In Denmark, old plates are traditionally smashed against doors at New Year's Eve to show friendship.
The custom involves throwing unwanted crockery at the doors of friends or neighbors. A large pile of broken plates was traditionally interpreted as evidence that a household had many friends willing to visit and take part in the ritual. The practice is one of the more unusual European New Year's customs because it turns discarded household objects into a social symbol.
Modern celebrations do not always follow the custom literally, and local habits can vary. It should not be confused with the separate Danish tradition of jumping from a chair or sofa at midnight, which symbolically represents leaping into the new year. Both practices are associated with the same holiday but have different meanings.