In Denmark's New Year's Eve tradition, people traditionally throw old plates at friends' or neighbors' doors.
The custom involves saving unwanted crockery and breaking it against the doors of people one wishes well. A large pile of broken plates outside a home is traditionally interpreted as evidence that the household has many friends who came to offer good wishes for the new year.
This practice belongs to a broader group of European New Year's customs in which noise, breakage, or dramatic gestures symbolically drive away bad luck. Modern celebrations may treat the plate tradition as playful folklore rather than a universal practice, and local habits differ.
The custom should not be confused with Denmark's separate midnight ritual of jumping from a chair or sofa into the new year. That leap is associated with crossing into the coming year, while the crockery tradition focuses on friendship and good fortune.