I live in the UK and I've always served and eat my birthday cake. I've been to birthdays where they serve it and others where they wrap it and add it to the party bags. I've always thought that at the point of the cake being cut up, wrapped and shared out was a signal from the parents in charge of the party that it was time to leave 🤣

@antidotebrain69

Жыл бұрын

I don't get the bring your coworkers treats thing? If any birthday celebration happens at the workplace in the us, hopefully not forced on the birthday person if they don't celebrate, it's done by their coworkers?

@04williamsl

Жыл бұрын

@@antidotebrain69 I don't think we do what they suggest in the UK. To me, it's always been about bringing any leftovers into the office so it doesn't go to waste. Sometimes that's a birthday cake, sometimes sausage rolls, brownies etc etc

@ghostguy76

Жыл бұрын

For my birthdays we ate some of the cake if it was just my close friends,but give it out in bags if it was a bunch of my class from school

@leobeboop4944

Жыл бұрын

I mean I didn't have many friends so that might be why but we always served the cake at my party and sent the leftovers home in party bags

@Sarah22410

Жыл бұрын

Same

Pass the parcel was the pinnacle of a British birthday party.

@danielwhyatt3278

Жыл бұрын

Oh TOTALLY. That and musical statues.

@cr9153

Жыл бұрын

​@@danielwhyatt3278or musical bumps.

@kayelle8005

Жыл бұрын

Pass the parcel, chocolate six, musical chairs and frozen statues. Also we sometimes had an activity of icing arrowroot biscuits. We also took cake home and a lolly bag. Birthday cakes were mostly made from the classic Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake cookbook. Australia in the 70s.

@jackfoster4935

Жыл бұрын

Core memory

@L.a.77

11 ай бұрын

As an Australian, I'm kind of just realising just how close we are lol

The cake would always go home in a party bag which would basically consist of crayons a colouring book and random plastic toys

@ciara1045

Жыл бұрын

yeeees not enough mentions of party bags I think! theyd always have yet more sweets in too but I remember my mum always sticking some fruit in the party bags for me and my sisters partys and my friends always questioning about it lol

@Alexophant

Жыл бұрын

don't forget the bubbles! I swear there was always a tiny pot of bubbles with those weird maze games on the lid

@TheactualPurplePotato

Жыл бұрын

@@Alexophant yesssss they would always have that maze thing with the little ball idk what it's called

@eleanorrigby5759

Жыл бұрын

Yes! Lucky bags

@rach_laze

Жыл бұрын

@@Alexophant and the bubbles always smelled weird

a game i always remember playing was wink murder. everyone stood in a circle and one person got picked to be the “detective” and left the circle. then 1 to 3 people were picked to be the “murderer” depending on the size of the group. the detective came back and stood in the middle of the circle and the murderer(s) had to wink at all of the other people to kill them without getting caught by the detective, who had a limited number of guesses to figure it out. everyone really dramatically pretended to drop dead, it was peak comedy for a group of 7 year olds

@Justabitnosey

Жыл бұрын

I remember playing this.

@pink_nicola

Жыл бұрын

I never played this at birthday party’s but did at youth groups, school drama and guides. A similar one was murder in the dark which only really worked at guides in winter but was basically hide and seek with the lights off but when you were found you would scream dramatically.

@Ausecko1

Жыл бұрын

Yep, played this in primary school

@Justabitnosey

Жыл бұрын

@@pink_nicola We played that but at guides we played another one with the lights out. We had to take it in turns to crawl accross the hall without being seen. Once we were seen we were out.

@candicraveingcloude2822

Жыл бұрын

Iremember playing this and somehow not being able to wink

Another really fun UK birthday party game was the chocolate game. Everyone sits in a circle and in the middle there's a bar of chocolate on a plate with a knife and fork, and also a hat, gloves and scarf. Everyone takes turns to roll a die. If you roll a six, you run to the middle, put on the hat, gloves and scarf, and try to eat as much chocolate as you can with the knife and fork. When someone else rolls a six you have to stop and take off the hat, gloves, scarf and it's their turn. A lot of the time you don't end up getting to the chocolate because someone else rolls a 6 before you've had a chance to get the hate, gloves and scarf on. I think the game ends when the chocolate bar is finished? It was really chaotic and fun.

@Alexophant

Жыл бұрын

I loved this game so much! We'd play it every year on the last few days of the school year in primary school

@danh4698

Жыл бұрын

ALWAYS. Did you also play the flour game? You put a bunch of flour in a bowl and then turn it upside-down (basically a flour sandcastle) and then put a chocolate button on top. Then you pass a knife round a circle and each person has to cut a slice off, and if you cut it so that the flour-castle crumbles, you have to try and fish the chocolate button out from the flour with your mouth.

@francescascanlan4549

Жыл бұрын

Whaaaat, I’ve never heard of this one??

@omniglot

Жыл бұрын

We played that at scouts. Great fun.

@JustTheJames

Жыл бұрын

This is bizarre, I have never heard of this. Are you from the North?

I think things have changed over time in the UK too. In the 90s you wouldn't hire a hall for a primary party, you'd have maybe 6 or 7 friends over for party games and food at your house. There might be a theme, but it wasn't fancy dress, eg, my brother had a thunderbirds one, but this meant the invites and cake were thunderbirds themed, and my dad made cardboard thunderbirds hats for everyone to wear when they arrived, but otherwise they were just in their party best

In primary schools, it's very common for the birthday child to bring in sweets for the whole class that they hand out at the end of the day As a teacher I have had to comb through COUNTLESS celebrations/roses etc. boxes to pick out all the nutty ones, and then count the remaining ones to check there are actually enough for everyone to have!

@rach_laze

Жыл бұрын

A lot of schools have a "no chocolate" rule these days bevause of the number of kids with nut and milk allergies, it has to be something like haribo or fun-size skittles with sealed packaging

@Xnedrashallan

Жыл бұрын

Interesting! At many schools in Illinois/America kids are no longer allowed to bring in Candy. Whether for lunch or parties. We also are definitely not allowed to send nuts to school. We have notes that say “please do not bring candy, bring pencils, etc” we’ve done stickers for birthdays at schools here. Or little puzzles.

@just.Athena

Жыл бұрын

I vividly remember being in Year 3 and it being my birthday, and being told that "It's not your birthday because you didn't bring in sweets for everyone" because I couldn't really afford to.

@iriscollins7583

Жыл бұрын

Queen Elizabeth II Actually was near the end of April, I think King Charles birthday is in November.

Honestly it was bringing in sweets and other treats to your class in primary school when it was your birthday. Mostly because people had birthdays during term time and during the week, so to make up for those who didn’t get invited to the main party on the weekend (before or the weekend coming), they got a packet of sweets or something. When I was in secondary school there were some people who brought in cards and presents for their favourite teachers. The teachers were interrogated by students to find out when their birthdays were and how old they were going to be. Sometimes that teacher refused to tell so they’d ask another teacher and they’d tell them. It was a weird but nice gesture…

@arcticturtle12

Жыл бұрын

Yes! Absolutely, I loved grilling my teachers to find things out about them. Depending on the teacher and whether I liked them, have organised cards signed by the whole class. However, it was more so a distraction tactic so then we didn’t have to do as much work. 😂

@antidotebrain69

Жыл бұрын

But what if the person didn't want to celebrate their birthday?

@starflight4842

Жыл бұрын

This reminds me of the one time I had my birthday on sports day so my birthday party was delayed for a few days, but had BBQ at school so it made up for it

@itsgonnabeanaurfromme

9 ай бұрын

​@@antidotebrain69it's just a gift, not a party

Honestly the main reason you'd share out the cake for later is because after a buffet meal of sandwiches, crisps, sausage rolls, cheese, other snacks and sweets, and then ice cream, biscuits (cookies , jelly (jello), and other puddings... No one has any room left. So you take the cake home to enjoy later, either thay evening or the next day along with the other treats in the party bag.

When we first moved to the US from England my Mum had a birthday party for me we realized the difference in cultures. Imagine our shock when the kids didn't eat very much of the sandwiches and biscuits (cookies) that my Mum had made and were all clamoring for cake and ice cream. We had so many leftover sandwiches that we ate them for the next couple of days.

@squidthing

Жыл бұрын

Your poor mom! Yeah kids expect pizza not sandwiches at American birthday parties.

@Alexophant

Жыл бұрын

They didn't eat the sandwiches? But they were always amazing, every birthday party me and my friends would go to/host, everyone always looked forward to sandwiches and party food :D

@silviasanchez648

Жыл бұрын

@@squidthing It's the other way around (or it used to be), because pizza is pretty common, like you can eat pizza any time, but sandwiches & cake is special occasion food.

@squidthing

Жыл бұрын

@@silviasanchez648 Many American kids eat sandwiches for lunch every single day at school so it loses its specialness pretty quick lol I know people who don't like them as adults because of the association with school lunches.

@thatpeskyrat

Жыл бұрын

@@squidthing british kids eat them every day for lunch too, they’re just… also a special party thing…? Man i don’t get it. sandwiches suck.

The absolute best birthday party game I ever played (UK) was one that only my mum seemed to do. She called it the wool game. Before the party started my mum would cut a really (really) long length of wool, one for each child, and wind each one all around the living room (think security lasers criss-crossing everywhere for a visual). Each string would start at the doorway. Then at the start of the party each kid gets given an end of wool, and the game is to wind up the wool and find the sweet (it was usually a chewit) at the other end of your string and try to be the first one to get there. This meant lots of everyone climbing around/through the web of wool wrapping wool around their hand.

@helenl3193

Жыл бұрын

That sounds amazing! Well done your mum

@GussyToYou

Жыл бұрын

So she used Child labour to organise her knitting bag

I’m American and I work at a very large nationwide law firm, and every month we have a “monthly birthday cake celebration” where the firm pays for 2 massive sheet cakes for each office and everyone can leave their office and go get cake and chat for an hour. It’s very nice! But we also celebrate birthdays within our individual teams.

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, most of the companies I've worked for just do a big sheet cake in each dept or on every floor or whatever each month to acknowledge everyone who has a bday that month. It's nice. I prefer the bday acknowledgements to pizza parties at companies. :)

@LiqdPT

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I've had the company celebrate birthdays. But in the UK (according to this video), you bring in your own cake. That's weird.

@Mashmarriner69

Жыл бұрын

We have the same here in UK.. But we also get paid sick leave. As well as birthday cakes.

@eattherich9215

Жыл бұрын

I worked for an international lawfirm here in London and every Friday the departments had a tea break. It was usually biscuits, but sometimes there was cake because of someone's birthday.

@liv5477

Жыл бұрын

@@Mashmarriner69 we also have paid sick leave lol

The cake was sent with a bag with a toy and some sweets. It was like a gift bag, and I assume it was based on wedding traditions (you go home with a slice of cake and a gift).

@klimtkahlo

Жыл бұрын

At weddings they send you home with a small gift but not with cake where I come from…

@PendragonZed

Жыл бұрын

@Klimt Kahlo I've been to less formal/traditional weddings we ate the cake (a sponge) there, but more formal weddings it got boxed up for guests to take (but it also tended to be proper wedding cake not a sponge).

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

In the US, people eat the wedding cake at the ceremony or after party. They don't take it home to eat. Only the bride and groom take home wedding cake to freeze to eat on their one year anniversary for good luck.

@PendragonZed

Жыл бұрын

@xylene huh, in the UK the tradition is that the top tier of the cake is saved for the christening of the first child. It's not frozen, you just pour some more booze into it every now and then.

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

@@PendragonZed Oh wow! I've never heard of anyone doing that before. Love learning other traditions; thanks! :)

As a Canadian married to an English guy and living in London, I was so embarrassed when my then 4 year old took me aside after her party. She tried to soften the blow by opening with telling me how great her party was and that everyone had a fantastic time. Then came the zinger: a party isn't a party unless there were sausages.

I'm a lot older than Heather but I have not experienced anything she was talking about. I was in a working class family in the Midlands so there might be regional and class variations. Pass the parcel was just a parcel with multiple wrappings so only one kid got the present. Birthday cakes were usually home made but often either in the shape of the birthday number or a toy such as a car or boat. The savoury food like crisps and sausage rolls was often more popular than the sweet stuff like jelly and blancmange.

@luciachanger6505

Жыл бұрын

yeah no sweets in the wrappings, it was just one prize at the end. I never won. And we always had Jelly and ice cream :)

@Peter-gv6vf

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! Things have obviously changed a lot

@helenl3193

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, our parcels had sweets in *some* of the layers, but not every one. It was just part of the game that a gift/treat wasn't guaranteed. Even today my friend's kids get homemade cakes and party food, and it's served at the party - with the option to take it home in a party bag (pencil or novelty rubber, maybe a bouncing ball or other cheap toy, and a fun-size treat) if you were too full or had to leave early, but not as the default. We're working class and we're kids in the 80s & 90s, but the fact the traditions aren't entirely alien for my godson, etc, suggests class as much as time being the deciding factors

@scottneil1187

Жыл бұрын

Same, modern change I suppose, can't have any of the poor little brats feeling like they're left out or not super special.

@Amileo350

Жыл бұрын

I agree no sweets in the layers just one final present. Im 61 😅

When I was in secondary school in the 90s (UK) there was this awful tradition of throwing eggs and flour on people when it was their birthday (on the walk home, so not to get in trouble with teachers, I guess). Me, being aware of this tradition, on my birthday, I walked a different route home and caught the bus to avoid everyone. I remember feeling very smug as I sat on that bus thinking how none one would get to egg and flour me! 😂

@theseventhnight

Жыл бұрын

we had a similar thing where I went (90s too) but instead of egg and flour you'd get thrown in the sand pit (the one for long jump) and everyone would kick sand over you. It kinda fizzled out once they put a fence around the sports field

@wandaXmaximoff

Жыл бұрын

@@theseventhnight Ah, gotta love British secondary schools in the 90s.

@AndrewHalliwell

Жыл бұрын

Really? It was egg and flour day on the last day of the school year back in the eighties in Oldham. Anyone could get it. I mostly escaped, only being egged once.

@janebaker966

Жыл бұрын

Good thinking.

@RaefonB

Жыл бұрын

Yep same here, Coventry (90s-2000s). Birthdays and last day of school, you were at risk of being egged and floured. I had an August b'day so was safe as long as nobody grassed me up, otherwise you'd definitely get attacked on last day of school.

In Wales we will usually sing the standard Happy Birthday song and then sing Penblwydd Hapus, which is just the same but Welsh.

fun fact about the birthday song... it was actually in the public domain THE WHOLE TIME!!! the couple who were suing were scammers and didn't actually hold any legal copyright. they were just bluffing the whole time and because everybody caved, everybody else thought that they actually held the copyright and nobody ever actually checked. the truth was only figured out just recently. I think Today I Found Out made a video about it

@EricaGamet

Жыл бұрын

I'd be interested to see that show, because at the time the lawsuit brought was against Warner Music. They had a copyright transfer (assignment) on the song, which had been copyrighted in the 30s. The judge ruled that the transfer most likely wasn't valid and also that the original author might not have actually been the author. The suit came about because an indy filmmaker challenged the validity of the copyright. I'll have to search out the video you referenced. THanks!

@ramblingmillennial1560

Жыл бұрын

wow is this true? What the actual hell!?

@JustTheJames

Жыл бұрын

@@EricaGamet IIRC, the copyright did technically exist but only covered one specific piano performance of the song so it was completely irrelevant

As a child there was a thing where you bring sweets into school on your birthday and hand them out at the end of the day (also if you went on fancy holidays abroad). This still happens now but a lot of schools discourage because of the healthy eating initiative and allergies. We seem a lot more concerned about allergies here and that’s one of the reasons some establishments won’t allow you bring your own birthday cake to eat there, because they don’t want to be held responsible but also there are some places that do It to make more money.

UK person here and I'd say it's kinda mixed as to whether you eat the cake there or take it home? At my kid's birthday parties everyone usually eats it there unless someone asks to take it home for later. I assumed that taking it home was either because people were too full to eat more or because the parents were just over it and wanted everyone to leave 😂 Also never in my life played sleeping lions at a birthday party, that was always a thing we did at like school or gymnastics club

I'm from Russia, and we also have a tradition to bring something to your class/workplace to celebrate. During the school time it was quite fun to share the sweets with other kids, suddenly you're the most popular kid of the day. At work it's usually not mandatory, I always enjoy to bring food and celebrate with my team, because they're great people and I love spending time together, so it's just an excuse to have a 15-30 minute chat with all the team members, connect and have a laugh. Usually they bring some collective gift in return.

@janemiettinen5176

Жыл бұрын

Same with us Finns, any excuse to have cake and coffee! We also have name-days, perfect excuse for cookies or something smaller, like candy. I dont have one, not enough Janes in Finland, so I celebrate with my middle name, if at all. Ive also had colleagues who wouldnt even tell when they had b-day, like it was secret knowledge, guarded at all costs. They dont want any extra fuss made on their sake, I guess. In smaller companies, the bosses might get us something, I still use the basket I got for my bike. My boss noticed I needed one and surprised me. Same with the coffee thermos I got one year, I had hard time finding certain kind, my boss found one and ordered it from abroad. Small gestures, but I really appreciate them. I know my boss listened to me, too! My husbands bosses take him out to dinner of his choosing, he also gets a bottle of booze of his choosing (very Finnish, I know..). The firm is only him & his two bosses, pretty lucrative niche company and they all like spending time together, they are more like buddies. It really depends on the company, how big it is, how close-knit people are and how much you are appreciated. Oh man, now I kinda want some cake..

I’m Australian, the two biggest things I remember from birthday parties as a kid is goody bags and there was always fairy bread

@kooltom4

Жыл бұрын

Yes, and party pies? That also seems v. Aussie kids birthday, with tomato sauce getting everywhere 🙂

@alexandra1415

Жыл бұрын

Uk also had goody bags

@ShirinRose

Жыл бұрын

The Aussie parties I went to usually had chocolate crackles as well 😋

@coasttocoast2011

Жыл бұрын

@@alexandra1415 There is a lot of similarities between the UK and Australia. I remember playing the game Heather was talking about, Sleeping Lions, but we played it at school when I was in about year 1-3. It was at the end of the day

@clarissathompson

Жыл бұрын

I live in Canada and just recently learned about Fairy Bread, its such a fun idea! Still, I would rather have cake, lol!

When someone brings a cake, they're not saying celebrate me, they're saying celebrate with me

Things have changed a lot during my lifetime. When I was a kid (early 1980s), parties were often at people’s homes, and a few were at fast food restaurants. I never had a party in a school hall. These days, kids in junior school are usually doing things at local gymnastics centres and the like. But, yeah, people do still take home the cake.

For my 5th birthday in the 1970s, I did exactly what you suggested Evan. Had a massive tantrum over the mere concept of pass the parcel. Everyone got sent home while I was sent to my room, crying, "But I'm supposed to be the birthday princess, wah!" I got one more party when I was 6. Dad hired a projector and I was transfixed by the utter trauma that is Watership Down.

@England91

Жыл бұрын

Watership Down for kids poor you

@scottneil1187

Жыл бұрын

Yep, I too am a child of the 70's and remember the Watership Down trauma.

@janemiettinen5176

Жыл бұрын

I used to help at my besties kid sisters parties, meltdowns were nothing exceptional. I vividly remember this one girl, who bashed every food, present, outfit, party favor and whatnot. Her train of thought was only she had nice things, everything else was crap. Year after year, without fail. She kinda made sure someone cried, if she got several girls bawling, all the better. She even tried to go after us older kids and adults. All the other kids just took it as “Thats just Linda, shes always like that”. I wonder what she grew up to be..

British didn’t necessarily have themed birthdays all the time. As a child I have had a party at McDonald’s, local pub, a disco party where you can win prizes and sweets. Or just something small at your house (as a teen I did have some themed parties) Some people had swimming parties, pony parties, bowling. Nowadays a lot of the children I teach have things like rock up parties and birthday parties seem to be a lot more bigger with Instagram culture etc.

@Alexophant

Жыл бұрын

Go karting was always popular when I was little, they'd hire a hall out and a company would come in and make a sort of inflatable track, then when the kids were older, they'd go to proper go karting places :D

@avacurtis2729

Жыл бұрын

Did u say a local pub???? They allow kids in pubs?!?!

@Alexophant

Жыл бұрын

@@avacurtis2729 yes? why would that be weird? /gen

@mothturtle7897

Жыл бұрын

@@avacurtis2729 a lot of pubs in the UK are family friendly, at least during the day. Some even have play equipment in the pub garden. I assume a children's birthday party at a pub would be in some event room at the back rather than at the bar.

@cr9153

Жыл бұрын

​@avacurtis2729 there are different kinds of pubs, some are family friendly and have amusements for children, some are more eating establishments, while others are purely for drinking, so yes many kids go to pubs.

Heather did a great job describing the piece of birthday cake soaking through and sticking to the square of kitchen-roll, lol. But no mention of party-bags, as far as I can tell. Is it 'cos I'm old, are party-bags not a thing anymore?? (When I was a kid, there'd only be a few winners for Pass-the-Parcel, most of us would get nothing haha, often including the birthday boy or girl!)

@seraphina985

Жыл бұрын

I think that one has drifted over time, I remember when I was very young it would tend to be nothing except for the main package or at best a few consolation layers near the end. Over time there started to be like a single individually wrapped sweet in the outer layers and it became more like an every ticket wins tombola from there. Even more silly considering we would all just toss them on the ground under our chair and carry on playing as it was always more fun to see who got the actual prize regardless.

@lunaangeleclipse9745

Жыл бұрын

Party bags were definitely a thing when I was in primary school

In Spain we also bring food/cake to work when it's our birthday, like you offer them stuff because it's your birthday, if not it's like rude because you don't want to share celebrations with them. So yeah on your birthday you invite the rest.

@fairgreen42

Ай бұрын

Same in Austria.

@lobstermash

6 күн бұрын

How do they know it's your birthday? I would lie.

As a brownie leader I can say whoever invented sleeping lions was a genius however it is very hard to convince the last one that the game was actually over

Sharing a cake is meant to be sharing good luck... the person celebrating has to make the first cut in the cake. It's the same with weddings and birthdays. So taking a bit home is taking the good fortune back home with you. It's a leftover of a reaaallly old tradition - I bet there's a lot more research on it for weddings than children's birthdays!

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the explanation! I was wondering why in the world anyone would be expected to bring a cake to work on their bday. That makes sense. :) In the US, we eat the cake at the party; you shouldn't eat it by yourself.

@janemiettinen5176

Жыл бұрын

I think Ive heard of taking a piece of wedding cake home with you, but the b-day cake was new to me. Im aware of the first cake piece has to land on the plate upright, sideways brings bad luck, both on weddings and birthdays. And I love my father-in-law dearly, but hes the only person who has started my cake - twice! My birthday is on national holiday, he forgot it was also my birthday - no good luck for me :)

There was an amazing place I used to go to for birthdays, because of the birthday song. (They closed down years ago, and it still makes me sad.) The entire waitstaff would come gather around your table, and get the entire restaurant to clap. Then, they would sing the words "This is your birthday song! It isn't very long!" before abruptly stopping the clapping and walking away like it never happened. It was *perfection* and I miss it.

As an American, I can say that we definitely brought treats to class on birthdays, and we also bring a treat to work. It's fun. Not sure why your area doesn't Evan 😂

If your birthday fell on a school day you'd bring in mini bags of haribo for your whole class

Pass the parcel one is sort of of true but often it’s one present where it’s wrapped in layers

My first day of school was on my 5th birthday. There was a biscuit tin covered in white paper with candles stuck through the lid. The candles were lit and everyone in the class sang happy birthday to me. The next day, it was another kid's birthday and the tin cake was reused for that. I think I died a little that day to see something I thought was special for me be passed on so readily.

@Taversham

Жыл бұрын

We also had a tin cake at primary school - but with a fairy cake inside for the birthday boy/girl

As a former primary school teacher, there are 100% kids who will try to do the worm.

I think bringing a cake to school or work is like our British excuse for celebration a way to sorta bring happiness to these dreary places 😂😂😂😂

@MeppyMan

Жыл бұрын

Yeah it was interesting to hear his perspective. I think he’s just used to the American selfish/narcissism maybe? In fact rooting your own horn is way bigger in the US than in the UK or here in Australia or NZ.

@squidthing

Жыл бұрын

@@MeppyMan Its not narcissism (🙄), American co-workers are just more likely to know your birthday and get you a cake (on the company dime). HR departments, team leaders etc usually keep a calendar of such things. Usually its a shared cake with the others who are celebrating around the same time with a card then given on your actual birthday. Coming in with your own cake and making a fuss (tooting your own horn, perhaps?) would be seen as an admission that you didn't think anyone would remember or a weird passive aggressive ploy to make everyone feel guilty for not knowing --- which ironically is a narcissistic behavior.

@MillsyLM

Жыл бұрын

@@squidthing there is an argument to be made against that though because it's assuming that everybody who works at said company is happy to have that sort of thing "forced upon them". There are introverted people that clearly would find that sort of thing uncomfortable and awkward. I'm sure there's plenty of people who would rather take a sick day or book a vacation day (if available to them) than have that sort of forced celebration.

@RaefonB

Жыл бұрын

@@squidthing Ohhh, I maybe misunderstood something in the video! So Evan wasn't saying birthday cake doesn't happen in U.S. workplaces, only that you don't usually supply your own? I was well confused 'cos I've seen the birthday cake thing at work in loads of American TV and films. Thanks for clearing that up.

@GracieLizzy

Жыл бұрын

@@squidthing you don't make a fuss you just drop off some cupcakes or a traybake or something in the break area and let your immediate coworkers know that they are welcome to take some if they want and maybe mention it's you birthday you don't get all huffy if nobody reacts

I literally will never decline an invitation or fail to attend a child’s birthday because of how very sad it is that no one attended your 7th birthday.

I remember bringing in a box of chocolates to school to primary school when it was my birthday haha. But my brother is in primary school now and now allergies is a big issue so now they advise bringing in small toys for everyone which honestly I just find a little capitalistic lol

@lucie4185

Жыл бұрын

We do small bags of haribo at my kids school.

@antidotebrain69

Жыл бұрын

I never did anything with my fellow students at school but teachers would occasionally force public acknowledgement in class and it was embarrassing.

@joebleasdale5557

Жыл бұрын

And bringing in sweets you’ve bought isn’t? I don’t get what you mean by “capitalistic” 😂

@oliviaroberts5673

Жыл бұрын

@@joebleasdale5557 bringing in “small toys” for everyone gets very expensive much more so than a tub of celebrations!

@oliviaroberts5673

Жыл бұрын

Used to be the best day! I remember we had a birthday chart so you knew when the sweets were coming in!

So the internet was lying to me and Colin, the Caterpillar cake isn't the most famous birthday cake in the UK?

@Bastion90

Жыл бұрын

Definitely the most famous for me. I've had Colin the Caterpillar practically every time I have bday cake. It's kind of a tradition because Colin the Caterpillar is the same age as I am.

@katelynabrol149

Жыл бұрын

i think colin is the most famous, but not the most common. most kids will have a big party, and so a colin will not feed everyone

@joebleasdale5557

Жыл бұрын

It’s definitely a more recent thing. We always used to have the bog-standard Victoria sponge with fondant icing in party bags at primary school. Colin the Caterpillar was far too bougie for early 2000s kids 😂

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

Colin the Caterpillar really should be considered the best; it's got buttercream icing. I'd rather just not eat cake at all if it's got fondant icing on it; bleh! Lol

@RichardBarclay

Жыл бұрын

@@xzonia1 Colin had buttercream icing inside, but it's coated in chocolate.

for me, there would always be a sort of 'trend' every year, so if you had your birthday early (september, october) you'd be guaranteed to go to the venue you'd gone to for your birthday atleast another five times that school year. we also had many, many different versions of musical statues like musical bumps, musical horseshoe aswell I think? and musical pose. there was also this big thing of thanking someone for their gift, i remember my parents writing down every single present i got and who got it for me so i could spend an hour the next day writing out little thank you cards for each one.

UK i had a birthday party at mcdonalds, they had a room you could rent upstairs for the day. it was disney themed i had many birthday parties at the local soft play areas, where we'd play for around 4 hours in the soft play, then go to one of the party rooms, where we'd play and eat. i also had my 11th birthday party at a function room in a pub. we hired a bouncy castle, and broke some of the lights (oops), thankfully the pub held the bouncy castle guy responsible because he said it would fit without damaging anything. we also had a chocolate fountain I was born in early april, which means my birthday always just fell into our easter holidays. so while many kids parents' brought sweets, cupcakes, or fruit platters to share at primary school, i never did that. then at secondary school, i dont think anyone got anything for the class, it was mainly just for friend groups, and that wouldve taken place at break or lunch time. though i also did bake just generally, and shared what i baked with my friends, and the cool teacher (and if they were a really cool teacher, theyd let us eat them in class)

@MrSinclairn

Жыл бұрын

Yes,same here with my 2 younger siblings,either at a specially paid function at McDonalds and even before then,Wimpys.!👍

My Grandma throws herself a summer birthday most years! Her real birthday is in January. Fun fact, this actually gives her three birthdays. She was born so close to the midnight crossover between the 30th and the 31st that whichever date her mother thought it was and whichever date the midwife wrote on the paperwork were not the same. She claims both and has never told us which one's on her legal documents.

Thanks for the vid. In Germany, it is quite common to have two birthday parties: One with your parents at home that basically consists of eating a birthday cake and getting your presents from your family and one with your friends, the "Kindergeburtstag". Kindergeburtstag is quite a thing here. Usually, it starts with kindergarden age and goes until you are a teenager. In kindergarden age, you usually celebrate at home. Mom bakes another birthday cake and organises some small games. Classical games are "Topfschlagen", for which you need a pot, a spoon and you have to put a towell on the eyes of one kid while another one is hiding the pot with a sweet under it. One kid gets a spoon and has to find that pot with a spoon.The other kids help with hot and cold. And when the kid with the spoon hits the pot, it is allowed to take the towel off the eyes and to eat the sweet thing under the pot. Another game is, for example, poor black cat, armer schwarzer Kater. One kid is the black cat and goes from kid to kid. The kids have to stroke the black cat and have to say "armer, schwarzer Kater" (poor black cat) and the cat has to try to make them lough be all means. If a kid loughs, it is the next black cat. If the family has a garden, the kids also often play "Eierlaufen", running with eggs. Two kids get two spoons and a hrad boiled egg. The parents have prepared a journey for the kids they have to walk on without loosing the egg. The first one who arrives at the prepared goal with the egg untouched wins a prize. Throwing cans is also a thing, parents collect old cans and color them bevorehand and buy a tennis ball, and the empty cans are put on a table and the kids try to throw them off. After the games, the kids usually get dinner, which mostly consists of french fries and chicken nuggets or pizza. Sometimes, there are also motto parties with themed games. In elementary school, many kids celebrate in "Indoorspielplätzen", a bit like your chuck.e. cheese, but the fairy game stuff like carrussels, differnt things to jump on and Some things to climb are the center here , the food is not that important. You can bring your own cake, but you have to rent a room in the place for 3 hours and you have to order a meal for the kids which usually also consists of chicken nuggets and french fries and a desert. Older kids often go to the cinema or celebrate a laser tag party.

In Sweden we brought in ice cream to school for our own birthdays until we were 13! Everyone who had a birthday during the summer got assigned another day to bring ice cream as well (kinda like the queen I guess) so the last week before summer was just constant ice cream. It was great

I'm American, my mother was English. She made two cakes; one to serve at the party and the other to be used to send pieces home. However, starting at around age six, I began leaving my birthday parties. The first year no one could find me. I'd gone to a neighbor's house to watch TV. They were at my party. The second year they stayed home and when I walked in she handed me a cupcake and let me watch TV.

Bring your own cake to work just sounds like buying yourself roses and have them delivered to the job. Lol. 😂😂😂

@helenl3193

Жыл бұрын

I've only done it at jobs where others did it so it then became expected for all to do it. Which isn't great, because often you've got unconsidered wage disparities, people with allergies or even people who don't want to engage or be centre of attention (or are immigrants unfamiliar with the practise) and/or just don't like cake! It starts as a nice idea, but can sometimes become yet more workplace enforced fun. (I have egg allergies, I feel for all the nut allergy sufferers!)

@cr9153

Жыл бұрын

​@helenl3193 always book your birthday off, not an issue then 😂

So i guess not every kid in the UK did this but we did have a chain that was very similar to Chuck E Cheese here too, it was called Charlie Chalk and it had the same kids play areas with ball pits and games machines and tubes and such. So ironically they weren't as different as chalk and cheese.... i'll see myself out.

@AmberClareHawleyx

Жыл бұрын

This is what came to mind for me when Chuck E Cheese was mentioned 🤣

@georgiem4065

Жыл бұрын

For my area in uk its wacky warehouse, I think we just don't have the same brand nationwide

@AmberClareHawleyx

Жыл бұрын

@@georgiem4065 thank you! I couldn't remember the name of that one... just the wacky part 😂 I thought I'd made it up!

@VillaFanDan92

Жыл бұрын

I just made the same point in another comment. The fact that it was always attached to a pub too. So your Dad could get a few pints in while you're climbing through tubes.

@emmaharrison6233

Жыл бұрын

In my area we had Brewster Bear which was very similar!

My husbands work has a cake policy 😂 I've never seen anything like it before but it works great. When you start with all your induction paperwork, policy handbooks etc you get a copy of the Official Cake Policy. It's very straightforward. 1. If you are new, you owe a cake in the first week. 2. You owe a cake for your birthday. 3. If you do a mistake that costs the company money, you owe a cake. That's the parameters and the rest is in good faith. I.e. if two people's birthdays are close together you do smaller cakes each, or organize what days you'll bring your cakes, if you make a mistake that effects lots of people, you should bring a giant slab cake so there's enough left for the next crew at shift change, or if it's only screwed over the office staff you could do a smaller fancier cake. My husbands boss messaged me that he owed a cake once, and it was a mistake but technically it didn't end up costing the company money, so I made chocolate cupcakes, which technically fulfilled the policy except his bosses one was full of cayanne pepper.

@gemmamoore9766

Жыл бұрын

My work also has Cakeable Offenses. You make a mistake that inconveniences other staff or customers then you owe cake.

@deefalador857

Жыл бұрын

I'm shocked husband should sort his own mistake cake, if the boss is messaging his wife that's like it's her mistake..

Best birthday cake ever was the caterpillar cake. Colin, Clive, Charlie, Clyde- what ever his name was…

@xenon8117

Жыл бұрын

Of course it is!

As someone in their mid-50's - I see that birthday parties have changed a bit from my generation to Heather's. There would be no themed dressing up. Boys were tidy and girls wore long dresses. We did not have Piñatas in my day. Never even heard of them until I was in my early 30's. We didn't have parties at venues, they were always held at the birthday child's home. Absolute chaos for the parents, so it was common for an aunt or grandmother to help out. As for games... Sleeping Lions sounds rather like Musical Statues. We also had Pin The Donkey, Musical Chairs, Pass The Parcel (but not a packet of sweets under each layer of wrapping. Just the one present in the middle. It's so much more tense to get nothing when you think it's the last layer), Telephone Game (it was not called that then, but the idea is the same). Also, there was an odd game (the name I've forgotten now) where the first child to throw a 6 on a dice had to first dress up in all these extra layers of adult sized clothes as fast as possible (gloves, hats, thick coats, scarves, jumper, boots) and then try to eat pieces of a chocolate bar with a knife and fork - while the rest of the children continued to throw the dice in anticipation of throwing a 6. If someone else succeeded - your go was over instantly, and the successor would have to quickly as possible dress up in the extra clothes you would then have to shed at equal speed. That was actually my favourite game. It's so frantic and ridiculously hard to eat a chocolate bar with a knife and fork - but I have seen it done. (I've also seen the same game played with dry cream crackers). Yes, we would always have a piece of cake wrapped in a serviette to take home, usually a small present, and perhaps a small bag of extra sweets or leftover cakes. I think the birthday cake thing may have been a way for mothers to show off their cake decorating skills (my mother would always want to look at the slice I received)- because I never saw 'ready-made' birthday cakes for sale in shops at that time. Buying one would have been considered sacrilege I believe.

Only fairly young people compared to me at 68 , would know about party bags. We never had such things. We just ate the cake.

I was born 8n the 70’s we always ate the cake. My mother once made me an owl cake - lots of butter icing and flakes.

My mum made most of my birthday cakes. As a teen I used it have birthday where we would just go into town for the day , sleepovers were huge though!! My sister has a summer birthday (in term time mostly) but would often get barbecues or garden party. (Not the posh kind 😂)

These videos were how I found your channel. I would rewatch them religiously during quarantine. This makes me super happy. Sending all the love and virtual hugs!

At my school we never brought in cake but we would bring in sweets and we'd share them out at the end of the day before hometime. And at parties, whenever we served up the cake, it would always be added to goodie bags which would have little toys and stickers and sweets in stuff inside them

Birthday bumps were a big tradition at a lot of parties I went to as a kid.

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

What's a birthday bump?

@TrailRat2000

Жыл бұрын

@@xzonia1 It's tricky to explain but I guess, in its basic form, it's where the birthday child is grabbed by the arms and legs, and is swung into the air a number of times related to their new age!

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

@@TrailRat2000 That's cool! I've heard of birthday spankings, one light-hearted swat for each year they've been alive, but not birthday bumps ... I think I like bumps better! :) lol

@Escapee5931

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, we used to get "The Bumps" in the playground at school. Often, you'd make contact with the ground on each bump, so quite painfull!

I don't think taking cake in gift bags is to restaurant rules. I remember attending lots of birthday parties in the 90s and they were typically held at their house and they did that. Sometimes they'd be at the village hall if they were being fancy, but rarely somewhere else. I think it was more a hint to leave, like here's your gift bag bye.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, mothers made the cake ( they knew how). The whole party was party games with prizes. Pass the parcel, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, blind man’s buff, and many more. There was jelly, ice cream, but mainly games! When the party finished, the kid whose party it was blew out the candles, and the cake was cut, portioned out, and you went home with a paper bag that had sweets, cake and perhaps a toy. The parties were held in the house and garden. No hiring halls, schools, entertainment or other overly outwards signs of opulence.

I remember in primary school when it was your birthday you’d (you being the birthday kid) bring a box of celebrations/quality for everyone to share

@avacurtis2729

Жыл бұрын

Same here! (I'm American). I always asked my mom to let me bring some but she always said I shouldn't give other people gifts on my bday. It wasn't for money reasons btw we had plenty. She just felt that way. But because of that everyone forgot my bday. And the worst thing was there was another girl in my class with the same bday and everyone (even teachers) only wished her a happy bday because she brought food 🥲

These all sound like really fancy birthdays. I think for the most part it was cake and ice cream with a few friends. Maybe a slumber party. Never had themes.

Bloomin eck. I nearly cried that no came to your birthday party aged 7 not even your Grandma! But it's those experiences that teach you philosophy. I'm so very old that birthday parties were very simple,in fact I can't remember having one after I was 8,or my sister,or my brother. The parties I remember it was some jelly,some ice cream,some chocolate mini rolls and of course the birthday cake made by my Mum. The candle to blow out. And yes,pass the parcel but there was only one prize,we was poor,and the most objectionable kid always won it. Just like in real adult grown up life. Then everyone went home.

As someone who didn't have big birthday parties, this is all so surreal. I had a day at home with my family, and I'd have a chill sleepover with a couple of friends. When I left primary school I arranged a big birthday party at the local ski slope, and I think we ate cake and sent everyone else home with some too.

Why would you want to *not* bring birthday cake to work? You've got two options: 1) you go to work every day and work 2) you go to work every day and work, and on several days of the year everyone also eats cake as well as working What sort of absolute maniac would choose option number one as the better way to organise society?

@antidotebrain69

Жыл бұрын

Because i am antisocial and don't really acknowledge my birthday outside of my family and friends. I don't even really keep count of my age or the date unless it's to take advantage of the birthday vacation day.

@RunrigFan

Жыл бұрын

You must be fun yet oh boring

@RunrigFan

Жыл бұрын

I’m bringing a cake for everyone to share. So poison you don’t care about your birthday

@antidotebrain69

Жыл бұрын

@@RunrigFan I just don't think birthdays are important outside of certain milestones? 5 - school starts 13 - teenager 16 - sweet 16 (personally don't actually care about this one but it was a common dating age thing when I was growing up) 18 - adult and maybe graduation 21 - drinking 50 - you're getting old and close to retirement

@RunrigFan

Жыл бұрын

@@antidotebrain69 it depends where you based but it’s 18 to drink here and as for milestones you can be an adult at 16 as usually you start college in uk and you’re independent. 18 to drink 21 for certain premises. If you looking at the age sheet you will never enjoy your life.

Why do you always get a guest who isn't just a standard working class UK person... There is always a twist, this lady's mum is Irish and she sounds fairly middle class .. so of course she would find it funny and weird too.. i love how Evan reacted to soft play unknowing that UK soft play means the equivalent of like 'ball pit and slides'

Can confirm as an Irish person, cake must be eaten at the party, dirty looks are thrown at anyone who says they "don't want/like cake!" Musical chairs & musical statues are a staple for kids parties. 1990's kid here, so our 'pass the parcel' was one gift wrapped in 10-20 layers of wrapping paper. There was no sweets for every child in each layer. If you unwrapped a layer and it wasn't the last layer with the gift inside, tough luck, keep passing it around and hope it gets around you again. Lastly greetings card are a MUST for pretty much all occasions, just as popular as in the UK.

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

Surely you don't give dirty looks to anyone who's diabetic and can't eat sweets? Half my family is diabetic. Sounds like some fun traditions. :)

Thanks to the show Bluey, we now use “Lucky’s Dad’s Rules”, which are just the traditional rules of Pass the Parcel. Only one big prize in the middle.

In Israel it's very common to bring cake to work on your birthday, especially in small businesses 🙂🎂

The tradition of wrapping the cake in a napkin predates concerns about nut allergies. Bringing in cake to work on your own birthday means there’s no danger of someone being left out.

With the soft play area, it could also be a room with big foam shapes to build stuff out of, knock down, throw, climb on etc

I live in Shetland and it was the 80's so Birthdays bit different due to location and time. The big Birthday party's were at swimming pool for pool discos and also leisure centre, we didn't and still don't have McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC etc. At the leisure centre my favourite was the roller disco. We also had ones in the local Island hall, the Swimming pool and leisure centre were on mainland Shetland. Home parties were more common. We tended to eat cake there but if there was lots of leftovers some would be taken home. We played pass the parcel but just one gift in the centre. There was also Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Duck, Duck, Goose, Murder in the Dark, Mother May I, Musical Statues and Musical Chairs. My Mam used to make our cakes but being a Boxing Day baby one year she didn't have time so I had to make do with a chocolate Yule Log but also meant more cake for me. My favourite cake she ever made was for my brother. She made a snooker table and used buttercream instead of fondant. Usual Victoria sponge and Jam filling though. It was brilliant.

one of the best birthday parties i attended as a kid was at our local swimming pool. we went swimming and had the big inflatables to play with, then we went into a big room where the parents had ordered mcdonalds for every kid.

Not sure if its country wide but charlie chalks was the default birthday location for parties growing up.

@BookNomming

Жыл бұрын

Yes!!!

When she said she was from Marlow two things came to mind. First I know where that is and second I know how expensive/ posh that area is

Really nice to see Heather on the channel!

If you have a girl child in the US, every party is a theme party, usually involving a Disney character. I sewed a lot of costumes for my now-36-year old daughter. Too much fun! And in SoCal, piñatas abounded. Great memories. 🌺

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

I never had a birthday party growing up aside from immediate family, though my parents did allow me to invite a friend and her brother over one year on my birthday. Your kid must have lots of happy memories around her bday. :)

The irony of Evan thinking it's being up your own arse to bring cake to your office to treat people for your birthday and then says 'people should do that for you', as if expecting others to give you cake on your birthday can't be seen as being up your own arse. That said I think it's really just a matter of how you approach it, both can be seen as self centered or not. In Belgium it's also more customary to bring treats for your birthday to work than it is to expect your office to do it for you. That way you can choose to spend as little or much as you want or you can choose to opt out altogether. If you don't want any attention on your birthday you can just let it pass in silence.

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

Evan's a product of the culture in which he grew up. In the US, it's considered a bit rude to bring attention to yourself in this way at work. It's fine if you want to invite people to your home after work to celebrate and have cake there, but at work let others give attention to you; don't demand it from them. Most companies will do a day once a month where they acknowledge everyone who had a birthday that month and give cake to all the employees. This way, no one is distracted from their jobs randomly by this or that birthday. Celebrations are planned and so don't become a problem in the workplace.

@squidthing

Жыл бұрын

In America it would seem very passive aggressive for an adult to bring in a cake on their birthday with the implication being that 'no one was going to remember anyway, so I had to do it myself, woe is me'. Many places have monthly cakes ordered and put in the break room or other shared area for everyone celebrating that month and your HR Department or other co-workers will give you a card on the day signed by everybody.

When we were kids, we went to whacky wharehouse for birthdays. That had ball pits and whatever, that would be type of soft play area.

In elementary school I remember kids bringing in cupcakes for their birthday that their parents made or bought. Sometimes there would be a pizza party. But this was for a small school with small classes after the first year or couple years of elementary I don’t remember people bringing in treats for their birthdays anymore

The late Queens actual birthday was 21 April not in the winter - also we do know that you have to blow out the candles in one go. I think you asked the wrong person there.

@cicelyamelia

Жыл бұрын

i’ve never heard of the blowing out in one go (UK!)

@simhedgesrex7097

Жыл бұрын

@@cicelyamelia It was a thing when I was a kid in London.

I'm a British twin and I always went first for the candles and then my Brother would go (I'm the eldest) my brother is my only sibling so we never got the other sibling being jealous because it was there birthday too😂 We would always have big parties at adventure parks or on a pier it would always include a soft play and most of the time a death slide was there 😁

@ausername9190

Жыл бұрын

i never knew death slide was a national term

What about at school when peoples who’s birthday it was would bring sweets themselves to hand out at the end of the day- kinda similar to the cake at work thing 😂

Uk- the birthday parties I attended/ hosted was either in something like a school hall during the weekend, a soft play centre with a weird name like wizzy world, places like McDonald’s or Pizza Hut or activity venues like bowling alleys or lazer tag. My birthday personally is in July so I often had a garden party where my mum would hire bouncy castles. and host the whole thing. It was social convention in my primary school to bring in small bags of sweets for each of your classmates Music seemed to be a very certain time in music. Barbie girl, Bob the builder, 5678, that sorta thing was always played Party bags would always include a piece of birthday cake, a small bag of sweets and a small game where you’d have to get a small ball barring through a maze into a hole

Caribbean children's birthday party start off for the children but end for the adults. Sometimes going straight into the next morning

ngl this sounds nothing like my birthdays in the UK... but maybe i'm just poor

the bringing in the birthday cake to work 13:50 makes me think of when people would bring in sweets into school after they'd been on holiday

I remember in school, especially primary school writing Christmas cards for the class and receiving them. I found it fun as some cards were really beautiful to look at.

I don’t think having a children’s birthday party in a school hall is common, it’s more like church hall or community centre. The most common I found was to go to the persons house or a soft play, bowling, cinema, Pizza Hut or McDonald’s etc if their parents can afford. Also a lot of times it was choice if you wanted the cake at the party or you just wanted it home which I think most kids choose because they’d already eaten so much sweets.

omg a video with heather i liked it so quick

We used to have Burger King birthday parties here in the UK, with the highlight being getting to dance with Kid Vid himself! You'd start with a burger king meal for all the guests (in a special slightly separate area of Burger King), then have the usual moving around party games (musical bumps/statues/chairs/hats (where you passed around a paper Burger King crown)), then an employee in a Kid Vid costume would come out and dance with the children. The main issue I had with them was that the eating was invariably right before the party games, so I always got a stitch.

Another UK tradition is when you're at school on your birthday, you have to bring sweets and they are handed out to all the other kids by you as you leave the classroom at the end of the day

Having been born in High Wycombe, I had to laugh at the Marlow bullying 😂 😉

The only thing I will say about the weird thing of bringing your own cake to a venue and them saying "no no, eat our cake", that would most likely be due to health and safety. Only speaking from my experience of working in a pub where you aren't allowed to bring in outside food or drink. Yeah obviously the pub wants you to buy their food/drink, but the "reason" was because the pub had to adhere to food safety regulations, where they know all the allergy info about their own food, but any food/drink brought from outside, they can't say for sure what ingredients are in it. That's just my guess about the no food from outside the birthday venue, not that any kid would have a birthday at a local lads lads pub

@xzonia1

Жыл бұрын

That makes sense. :)

Personally I'm not much into celebrating birthdays but I see bringing cake or other treats in to work, when it's done, more as a sharing in your celebration thing than a "celebrate me" thing.

I live in Germany and in school, we'd bring cake or sweets on our birthday for our class. At parties (sometimes themed but not always) we'd play "bang the pot' (Topfschlagen; you "hide' a pot somewhere in the room on the floor with a sweet or sth underneath, cover every kids eyes in turn and then they crawl around the floor looking for it while banging a wooden spoon (so you'd hear the pot) the other kids would say "cold", "hot" or "warm" depending on how close you were) or "unwrap the chocolate (not entirely sure what it's called tbh. A bar of chocolate was wrapped in LAYERS of newspaper. You'd sit in a circle and roll a die one by one, whoever got a 6 had to put on a hat, a scarf and mittens and could then try to open the packet of chocolate until someone else got the six; first person to unwrap got the first piece of chocolate and I think then we just split it). When I was a bit older (like, 9-14 maybe) having your birthday at a bowling alley was VERY popular. Also we def ate the cake at the party and had a bag of candy for all our guests to take home. ALSO ALSO super important: DO NOT wish someone a happy birthday before their birthday. It's bad luck. We don't celebrate our birthdays early. We don't open cards. Just. Don't.

I worked at the same office for 20 years and saw the culture shift. Originally, there were collections for everyones birthdays, so I think the 'taking something nice in on your BD' was a sort of 'mutual thank you'. The collections stopped a) because people resented being asked to put in collections every other day, or for people they didnt know (or like). b) people skipped collections for people they didnt know/like, it became a barometer of how popular people were, which is a downer on your BD if you 'score low'. However the tradition of taking something in yourself persisted, which does seem pretty one sided.

It is not the nut allergy for the reason behind no cake at a birthday party. I am in my 40s and no one cared cared about nut allergies in any party I went to in the 80s and we all went home with the cake /napkin combo!

Late 80s/early 90s kids having birthday parties at McDonalds was amazing! (Im UK based). Those parties were great. These days for small kids its just book a wacky warehouse (jungle gym) for an hour, eat pizza and drink pop for 30 mins , present cake and cut it up, go home lol. Older kids its usually cinema, bowling parties, laser tag, rent a room in a pub for a disco etc. Cake bleeding through a napkin is very relatable! The grease is kinda gross.

Cake and sweets for work/school/events is lovely, it really cheers you up! One day you go to the staff room and it’s a grey Monday morning and someone brings in cakes and sweets! It really brightens up your day! Christmas birthday CHILDREN are often given a half birthday/summer party so that they can have fun with friends.

The whole sending cake home with guests is way, way older than the concern over allergies so that isn't the reason it became a tradition