Sock Traditions Around The World
At Peper Harow we have an ongoing tradition of designing fantastically stylish gentleman's socks and accessories.
We are proud of our funky designs and constantly look to develop new and exciting patterns to keep our customers feet better dressed than anyone else.
To help expand our knowledge we scoured the globe to find other sock traditions:
The Sock Dance in Ontario
In Ontario, there is a long-standing tradition that punishes older brothers or sisters that have been beaten to the altar by a younger sibling. This tradition takes place on the day of the younger siblings' wedding, during the dance that follows the meal. The older sibling is called to the centre of the dance floor and asked to remove his or her shoe and the younger sibling or a member of the family puts on his feet a pair of multi-coloured socks made by a family member specifically for this event. The older sibling is then asked to dance alone in the middle of the dance floor while the wedding guests cheer him on, tease him, and sometimes throw money and change at him. At the end of the ritual, the older sibling takes off the socks and keeps them as a souvenir.
Danish wedding: sock tradition
A similar tradition takes place at Danish weddings. After the bridal dance, the male guests will circle the groom and slowly get closer and closer to him closing the circle. When the groom is completely encircled, the men will lift him up, grab a pair of scissors and cut his socks. It is said that if you cut a piece of the socks the groom is wearing on his wedding day, that will prevent him from trying to get with other women in the future.
Birthday Sock Tradition in Germany
On the 25th Birthday, if a man is still unmarried the whole town will know about it thanks to a German tradition that has been going on for years. A garland of socks called Sockenkranz is strung outside the home and around the birthday boy’s property. As he walks towards his house where the party usually takes place he has to down an alcoholic drink every few metres.
Burning socks on Spring Equinox
This tradition began in the mid-1980s and it was started by Bob Turner who managed the Annapolis Yacht Yard. He used to work during winters on boats owned by other people and at the end of the winter season he would end up home with socks filled with debris and dried varnishes. That is until one day when all of a sudden he decided to take his socks off go onto the pier and burn his socks. That day happened to be the Spring equinox.