Groundhog Day and 20 Other Weird American Traditions

On Feb. 2, 2018, the United States celebrates the 131st Groundhog Day ceremony by watching to see if our favorite groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, emerges from his burrow and sees his shadow, predicting either an early spring or six more weeks of winter. While the annual ceremony is mostly just for fun, it's also pretty darn strange. It got us wondering, what other strange traditions do we Americans have? From the funny to the all-out bizarre, we're listing the weirdest traditions across the USA.

Giving, receiving and indulging in heart-shaped boxes of chocolate for Valentine's Day seems perfectly normal to any of us who've grown up in the United States. However, once you travel abroad and see how other countries view sweets (they're rare and special), you'll see it's actually pretty bizarre to fill a large box with an obscene amount of sugary chocolate to binge on, all in the name of true love.

It doesn't matter in the U.S. if you're Irish when it comes to St. Patrick's Day. The holiday, celebrated every March 17 after being brought over by Irish immigrants, is responsible for the American tradition of wearing green for good luck. While it's not too weird to wear the color, the tradition of pinching people who aren't wearing green is.

Speaking of wearing things, the U.S. has an annoyingly weird tradition of wearing flag-inspired clothes during patriotic holidays like the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Based on the U.S. Flag Code, the tradition of wearing this style of clothing is technically a violation, although you can't be arrested for it. For the record, some people say flag-inspired clothing is perfectly respectable, as long as it's not made from an actual flag.

Every year, on the last Monday in May, our nation observes Memorial Day. The holiday was established in 1971 to honor military members who have died in service to our country. What makes it so strange is that many Americans treat the day like a celebration, saying things like "Happy Memorial Day!" while throwing backyard BBQs loaded with flag-themed foods and decor. Perhaps they're confusing the day with Veteran's Day, where we thank military members and veterans for their service.

How does this tradition even make sense? Every Easter, American families celebrate a combination of the coming of spring and the resurrection of Jesus by telling our kids that a life-size bunny is going to break into our homes, hide colorful eggs (that we have to make) and leave them baskets full of fake grass, toys and candy. Yeah, sounds legit to us.

Can we focus on this bizarre tradition for just a second? Have you ever wondered why we boil eggs (and make our house smell like farts for days) and then dye them bright colors, only to hide them outside, let our kids find them and then, well, eat them? Rumor has it the tradition was contrived from its probable pagan roots by the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, which believed dying eggs red was symbolic of the blood of Jesus. Cracking the eggs was meant to honor his resurrection. Obviously, we've adapted the tradition a bit over the years.

What is our fascination with pumpkins? They're not even that tasty! (Except pumpkin pie, that's the best.) Imagine how weird it must be to visit the U.S. in October and see, to your horror, doorsteps lined with terrifying, jaggedy-toothed faces taunting those who walk by. It turns out the jack-o'-lantern tradition actually isn't American at all. Irish immigrants brought the tradition of lighting carved-out turnips to ward away evil spirits. Since pumpkins were plentiful in the U.S., they took the turnips' place.

Another strange (but admittedly tons of fun) tradition during Halloween is wearing costumes. While the day has roots in the Celtic Samhain tradition, it's really taken off and become its own thing. Kids and adults alike dress up in their favorite costume, pretending to be their chosen character for the day. Is it weird? Sure. But nothing beats going to school (or work) dressed like a witch or terrifying zombie.

We once tried to explain the concept of trick-or-treating to friends of ours from another country and, honestly, we couldn't make sense of it, either. For some reason, the U.S. decided it was cool every October 31 to let our kids beg for candy from our neighbors (while simultaneously threatening to pull a prank on them if they don't deliver). Not only is that weird, but then we let our kids go hog wild on their bounty. It's a holiday tradition that makes zero sense and yet is one of the best parts of an American childhood.

Nothing says "Happy Thanksgiving" like watching a procession of gigantic floats of our favorite characters like Spider-Man and Woodstock, right? For the past 93 years, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been emblematic of the beginning of not just Thanksgiving, but the entire holiday season. In fact, how many of us look forward to tuning in to the parade from home, no matter where in the country we live? Does it make sense? Nope. Is it still awesome? Absolutely.

Thanksgiving Day is supposedly about being thankful (uh-huh, sure), but any red-blooded American knows it's all about stuffing your face with delicious holiday food. There may be other festivities happening that day (like football and stuff), but the starring attraction of any Thanksgiving celebration is the meal and our insistence on eating until we're about to pop (then waiting an hour and having some pie).

To make ourselves feel better about stuffing our faces on Thanksgiving, Americans created another holiday tradition: the Turkey Trot. These early Thanksgiving Day races are anywhere from 3.1 miles (that's a 5K) to the full 26.2-mile marathon, depending on how badly we want to torture ourselves. Sometimes they're to support charity, but mostly, they're there to give us an excuse to eat for the remainder of the day.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln reportedly gave a turkey who was destined for the dinner table clemency, setting the foundation for the annual tradition of the Presidential Turkey Pardon. Although the formalized ceremony didn't take root until 1989 with President George H. W. Bush, it's become one of the most unique American traditions to come out of the White House.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have one thing in common: They're national shopping-spree days when Americans display their worst behavior, all in the name of greed. The tradition of staying up all night to fight off fellow shoppers who swarm around retail items in a frenzied celebration of capitalism is, admittedly, pretty terrible. But, have you seen some retailer's door prizes? Totally worth it.

Americans are obsessed with holiday decor, and it takes on a life of its own every Christmas season. Not only do we have a tradition of trimming a tree with all manner of gaudy lights, decorations and tinsel, but we deck the halls and doorways, inflate giant flashing (and sometimes moving) characters on our lawns and wrap our homes in electricity-hogging light displays, all to show our overwhelming Christmas spirit. It's a weird tradition, but admit it, it's totally wonderful.

One of the newest (and most beloved) American traditions involves the ugly Christmas sweater. While its origins are unclear, many of us remember receiving hideous holiday-inspired sweaters from well-meaning grandparents and aunts. Someone realized they were a treasure trove of awkward and turned them into a holiday staple. Now it's common to have a few beloved ugly Christmas sweaters in our closets for all the ugly sweater parties we'll undoubtedly get invited to each year.

The weird tradition of having to kiss someone if you're both underneath the mistletoe has a long and sordid history. Greeks and Romans loved mistletoe for its apparent healing properties, and Celtic Druids noted the plant blossomed in winter, making it a sacred symbol of life, which later caught on in England during the Middle Ages. Somehow, that translated into having to kiss whoever was next to you during the holidays. Another tradition that makes no sense, but we do it anyway.

For just a moment, imagine what our tradition of having kids sit in a mall Santa's lap to recite their wish list looks like to someone abroad (especially if they don't celebrate Christmas). It's kinda weird, right? Not only are we reinforcing holiday-centric greed, but we're literally putting our children (even our infants) in the laps of strange men wearing fake beards so they'll believe he'll return on Christmas Eve, break into our homes and deliver the gifts they want. Let's face it: This is one strange way to celebrate the season.

Millions of families across the U.S. go to a lot of trouble to take a perfect holiday photo that they'll mail (along with an oddly detailed letter outlining everyone's lives over the past year) each Christmas season. While this tradition isn't unusual, it is actually kind of strange, especially if the sender mails them to every Tom, Dick and Harry on their Christmas card list. Trust us that only parents and extremely close family members actually care enough to not throw the card away right after they read it.

Since 1907, Americans have clamored to catch a glimpse of New York City's Times Square ball drop in celebration of the New Year. Except, how does that have anything to do with a New Year? Apparently, the practice of ball dropping is an old sea captain's trick for measuring time, and on New Year's Eve we're counting down the time from one year to the next. Although it makes sense, it would be much cooler if it was, say, a giant hourglass. Chalk it up to another way American traditions are as weird as they are wonderful.