What does it mean to throw shoes at Christmas?

Throwing shoes at Christmas is a unique Christmas custom in the west. Unmarried women in the Czech Republic will throw their shoes at Christmas to see if they can find Mr. Right next year.

On Christmas Day, unmarried Czech women will hold a strange ceremony to see if they can find a suitable husband in the coming year. A woman threw a shoe backwards with her back to the door. If the heel points to the door, she will still be single next year. If her toes point to the door, she will be ready to celebrate her good luck.

I have also heard of strange Christmas customs related to shoes in Holland and Germany. The Dutch Santa Claus is named SinterKlaas, and he has a partner named Heibit. These two guys will take a steamboat to deliver sweets and nuts to the well-behaved children this year. Children must fill their shoes with straw and sugar and then feed them to horses.

On Christmas Eve in Germany, children will put a shoe outside the door, and there will be a lot of candy in the good boy's shoe the next morning. If you don't behave well, birch branches will be inserted next to the candy, which means spanking.

Although these customs are strange, they all express people's good wishes for festivals and life.