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Tie One On Day

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Tie One On Day takes place every year on the day before Thanksgiving. But it has nothing to do with Drinksgiving or Blackout Wednesday and doesn’t promote alcohol use or abuse.

Tie One On DayIt began on  Thanksgiving eve in 2003, when EllynAnne Geisel wrapped a pie in an apron, slipped a handwritten note of sympathy into its pocket and delivered it to a neighbor who was going through a difficult time. Her gesture was met with warmth and gratitude. EllynAnne was inspired to share the joyful connection she felt by creating Tie One On Day.

It’s easy to participate. On Thanksgiving Eve,

EllynAnne has collected over 600 vintage aprons, written three books and created an award-winning apron exhibit that has been traveling around the country since 2004. (You can book it for $500 per week plus shipping.)

She also designs and sells aprons, including one that appeared in Vogue magazine. She has been interviewed on CBS News Sunday Morning and NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered. She spoke at 2015’s Southwest Conference on Language Teaching, sharing aprons as a teaching tool in her presentation entitled “Global Apron: How Tying One On…(an Apron, of Course!) Unifies Through Remembrance, Art and Language.”

Tie One On Day is recognized by Chase’s Calendar of Events, the bible of unofficial holidays. Join EllynAnne and “give from the heart on Wednesday–then give thanks on Thursday.” You might discover a cottage industry while you’re at it.

Happy Tie One On Day!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

August 15 is Taffy Sculpting Day

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taffy sculpting dayToday is Taffy Sculpting Day on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. It is the first competition in the city’s annual Weird Week.

According to organizers, today’s “wacky, but not tacky” contest challenges participants to build a work of art from saltwater taffy. One year, an entrant modeled a Ferris wheel from the candy.

Tuesday is French Fry Sculpting Day. Potato Elvis has been a fan favorite in the past.

“That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles” Contest takes place on Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, artists’ material consists of a giant cookie.

Can there be any losers when you get to eat your mistakes?

Also on Wednesday is the “Ears Looking at You” Contest, an attempt to revive the dying art of ear wiggling.

Thursday is Paper Clip Sculpting Day. (Note: don’t eat your mistakes.)

On Friday, the Miss and Mister Miscellaneous Pageant welcomes those who’ve always wanted to be in a talent show but missed out or didn’t make the cut. Age groups are 5 and under, 6 to 8, 9 to 12, teens and adults.

Also on Friday, the Little Miss and Little Mister Chaos Pageant invites children from 3 to 5 years old to sit on a stage and make as much noise as they can by banging pots and pans together, with rock music urging them to greater effort. (Pots and pans are provided.)

We’re guessing the creator of that last contest won’t be too popular with parents when their kids want to recreate the fun at home.

Have a Happy Taffy Sculpting Day and a wonderfully Weird Week!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays

National Flip Flop Day

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national flip flop dayNational Flip Flop Day is a holiday invented by the U.S. national restaurant chain Tropical Smoothie Café. On the third Friday of June, from 2 pm to 7 pm local time, every customer wearing flip-flops will receive a free Jetty Punch Smoothie.

From 2007 to 2020, Tropical Smoothie Café customers donated $ 7.5 million for Camp Sunshine in Casco, Maine. There, children with life-threatening illnesses and their families can have fun while surrounded by professionals devoted to their emotional and medical support.

Tropical Smoothie Café now partners with No Kids Hungry. While you enjoy your smoothie, why not donate the money you save to a worthy cause?

Happy National Flip Flop Day!

P.S.: In 2009, two New York Daily News reporters wore flip-flops for four days, then had them swabbed. The lab tests found fecal bacteria, Aerococcus viridans, Rothia mucilaginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus, among other organisms. So after you get home, take those things off and wash your feet!

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April 26 is National Pretzel Day

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Today is National Pretzel Day. In 2003, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell dedicated April 26th to the snack food that continues to be a major contributor to the state’s economy.

By the 18th century, when German immigrants introduced them to the people of Pennsylvania, pretzels already had a long history. One popular origin story states that an Italian monk invented them in 610 AD to reward children who learned their prayers. He fashioned them to look like arms crossing the chest, which was supposedly the pose used to pray. There is no evidence to support any part of that but the legend persists.

The Hortus deliciarum, a 12th-century medieval encyclopedia compiled in an abbey in the German Alsace region, which is now part of France, contains the earliest known depiction of a pretzel.

National Pretzel Day

A prayer book commissioned in the 15th century by Catherine of Cleves is considered a Dutch masterpiece. In this portrait, St. Bartholomew is surrounded by pretzels.

National Pretzel Day

The next time you grab a pretzel, take a moment to appreciate its design and heritage before chomping into it. Have a happy National Pretzel Day!

Copyright 2016 Worldwide Weird Holidays