All the world, divided though it is into cultures, countries and castes, stand together so far as celebrating birthdays goes. Birthdays are celebrated with as much zeal and vigour as a festival. People seemingly adore turning a year older!
Birthdays have an old, old history. When the human beings could decipher the lunar cycle and the passage of a year, they created the concept of anniversaries. Earlier birthday parties were not mere celebrations they were a means to protect the special person from evil spirits by collecting all his friends and relatives under one roof.
Popular traditions at a birthday party are:
* Birthday cake - cakes used to be round previously; today they come in many shapes
* Birthday candles - number of candles is traditionally equal to the person's age; some people take one candle more than the age and leave it aflame for good luck
* Blowing out of candles/Birthday wish - if all the candles are blown out in one attempt, the person asks for a wish secretly and gets it!
* Birthday song - 'Happy Birthday to you' is most popular
* Birthday gifts and cards
* Birthday decorations -balloons, crepe streamers, confetti, whistles and cheerfully coloured long pointed paper hats
One cannot do without celebrating one's birthday with a party. Especially because planning a birthday party has become very simple these days.
Birthday party supplies were never so freely available. Cakes, candles, balloons, crepe streamers, return gifts - you name it and you have it - in packets neatly arranged according to popular party themes.
Birthday party supplies are themed, too -
o Age theme - be it the first birthday party of a toddler or the seventy-fifth of a septuagenarian, birthday party supplies are ready for each. The candles, cakes, cutlery and balloons all bear the relevant number on them or come in the shape of the numbers themselves or bear messages accordingly
o Color theme - one may choose one's color of choice and order the supplies accordingly. One may choose solid colors or prints or both in combination just as one may wish
o Dress theme - this works especially well for children's birthday parties. Guests are asked to dress up according to the theme of the party - say fairy tales, cartoon characters or world leaders - and the birthday party supplies match the theme
o Culture theme - Egyptian, Oriental or Island birthday themes are popular
An integral part of birthday celebrations are the birthday party balloons.
Winnie the Pooh opined, 'Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon,' and expressed in words what every young heart felt. Balloons have a history. Professor Michael Faraday made the primitive rubber balloon in 1824 at the Royal Institution in London for use in his experiments. He used hydrogen as the filling gas.
A year after the use of balloons in science, they were used as toys, in 1825. A rubber manufacturer called Thomas Hancock did the task. However, it was only in 1847 that the closest ancestors of today's balloons were made.
The first samples of today's balloons were made from vulcanized rubber by J.G. Ingram.
Today the material used most popularly for birthday party balloons is latex. Latex has the advantage of being biodegradable, which its colleague, plastic possesses not.
Toy balloons have been variously experimented with:
o Colors - solid colors, prints, polka dots, stripes
o Themes - balloons carry messages like 'Happy 70th birthday to you'
o Shapes - animal shapes, heart shape
o Filling gas - helium or hydrogen filled balloons stick to the ceiling owing to the lightness of the gases and give a different type of celebration effect - they may be utilized as a pinata modification!
o Walking balloons - these are the latest modification of all. Favorite characters are fashioned out of foil or latex into life-like figures and inflated with air. Thick paper pads are provided at the base of the figure to allow it to 'walk'
o Foil cut outs - these are life size cut outs that float. They are filled with enough air to make them stay afloat for about a week
* Colors - solid colors, prints, polka dots, stripes
* Themes - balloons and other decor items carry messages like 'Happy 14th birthday to you'
* Shapes - animal shapes, heart shape
* Filling gas - when helium or hydrogen is used as filler in the balloon, the balloon sticks up to the ceiling as these are light gases - this gives an innovative decor and such balloons may even be used in place of pinatas.
* Walking balloons - these are the most modern changes in the balloon usage. Figures of popularity are cut out of latex or foil in large sizes and filled with air. Thick pads are provided in the base of the figure to weigh it down and help it walk.
Foil cut outs - life sized cut outs of favorite characters that have been designed to float. They are filled with air and volume of air helps it stay afloat for about a week
Birthday parties will be made greater fun with the used of newer birthday party balloons. Are they not fun?
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