In Denmark's New Year's Eve custom, people traditionally smash plates against friends' doors for luck.
The Danish tradition involves saving unwanted crockery and breaking it at the doors of friends, neighbors, or family members around New Year's Eve. A pile of broken dishes outside a home is traditionally interpreted as evidence that the household has many loyal friends.
The custom is an example of a broader European pattern in which noise, breakage, or disorder at the year's boundary is thought to drive away bad luck. Modern practice varies considerably, and many people no longer follow the tradition literally because of safety, cleanup, and environmental concerns.
The custom is sometimes reported as smashing plates inside one's own home, but the familiar version is associated with leaving broken dishes at other people's doors. It should also not be confused with Denmark's separate midnight practice of jumping from a chair or sofa into the new year.