In Denmark, people are traditionally said to smash plates outside homes on New Year's Eve.
The custom involves breaking unwanted crockery against the doors of friends or neighbors. A large pile of broken plates was traditionally interpreted as evidence that a household had many friends and was popular in the community. The practice is a folk custom rather than a formal national ceremony, and its prevalence varies among families and regions.
The plates were generally old or unused items, not necessarily specially manufactured New Year's objects. In modern life, concerns about cleanup, injury, and waste mean that the tradition is less common than descriptions of it may suggest. Some contemporary celebrations use other forms of noisy welcome instead.
This practice is often confused with New Year's customs involving smashing ceramic objects elsewhere. Denmark's distinctive association is with crockery left at the doors of friends. It is also separate from the Danish habit of jumping from a chair or sofa at midnight, which symbolizes jumping into the new year.