The Greeks most likely took the idea of birthday celebration from the Egyptians, since just like the celebration of the pharaohs as "gods," the Greeks were celebrating their gods and goddesses. The prevailing opinion seems to be that the Romans were the first civilization to celebrate birthdays for non-religious figures. Romans would celebrate birthdays for friends and families, while the government created public holidays to observe the birthdays of more famous citizens.
Those celebrating a 50th birthday party would receive a special cake made of wheat flour, olive oil, honey and grated cheese. All of this said, female birthdays still weren't celebrated until around the 12th century. Due to its belief that humans are born with "original sin" and the fact that early birthdays were tied to "pagan" gods, the Christian Church considered birthday celebrations evil for the first few hundred years of its existence.
Around the 4th century, Christians changed their minds and began to celebrate the birthday of Jesus as the holiday of Christmas. This new celebration was accepted into the church partly in hopes of recruiting those already celebrating the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Although the general idea of celebrating birthdays had already started taking off around the world -- like in China , where a child's first birthday was specifically honored -- Kinderfeste , which came out of late 18th century Germany, is the closest prerequisite to the contemporary birthday party.
This celebration was held for German children, or "kinder," and involved both birthday cake and candles. Kids got one candle for each year they'd been alive, plus another to symbolize the hope of living for at least one more year. Blowing out the candles and making a wish was also a part of these celebrations. For quite some time, birthday celebrations involving sugary cakes were only available to the very wealthy, as the necessary ingredients were considered a luxury.
But the industrial revolution allowed celebrations like kinderfest and the subsequent equivalents in other cultures to proliferate. Not only did the required ingredients become more abundant, but bakeries also started offering pre-made cakes at lower prices due to advances in mass production, such as the scene above capturing workers of one of the many Cadby Hall bakeries of the late 19th century. It was only a hop, skip, and a jump from ancient revelry to blowing out the candles on the birthday cake.
The early Greeks used to enjoy round or crescent-shaped cakes in honour of Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon. They lit candles on the cakes to make them glow, just like the moon in the sky. The Germans are the ones who perfected birthday celebrations as we know them today, too. In the late 18th century they celebrated Kinderfeste, which was a cake-and-candles party for kids on their birthdays. Kids got a candle for each year of age… plus one extra, to symbolise the hope for another party next year.
Word nerd. Sassy futurist. Ukulele plucker. Ottolenghi acolyte. He told his fiancee he was proud of me doing this by myself!! Thank you All So Much!! Parties and cake go hand in hand, and we did cover this briefly earlier, with the sacrifices to the moon goddess Artemis conceiving the idea of a birthday cake.
However, that is indeed not a birthday cake as we know and love it today, and nor is it a gull birthday celebration. The growth and progression of the history of birthday cake is what sparked the birthday party.
That is, well, a Kinder Surprise. By now, birthdays are pretty commonplace, both for men and women, pretty much all around the world. German birthday parties were held for children from the late 18th century. These parties were called Kinderfeste and very closely resembled birthday parties as we know and love them today. Each child would be given a cake with a candle on the top for each year of their life so far, as well as one extra for hope.
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The History of Birthdays Birthdays started around 3, years before the common era, conceptualised by our good old friends the Egyptians.
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