Why Americans are losing it over ‘bizarre’ Australian Christmas tradition they spotted in a Bluey episode
Americans are stunned after discovering a popular Australian Christmas tradition on an episode of Bluey.
Those who watched the Australian cartoon’s “Christmas Swim” episode would have seen the canine family gathered around a table for a festive lunch, dressed in an array of colorful tissue paper crowns.
But only those in Australia and Britain could identify with what was going on.
“Apparently the rest of the world doesn’t do paper crowns at Christmas,” one Australian posted on Reddit alongside a clip of the episode.
In Australia and Britain, it is a tradition for guests to crack open Christmas crackers, or chocolates, as they are often called. The cardboard tubes are wrapped in festive paper designs and contain a paper crown, a written joke or riddle and sometimes a toy.
The paper crown is then worn by all guests for the remainder of the meal.
‘It’s a Commonwealth thing. For example, they appear in a number of Harry Potter Christmas scenes,” responded an Australian expat.
“Yes, I just asked a Canadian and he assured me they had crackers and paper hats and knew what they were talking about,” another replied.
Those who watched the Australian cartoon’s “Christmas Swim” episode would have seen the canine family gathered around a table for a festive lunch, dressed in an array of colorful tissue paper crowns.
“Apparently the rest of the world doesn’t do paper crowns at Christmas,” an Australian posted on Reddit alongside a clip of the episode
However, those in England noticed a small difference, which also leads to some awkwardness around the Christmas period.
‘We have them in England too and as far as I know we only call them crackers. Chocolates are like a lollipop,” said a woman from Britain.
‘This made for some interesting looks when I was working on the help desk of a shopping center in Cairns and referred people to the lollipop shop when they asked for chocolates.’
This isn’t the first time the Christmas Bluey episode has stunned American viewers.
In 2023, Brittany, a mother from the US, noticed the colored ‘crowns’ and immediately posted to the Facebook group ‘Adult Bluey Fans’ asking why.
‘Can any of our lovely Australian members tell me why they are all wearing the crowns in Christmas Swim season two episode 26? I thought it was so cute and would love to know more about it!’ she wrote.
More than 1,300 people flooded the comments and many couldn’t believe it wasn’t a universal tradition.
‘It’s tradition in Australia. Bad jokes, paper crowns, salads, seafood, cricket, Christmas is great,” wrote one proud Australian.
In Australia and Britain, it is a tradition for guests to crack open Christmas crackers, or chocolates, as they are often called. The cardboard tubes are wrapped in festive paper designs and contain a paper crown, a written joke or riddle and sometimes a toy
“Christmas lunch is one of the most quintessential Australian traditions,” another woman added, explaining what a classic Australian Christmas looks like.
She explained that because Christmas falls in the middle of the Australian summer, and not the Northern Hemisphere winter, the lunch meeting often takes place outside under the patio, by the pool or indoors next to the air conditioning.
‘The food is usually the most eclectic mix of hot turkey/chook, roast potatoes, ham, salad, prawns, seafood and barbecue, followed by pavlova and Christmas pudding,’ she continued.
‘Around a plastic tree. Once everything is ready, the water fights, backyard cricket and pool play begin.”
Other Australians could not believe that chocolates are not used internationally during the festive season.
“My mind is blown, I thought Santa hats/crackers were universal. It’s actually Grinch behavior not to wear a hat to Christmas lunch in our family. We need to send you some!’ said another.
After reading the comments, Brittany added, “Wow, that’s so neat! Thank you so much for telling me about this. My family could adopt this as a new tradition!’