Golden Birthdays

Factual Questions
1

Do you know what they are? Have you ever heard of them? I was in #straightdope (still am, actually), and I was saying how my mom has decided to give me a new car on my golden birthday. And no one knew what I meant. Your golden birthday is the year you turn the day of your birthday. :confused:

My birthday is on the 21st. My golden birthday is when I turn 21 years old. Your birthday is on the 2nd. Your golden birthday was when you turned 2 years old. Anybody know what I’m talking about? I really don’t think this is something my mother made up because I know people outside my family who are aware of their golden birthdays. Is this a Minnesota thing, like Duck, Duck, Grey Duck?

2

The Dinsdale clan in Chi uses the same term. Alas, next Nov 20 I turn double golden (or would that be platinum?)

3

I had my golden birthday in 1986. Heard the term and everything up in Michigan. Maybe it’s a midwestern thing.

4

I’ve heard the term here in WI too. I always thought it was pretty well known, but maybe it is just a midwestern thing.

5

I just heard of this about a month ago form a relative of Demo, here in CA. I don’t ever recall hearing of it before that, in the NJ area. But anyway, my Golden Birthday was in 1988 I turned 18 yrs old 8/18/88.

6

Thank you all (yes, all four of you) for your responses. :slight_smile:

7

Well, crap. Apparently, I had mine last year, when I turned 26 on June 26th.

You mean I coulda snagged a car for that? Damn…

8

I was 27 squared in 1997 & never got a car (wrong parents obviously!) or anything & had never heard of golden birthdays…it must be a midwest thing.

9

27[sup]2[/sup], eh? You’re catching up to Methuselah.

10

My neighbor’s mother told me about them when I was growing up in Colorado. I was rather disappointed that I’d have to wait until I was 28; that was such a long ways away.

Now I’m almost 36, dammit! Where does the time go!?

My wife just had hers: 30 on 7/30/00.

The poor slobs born on Leap Days: Their 29[sup]th[/sup] year will pass without an actual birthday. Is their Golden Birthday actually when they are 116 years old? :D:D

11

…coming up on my golden^5 birthday in just over 14 months and this is the first I’ve heard of it. (How’d you do that neato-keen superscript, bibliophage?) Not that I would have had much use for a car at that age, except maybe a pedal-powered one.

12

My golden birthday was on Friday the 13th and I, of course, was turning 13!

13

I also am from Minnesota, getting ready to celebrate my golden birthday in Feb, will be 22. Wish I could get a car for my birthday, mine is kinda limping around… On the other hand I will be heading for a family vacation with a week in england and a week in germany within a month of my birthday so maybe my father has something planned…
or maybe not…