In a Danish New Year's Eve tradition, some people throw old plates at friends' or neighbors' doors.
The custom is associated with breaking unwanted crockery outside the homes of people one wishes well. A large pile of broken plates was traditionally interpreted as evidence that a household had many friends, because visitors had taken part in the noisy ritual.
The practice is often described alongside other Danish New Year customs, including jumping from a chair at midnight to symbolically leap into the new year. Speeches, fireworks, and the televised New Year's address are also familiar parts of the celebration.
The plate tradition is not universal in modern Denmark. Concerns about injury, property damage, cleanup, and changing household habits have reduced or altered it in many places. It also differs from the Greek custom of smashing plates at some celebrations, which has a separate cultural history and is not specifically a Danish New Year's ritual.