Back in the '50s, when I was a kid, New Year’s Eve was a really big deal. My parents were never home that night, but always were at someone’s party. I don’t recall them ever hosting one, but they were always at someone else’s.
Since then, the event seems to have died down, or entirely off. Have you been to - or hosted - a New Year’s Eve party?
I go to a party almost every year. I generally drive to either New Jersey or Massachusettes, depending on which circle of friends I want to hang out with that year.
Could it be that campaigns about drinking and driving and police surveillance have cut into the festivities?
I host a New Year’s Eve party. Lots of food, not a lot of drink. But I make unusual and fancy foods, as well as serving crowd pleasers like cheese, m&ms, and chips.
The idea of hosting a NYE party in your home has faded, at least in my circle of friends. I’m glad; finding vomit in the backyard gets old. The last five or so years we’ve attended NYE celebrations at restaurants, bars, or hotels.
Back when we lived closer to my wife’s family, we’d go to her aunt and uncle’s house for NYE (people seem to gravitate to their house for every major, minor and made-up holiday). It’s probably been 7 or 8 years since we did that. Before I was married, I went to a few parties, but the last one was probably in 2001 or 2002. Neither my wife nor I are much on partying, or even really socializing for that matter. Now we sit at home and have a night of watching TV and eating appetizers with the kids. We call it “Appie New Year!”
My family has hosted a New Year’s Eve party for quite a few years. It’s mostly my siblings and their families (some come every year, others on occasion) plus a few friends of the family (some every year, others now and then) plus the occasional friend of a friend who doesn’t have another event to go to. It’s varied from anywhere from three to 20 people.
Before our own party got to be regular maybe a decade or so ago I would go to parties as a friend or friend of a friend myself.
In my circle of friends someone usually hosts a party. I’m attending one this year.
Most definitely the attitude regarding drinking and driving has had a dampening effect on the celebration. My parents usually hosted a new year’s eve party, complete with my dad bringing out the bagpipes at midnight, and everyone drove home at like 2:00 AM!
Unheard of today. Thanks Uber!
I used to celebrate with family when my parents were still alive. Now with both of them gone and without any family within 3 hours of where i live I mostly stay home. I am not a big drinker or partyer and quite frankly the thought of being out that late on a night with so many “celebraters” doesn’t sound very nice.
Also I work full time and I have to work the day after New Years. (so year end panic is a factor)
They were certainly a thing back when my parents would always host one or attend one. Of course, they and their social circles were usually the type that took the week between Christmas and New Years off.
I can only remember a couple I’ve been to. One, in high school where we drank very lightly, I was 17 and there were adults around. Think our limit was two beers each.
My roommates and I hosted one in college. Since I worked, I had to be back earlier than most students and my roommates had already graduated. The student bars were either closed or dead then so we hosted a party mainly for the bar and restaurant people we knew.
We’ve attended parties in the past, though really, we prefer a quiet evening at home. A friend usually hosts one, and it is a good time. The guests are mature, they’re not there to get shit-faced, only to barf in the backyard, or worse places in his nice house.
But yeah, we’d rather either stay home, or have a nice early evening to ourselves, going out for dinner and coming home not-late.
We’ll watch the ball drop in NYC, that’s 2100 local time. That’s enough for us!
New Years Eve is the most over rated night of the year. We go to Vegas every year to avoid having or attending disappointing parties.
Maybe its that mothers side were the physically close relatives and chronic habitual drunks but I notice more New Years parties and celebrations now than back in the 60s. Back when I was a kid we basically hid; now sometimes I will hit some sort of celebration or another. I tend towards more simple ones at home with lots of food, bad movies, and a few friends. We did a BBQ/smoker party for ages but the friends we did it with have all moved off.
I consider New Year’s Eve (along with St. Patrick’s Day) to be “amateur night.” We usually stay home and watch Dick Clark 2.0 (can’t remember his name) and share a split of bubbly.
My dad was in the Knights of Columbus forever, so he and mom always went to dances there.
On a few occasions, I went to NYE parties hosted by friends, but in the last 2 decades at least, I don’t think I was awake past 10PM on NYE. It’s just not that big a deal to me.
I’m usually at a concert. Grateful Dead back in the day and various other bands since. This year I am staying at home and being cozy with my girlfriend.
Anderson Cooper? I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of him.
While Anderson Cooper does host New Year’s Eve coverage on CNN, the current host of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on ABC, who took over shortly before Clark’s death, is Ryan Seacrest.
A friend of ours hosts one every year and gets around twenty-five people, maybe more. The kids go into the basement to watch movies or play video games and the adults have some drinks, laugh, some maybe play a game or two. It’s not drunken debauchery and no one’s cheating on their spouse in the bathroom, just folks enjoying company and good food (they put out a hell of a spread). I know enough to have a drink or two early and quit well before my midnight flute of champagne so I’m not worried about Johnny Law on the way home.
Ah. Thanks.