th century. According to historian Elizabeth Pleck, birthday parties did not common even among wealthy Americans until the late 1830s.
Here is a first hand recount of a birthday celebration in the 1800s.
“After awhile I had a birthday. I didn’t know anything about it until when I got up in the morning, Pa played spank me, . . . one for each year. Then he gave me a little wooden man he had whittled out of a stick. Ma and Mary gave me a rag doll that Ma had made and Mary helped dress. And I was a great girl 4 years old!”
~ Laura Ingalls Wilder
Peer-culture birthday parties where children were included in the celebration did not become common even among wealthy Americans until the late thirties. The grades being set with specific age ranges in American urban public schools made going to friends’ parties popular.
When I was a little girl one of my friends from Sunday school had a grandpa who grew up in California. She used to brag that he went to one of Shirley Temple’s birthday parties as a child.
Now we have another account from Laura Ingles Wilder recounting the time she went to a friend’s party. In her true introverted fashion, she said she felt a little awkward, however, she did write a description of the party which is featured here.
“The long dining table was set and ready when we got there. It was beautiful with its silver and china its beautiful linen tablecloth and napkins. At each place, on a pretty little plate was an orange standing on end with the peel sliced in strips half way down and curled back making the orange look like a golden flower. I thought them the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, even prittier than the birthday cake in the center of the table”
Wilder even dressed up to commemorate her eighty-fourth birthday at the library in Mansfield, Missouri, in 1951.
Interesting facts about “Happy Birthday to You”
“Happy Birthday” is set to the melody of an older song called “Good Morning to All” (which was written by two teacher sisters named Mildred and Patty Hill. created a tune that Robert Coleman would turn into “Happy Birthday to You” in 1924.
The melody was first published in 1893. Early in the 1900s “Happy Birthday to You” began appearing in song books as an alternative to “Good Morning to All.”
Which you can hear in Dora’s Dunking Doughnuts (1933) Shirley Temple- Comedy, Musical, Short Film
When Justice Breyer protested Congress’s 20-year extension of the term of copyright in his dissent in Eldred v. Ashcroft, 1 he chose one song to emphasize what was to his mind the already overly generous protection of copyright law:
“Happy Birthday to You (melody first published in 1893, song copyrighted after litigation in 1935), [the copyright of which is] still in effect and currently owned by a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner.”2 The example, even in that brief form, is a powerful one. “Happy Birthday to You” is a simple song that most people have learned by hearing it performed by family and friends, and many probably assume that it is not under copyright at all. 1893 is a long time ago – 106 years before Eldred was decided. And, for those who are unsympathetic to and suspicious of large corporations, AOL Time Warner – now just Time Warner – is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world.” ~ Copyright and the World’s Most Popular Song” (2010).
William Butler Yeats:
“From our birthday, until we die, / Is but the winking of an eye.”
With my oldest child turning 16 I am reminded that every moment is a gift, each season is unique, and growing old is a blessing.
Have a lovely day,
KyLee
Want to read more? Here are a few of the amazing websites I found while researching. Pioneer Girl Project, George Washington University Scholarly Commons, Theriault’s The Dollarmasters.