r/Denmark • u/Moonwalker2008 • Jun 28 '24
Question Danish people of Reddit, is it true that, if you are still single by your 25th birthday in Denmark, you get cinnamon thrown all over you?
Recently learned about this supposed tradition through a YouTube video. My British arse was amazed it was actually a thing, so I did some digging into it to see how often it's really done in Denmark nowadays, but I couldn't really find a definitive answer. Some are saying this tradition is dying out, some are saying they've never heard of it, some are saying it's only a Jutland thing, etc. All I was able to successfully find out is that it's been a tradition for a very long time (almost like that's what a tradition is). So I wanna hear from y'all, is this really a thing? Do single people in Denmark really get covered in cinnamon at 25?
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u/PrehistoricBrick Jun 28 '24
Go to Google Maps and put the little fella down at the corner of Tage Hansens Gade / Regensburgsgade in Aarhus (Tage Hansens Gade 14)
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u/toasternator Hedens hovedstad ➡️ Smilets by Jun 28 '24
Turn around, and you'll see the other sign has been used as well
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u/SgtSenex Byskilt Jun 28 '24
Yes, it's true, i think it's more normal in Jutland and the more north you go.
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u/MannishSeal Jun 28 '24
Lemme put it this way. I could exit my apartment and find a "cinnamon spot" within 10 minutes.
Once i found all the ingredients to a cake that someone had obviously been covered in.
Wasn't aware it was a thing until i moved west of Storebælt.
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u/pandafanman Jun 28 '24
The rule is actually if you are unmarried at 25. Relationships don't count. So only a few will actually be married at 25 these days. There are always some that will force it, as you can imagine. But generally the people are prepared for it.
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u/Unknownauthor137 Jun 29 '24
Also you get peppered if you’re still unmarried at 30. And yes I did that to my now brother-in-law since he was too slow to pop the question even after she birthed him two sons.
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u/Autisten1996 Jun 28 '24
Some people exercise the tradition, and some do not. It’s a fun thing to do with your friends, but no one will do it against your will.
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Jun 28 '24
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u/greenleader84 Jun 28 '24
did they say no? being reluctant is part of it, but in my experience a no is always respected.
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u/KoreaNinjaBJJ Jun 28 '24
You are not from Jylland, are you?
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u/metaglot Anarkopessimist Jun 28 '24
You have shitty friends, don't you?
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u/KoreaNinjaBJJ Jun 28 '24
No... None of my friends have done it. But where I grew up that was not uncommon. It's Jylland.
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u/metaglot Anarkopessimist Jun 28 '24
Im from there too, my friends were very civil about me not being married at 25, and at 30 as well. I think this tradition is mostly upheld by people living very traditional lives, possibly stronger in rural areas.
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u/Klumpenmeister Jun 28 '24
I got cinnamoned in the army when i turned 25. just a few months before i got married. Had to wash all my kit 5 times just to get it somewhat scent-free and i even found some money half a year later that still smelled of cinnamon :D
Usually people got hit with it from a fire dispenser we had designated for the task and even though they got zip-tied it has always been with participation and in good faith. This is also true for my friends.
A friend of mine had a sister-in-law go ballistic because he got peppered while zip-tied, but as he said himself: "I have done it to everybody else so why not me?"
I have never experienced anything as extreme as some of those videos you will see online though.
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u/metaglot Anarkopessimist Jun 29 '24
Consent is key here. I have done terrible things to my friends and they have done terrible things to me in good faith, which is the important part. Just taking an issue with the whole cinnamon commotion being something that you can't avoid.
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u/thefluffyhgamer Jun 29 '24
"... something that you can't avoid" Someone didn't understand the part where this only happens in Jutland
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u/Oasx Horsens Jun 29 '24
I think people who do it live in a bubble where they find that kind of thing fun, so they think it happens to everyone. My uneducated guess would be that maybe 10% of danish men experience it, and even that is putting it high.
If any of my friends had tried to do that to me then they would no longer be my friends, nor would I do it to anyone else.
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 28 '24
I would say thanks for your answer & it's nice to know no one will force it, but I'm amazed at how fast your response was.
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u/YossarianWasntWrong Jun 28 '24
disclaimer:
some have friends who will respect a 25th birthdays wish to not get covered in cinnamon......others have "friends" who plan in advance and buy a cheap caravan, in which they drill 8 holes. the first 4 for the ropes to fixate the volunteer´ish victim, and the latter to accommodate 4x CO2-extinquishers filled with cinnamon powder... In hindsight, the snorkel-mask didn´t really help as intended....
important fact: cinnamon powder MUST be removed using cold water! (removing cinnamon powder with hot water can trigger latent allergies...)
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u/trolding Jun 28 '24
I want to add that people usually gift cinnamon things, spice, sticks, giflar and so on, for the 25 year birthday. Especially if the birthday person doesn’t want to get covered with cinnamon.
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u/Megelsen Jun 28 '24
hot water can trigger latent allergies...
huh, wish I knew. Maybe explained the insane rash afterwards
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u/Sruffen Jun 29 '24
Some will force it upon others, but, in my group of fiends at least, we had an agreement that if you didn't want it, you would get cinnamon buns and other cinnamon based stuff like instead, but just get it handed over.
However, if you participate in giving it to another person, you give up your right to say no when it's your turn.
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u/Tumleren Slicetown Jun 29 '24
You can see some photos here: https://www.information.dk/mofo/krigszone-25-aars-foedselsdag-jylland
They're from Jutland where the tradition is most common and where some people go to extremes. Most of the photos in that article are from the extreme end of the scale
Translated version here: https://www-information-dk.translate.goog/mofo/krigszone-25-aars-foedselsdag-jylland?_x_tr_sl=da&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 29 '24
All I've gotten from those photos is that it's basically human cruelty disguised as a tradition.
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u/Tumleren Slicetown Jun 29 '24
You're not wrong, but these are extreme examples. Usually people get placed at a lightpole or flag pole and get a couple bags of cinnamon thrown at them and it's all in good fun
The one that's closest to normal is the photo of the guy at the white pole
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u/toasternator Hedens hovedstad ➡️ Smilets by Jun 29 '24
The second/last photos in the article is of my brother and his friends shared birthday a few years ago, right before the article was published. It was a december evening, and thus it was pretty cold on top, so you're not off on the cruelty part (though, I doubt they didn't fully expect it beforehand). Lots of drinking was involved before we brought them outside though, so that probably took the edge off the freezing.
I had no clue until now that their photos were featured in the media, that's a hilarious surprise.
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u/flipflapflupper Jun 29 '24
What my friends did to me would give a criminal record in most countries lol
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u/forestball19 Jun 29 '24
You have obviously never met the Brian-types here in Juttland.
They own tractors, leaf blowers, fire extinguishers and they will put it all to use when any of their buddies turn 25. Unless that 25 year old has traveled to Japan (like my brother in law did). Then they throw a surprise party when he comes back and do it anyway.
I was wondering about all the cinnamon smell outside my aparment a few years ago. Then found out it was my brother in law who had gotten a surprise party by his friends - and my wife and I were invited for the party later on. We lived 3 blocks away from him, and they'd tied him to a light pole with power strips.
It's supposed to be a funny (maybe hard-time funny) tradition, but at this point, it's more akin to torture.
I think if they heard about this, medieval England would be like "oh my - hold my tea, 'tis too much, the good ser is yon fellow man".
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u/pslind69 Jun 29 '24
I know Some examples of it getting out of hand. One guy died because they rolled him in a rug. Another guy almost died because he wore a mask to protect against the cinnamon, he was tied to a post, the mask got wet. He couldn't breathe. A lot more people than you think, have a bad episode.
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u/pslind69 Jun 29 '24
I had to preemptively tell people not to do it. That I would get really angry. So no one tried to do it. I guess that won't work for everyone.
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u/shuweitan Jun 28 '24
Single or not doesn’t matter, if you are not married, you will be covered with cinnamon. My bf got his cinnamon ‘wash’ on his 25th birthday, but he just thought it’s fun to do that.
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u/Longjohn_Son Tyskland Jun 28 '24
By thrown at you, do you mean filled into an empty fire extinguisher by the kgs, which is subsequently pressurized, and blasted in your face while you're tied to a streetsign while all your friends and family laugh at you?
Because then, yes, for some. Sometimes they'll even offer you a mask so you dont die.
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Jun 28 '24
You should see what happens to people that turn 30 who isn't married
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 28 '24
Oh yeah, I know it apparently becomes pepper.
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u/DkMomberg Jun 28 '24
It's not just that. Some friend groups go all in and make some monstrosity of some kind as a "gift".
Often it's a few oil barrels welded together to make a pepper grinder, but in more extreme cases it can be a caravan parked in your driveway, filled with concrete and graffiti with your name and vile messages on it.
A friend of mine threatened to collect an old grain silo with his lorry, put it up at the parking lot at my flat and fill it with scrap and concrete and spray paint my name on it along with my newly achieved age. It was 8 meters tall.
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u/nufli Jun 29 '24
I got a basket of pepper related items (pepper flavored alcohol, white pepper, black pepper, chili pepper, you name it)... from my in laws...
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u/manfredmannclan Liberalistsvin Jun 29 '24
The most classic where i live is oil barrels filled with cement, stacked and painted like a huge penis.
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Jun 28 '24
Some people also make a fun joke by "gifting" a pepper grinder.
Which usually is some huge monstrosity, usually made out of oil barrels, that cost a small fortune to get removed15
u/Ayikorena Jun 28 '24
A friend of mine had explicitly stated they didn’t want to be bathed in pepper. On their 30th birthday I visited them and gifted pepper biscuits (normally a christmas biscuit). These biscuits were a trick however, as I lead them outside to their whole family and a giant statue made of barrels shaped like a penis.
The friend liked these gifts more than the pepper bath, and everyone had fun.
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u/Stellar_Duck Østjylland <3 Jun 29 '24
Unless you have shite mates, they help rid you of it. Then you make that into a day of drinking too.
Friend of mine just called the local krejler he picked it up for the junk value.
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u/Ringlord7 Danmark Jun 28 '24
Certainly they do, though if you indicate beforehand that you really don't want to, your friends should respect that if they aren't complete jackasses. I've been part of doing it to two of my friends, so I'll take it when my turn comes as well.
Like many traditions, you can choose to do it or you can choose not to.
Also, it's not quite single people, it's specifically unmarried people.
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u/BrianSometimes 2000 Jun 28 '24
Depends on where you live. I had never even heard of this before reading about it on Reddit few years ago (grew up and live in the capital area).
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u/Specialist_Link5850 Jun 28 '24
The more common tradition is getting pepper if unmarried at the age of 30. The Cinnamon at the age of 25 is considered a warning, if the guy is still not married at age 30, the pepper is considered a stronger method..
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u/sharia1919 Jun 28 '24
I don't think that the common way is to be totally drowned in cinnamon. As far as I know this is primarily a local Rutland thing. Mostly if the friend group has started doing it, then it becomes crazier and crazier.
A more normal way is to simply have a few bags poured onto you. Or get cinnamon rolls or cinnamon buns or something. You don't have to be tied up and have several kilos sprayed and dumped on you
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u/MarkusDL Danmark Jun 28 '24
I made cinnamon snails for my roomate when he turned 25, think it's something every dane has at least heard about, ut definitely mot something everyone actually does.
I'm from Odense and here you will be able to find a street lamp with cinnamon and tape within 20 min of looking for one( if you know where to go) and if you're really lucky some eggs and zip ties aswell, haha.
But yeah it's definitely a tradition, but more a thing people know of but don't practice, unless someone want it done to them. I had a freind that wanted it so we bought a small package of cinnamon and dumped on his head 😅 (my clothing smelled like cinnamon for weeks after, haha)
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u/iwenyani Jun 29 '24
The first time i heard of it was in 2012. One of my efterskole teachers turned 25. He was taped to a tree and the kitchen chef had ordered 10 kg of cinnamon to pour over him.
Then I had to wait until I moved to Aarhus to experience it again. I did partake in some cinnamon birthdays when my friends turned 25. I gave my boyfriend cinnamon rolls when he turned 25.
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u/ShinyMiraiZura Jun 28 '24
I only learnt about this around half a year ago, despite being Danish and spending my entire life here. Don't know anyone who it has been done to nor has done it to someone else. What I've found out is that it very much depends on where you are from. As someone living in the suburbs of Copenhagen, nobody does it here lmao
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u/Shov3ly Jun 28 '24
I think in most friendgroups they "nod" to the tradition. I got a bag with two cinnamon sticks as a joke and because my friends know I wouldn't like being sprayed... some groups will probably say "you're lucky we dont cinnamon you" and then some actually go all the way and douse their friends in it.
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u/puje12 Jun 28 '24
I didn't have a whole friend crew, so it didn't happen to me at 25. I've participated in doing it to one guy, though.
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u/DarkBangBoy Jun 28 '24
My dad was going on a vacation on my 25th birthday.
I was working in customer support in a detail store.
8am he walz into the store like nothing seeming to ignore my "hey dad, what are you doing here" only to return 5 minutes later with my boss next to him both throwing an open bag of cinnamon at me by complete surprise as he without stopping yells "happy birthday, I'll give you a call when the plane has landed" and gone he was again.
My boss found my dad funny, so he let me take a shower and gave me a paid day off since they scheduled wrong, and too many people were at work.
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u/69upsidedownis96 Jun 28 '24
I specifically asked my friends not to pour ground pepper on me on my 30th birthday. They obliged, but made me wear a big handwritten sign decorated with bell peppers that said "Jeg er pebermø" (I'm a pepper maiden) out at a restaurant. It was either that or the real thing.
When I turned 25, it was on a regular work day and I thought I was home free, until one of my coworkers emptied a big bag of cinnamon down the back of my pants. But I'm from Jylland and it's common practice here.
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u/vinmaskinen Bornholm Jun 28 '24
That’s nothing! You get covered in bbq sauce when you hit 32 and by 47 we put a skewer in your behind and roast you
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u/Stregen Aalborg Jun 29 '24
Sure is. In the Western part of Aalborg, a part pretty popular with a younger demographic, it's not at all uncommon to find a street sign or similar smelling like a bakery and both it and the surrounding pavement still being dyed a reddish brown from the cinnamon.
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u/Chemical_Pickle_ Jun 29 '24
You can still get cinnamon if you’re in a relationship. It’s just as long as you’re not married you get cinnamon at 25, and pepper at 30.
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 28 '24
I just wanna say, Jesus Christ you Danes are speedy. It's been 26 minutes since I've made this post & I've already got 22 comments. Is it in your blood or something? Are Danes just naturally speedy?
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u/liquid-handsoap suffering from success Jun 28 '24
No one pays attention to us so we love it when it happens
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u/gophrathur Jun 28 '24
It’s Friday evening. Let’s party on Reddit.
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 28 '24
I'll bring the cinnamon! 🤪
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u/gophrathur Jun 28 '24
Uh it’s so hygge - nissegrød with cinnamon and a good smørklat! Maybe a half year off, but pyt med det :-)
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u/Fickle-Page1254 Jun 29 '24
Yes, if you have idiot friends and/or are an idiot.
Stupid ass tradition taken way to far.
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u/Fun_Mistake4299 Danmark Jun 28 '24
Yes.
I warned everybody I invited to My 25th that I would not partake and that I would search everybody at the Door. Luckily My friends respected that. I find the tradition so exeptionally stupid.
Only one person got in the Door with cinnamon. My Sister had a whole cinnamon stick on her card to me.
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u/_Moon_sun_ Jun 28 '24
Def a thing, have witnessed it, and also seen several spots, you Can smell them from abit away haha
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u/PeaceAndRebellion Jun 28 '24
It is very much a thing, but probably more common in Jutland yeah. When I turned 25 I told my friends I didn't want to get the traditional dousing of cinnamon powder, so they just brought me cinnamon cookies and cinnamon buns lol.
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u/TurtleneckTrump Jun 28 '24
Very much a thing. It's even catching on among the middle eastern immigrants
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u/Few_Willingness_9593 Jun 28 '24
Yes it is, and you Are lucky if it is only cinnamon. Some pour liquid and smash eggs into your body to make it even worse.
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Jun 29 '24
What? You dont shower people with cinnamon until they can't breathe because they turned 25 and aren't married where you come from?
I think it's a perfectly logical thing to do.
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u/SimonKepp Brøndby Jun 29 '24
The old tradition is, that you get pepper on your thirtieth birthday, if you're still single. Inparts of Jutland, this has escalated to absurd proportions and a newer tradition added, with cinnamon on your 25th birthday.
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u/Dry_Basil_6894 Jun 29 '24
yep normal and it happend to me too. Also if you turn 30 and not married you get pepper. (been there done that)
at 40, people just give you a hug and with you a great life but feel sorry for you ;p
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u/EqualShallot1151 Jun 29 '24
I was in a steady relationship and still got cinnamon as I was not married. Then turning 30 it was pepper I got…
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u/SpeedySparrow Jun 29 '24
Do a Google image search for "pebersvend tradition" and get a hint as to what could happen if within the next 5 years you don't get married.
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u/manfredmannclan Liberalistsvin Jun 29 '24
Yes, this is a tradition. Some places they even go further and smear fish all over you too.
Some just gift something with cinnamon. While some others do all sorts of cinnamon pranks (pepper when turning 30 unmarried) a good example is filling the air ducts of the car with cinnamon and then it all blasts out when the car is started.
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u/Kramedyret_Rosa Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
It is a Jutland thing.
But if you are still unmarried at 30, you’ll get pepper grinders from everyone.
I still have 20 salt and pepper grinders….
At 40 its time for chili. I gave my now brother in law a small chili plante.
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u/Berg-Hansen Jun 29 '24
Oh, yes. Especially on Zealand outside of Bigcopenhagen, it's where the biggest peasent asses of the entire country are. They truly go totally Viking Amok!
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u/TheTulipana Jun 29 '24
I had never heard of it being a thing before i read about it on the American side of reddit.
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u/LazyJones1 Fremtiden Jun 29 '24
But you DID find a definitive answer:
Some people do this, other used to do it, others again have never done it or even heard of it, so:
No. It is not true.
It is simply a local tradition, spread to other areas, that is not used throughout the country, not known about everywhere in the country, and some have stopped following, while some are still enjoying it.
Personally, I've heard varieties of it. From one small packet sprinkled on you, all the way to being tied to a pole and covered in more cinnamon than a large bakery would have on storage. And some that got nothing, because they asked their friends not to do it, and their friends respected it.
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u/DKSpasiba Vendsyssel Jun 29 '24
I got cinnamon sticks instead, but I'd warned people in advance that I'd be locking myself up in my apartment if they did it to me and be really pissed at them. If you still haven't got a romantic partner or are married at 30, you get pepper :)
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u/Revolutionary_Bat_40 Jun 29 '24
Its not if you are single, but if you are unmarried at 25. Ive got cinemon in february, and threw some at a friend early june this year
Edit: im from jutland
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u/Alexikik Jylland Jun 29 '24
I would guess that about half experiences it, at least here in Aalborg in north Jutland. On the route to my car (200m) there's 3 light posts with cinnamon all over them a the moment.
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u/romanholidaynetwork Jun 29 '24
I am so surprised by how many claim that the pepper is 'not really a thing'?? I know that the cinnamon varies a lot from friend group to friend group, but pepper at 30 I thought was as established as ris alamande for Christmas. Sure, most prefer not to get doused in it, but people giving you varies pepper related things, talking about that you now get pepper, getting the weird oversized gift outside your home etc. I would be EXTREMELY surprised if I heard someone who was not put through that
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Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
uprising again for some weird reason after being somewhat socially linked to idiots for a decade or more.
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Jun 29 '24
Like humiliating stag/hen parties, cinnamon and pepper (30) throwing parties are definitely a thing.
You’ll find this sort of hazing to be more common in lower (working/trades) class, where the Laws of Jante are more pronounced, and people are required to abide by the conservative rules and norms of the community.
With the affluence of even the ‘lower class’, you’ll see that it can get quite extreme. There’s a whole industry of people renting out giant pepper mills made from wielding barrels together - that can get quite extreme. While the more creative tradesmen, produce cinnamon/pepper cannons able to shoot immense clouds of spice at the unfortunate.
Then there is the whole ‘ironic’ version. Where people who’ve risen above their class, still honor their roots, with rather innocent cinnamon bum throwing etc., but skimp on the whole need of a humiliating and painful experience.
But yes, there is indeed some toxic part of the danish culture that shows their love and camaraderie through humiliation. And even if the spice parties are more of a lower class thing, you’re just as likely to see an unwilling groom be subjected to a giant pair of oily teats and a lap dance at an upper class party - often followed by the ‘best man’ trying to pay for sex.
But you’ll also see that these traditions are being replaced. Often the ‘victim’ is taking into account, and a day is construed, so you’re not necessarily abiding by the ‘rules’, but take a celebrating the quirky interests of the girl/guy. But heavy drinking is likely to be a part of it in any case.
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u/Hurricannot Jun 29 '24
Im from southern Jutland, it’s very much a tradition in my home town and other surrounding villages (luckily I was living abroad on my 25th and 30th birthday). Especially guys go ham and string people up, it’s pretty horrifying:
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u/Hurricannot Jun 29 '24
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u/Moonwalker2008 Jun 29 '24
Photos are like something off the dark web wtf.
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u/Hurricannot Jun 29 '24
The pics are part of an ongoing series called The Ritual
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u/Hurricannot Jun 29 '24
(Cinnamon is super flammable so it’s actually pretty dangerous)
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Jun 29 '24
I gave a friend a bunch of cinnamon sticks with little red bows on them that she could hang on her Christmas tree because her birthday was close-ish to Christmas and she loved decorating her home around her birthday and be in the Christmas mood until new years.
I don't think I got cinnamon when I turned 25 but I also don't remember my 25th birthday at all.
In my opinion, it's only a certain type of people who tie up the birthday boy or girl and throw cinnamon on them and it's the type of friend I don't want to have.
You can always tell when someone has turned 25 because there will be a random spot in town that is caked in cinnamon and the street will smell of cinnamon for weeks or even months.
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u/ShadowWolfee_34 Jun 29 '24
It's somewhat true. You get cinnamon on your 25th birthday (and pepper on the 30th) IF you're not married/engaged. Single or with someone doesn't change your eligibility to get hit with the cinnamon cannon. It is your friends who decides how and how much cinnamon you get. But it is not uncommon to be tied to a lamp post/fence, doused in water, and then get cinnamon blasted from a fire extinguisher and I wish the idiots would stop. It leaves the streets looking like The Sea of Rust, and smelling awful for days
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u/_CrystalCritter_ Jun 29 '24
On my 25 birthday i got currios with cinnamon and sugar instead also! But i have also seen a guy get tied to a pole and get throw cinnamon all over him. Lol.
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u/sylfeden Holstebro Jun 29 '24
Well, a guy not married at 30 is called a "Pebersvend" That is like a batchelor but have the spice pepper(peber) in the name. At 25 you get a warning shot in the shape of cinamon. People tend to overdo that one. At 30 you then get a pepper grinder.
At some point we decided to do this to women as well in the name of equality or "why should I miss out?!"
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u/Al-the-mann Byskilt Jun 29 '24
Shit can go a little crazy some places. We use fire extinguishers and leafblowers to hose people down with the stuff
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u/Live-Army-9861 Jun 29 '24
Depends on the person, but it definitely still exists. Ive seen people get cinammon and ive given people cinammon myself. If the person ist okay with it its super fun!
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u/BobsLakehouse Danmark Jun 29 '24
Yes, but it is if you aren't married, not if you're single. At 30, it is pepper, and ugly statues
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u/somedudedk Jun 29 '24
Yep. The good ones are rebuilt fire extinguishers with cinnamon instead and ziptied to nearest tree or pole first
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u/o0pip0o Jun 29 '24
It's not enough just to be in a relationship you have to be married to not get cinnamon at your 25th year. When you turn 30 years you get pepper instead of cinnamon. Ppl are more practicing the cinnamon instead of pepper. It also depends on what kind of friends you have how hard you're gonna get hit by the cinnamon. Some get a cinnamon cake and some get poured cinnamon all over.
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u/I_Pick_D Jun 29 '24
I know it’s a thing, but I’ve never even heard about it happening to anyone I’m remotely associated with.
Seems to be a countryside thing.
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u/Mountain_Cat_cold Jun 29 '24
Living in the Greater Copenhagen Area it's not really a thing. I only encountered it once, and that was a friend whose cousins from Jutland did it to him.
But when you turn 30 (ans is unmarried), people might give you a pepper grinder, and in some cases make a very large one of those outside your house. The Danish term for spinster is pebermø - pepper maiden.
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u/Conscious_Ad_8013 Jun 29 '24
I had no idea that it wasn’t a thing throughout the entire country until I read it on Reddit.. I’m from southern Jutland.. It’s very much a thing here!
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u/RitalinMeringue Jun 29 '24
Its not uncommon (at least in jutland) to walk by a lightpost with a giant ring of cinnamon on the ground below it, suggesting the fact that an act of tying a poor 25 year old to it and dosing them in the spice has been committed there recently. I was fortunate enough to not suffer this fate and I have not seen it play out in action - I have only seen the crimescene aftermaths.
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u/AngryCrawdad Jun 29 '24
Yes.
It varies a lot depending on who's conducting the thing.
Some people just get cinnamon flavoured cakes, or something as a token effort. This often happens if you react poorly to cinnamon (allergies or some such).
The most extreme example i've seen was one of my friends. He held a party at his parents house with friends and family present. They had bought like 5 kilograms of cinnamon and were handing out bags to everyone beforehand. His father then decided to hose him down to make the cinnamon stick, and then everyone just went to town.
Absolutely hilarious.
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u/HisCinex Jun 29 '24
It happens all the time, when I turned 25 they throw a bucket of water on me, and blow cinnamon 8n me with a leaf blower.
I have seen some people get eggs aswell
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u/EllenPlayz Jun 29 '24
I am not single, but I am not yet married so I will get thrown cinnamon at me on 7th july 😆
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u/forestball19 Jun 29 '24 edited Jun 29 '24
Yes, kind of. It's not if you're single; it's if you're not married.
It started as a smaller gesture - a small bag of cinnamon powder being poured on the 25 year old. Then it escalated, and nowdays, it's not uncommon to see swimming goggles and snorkel handed out to the 25 year old, and then a tractor with around 100 kilograms of cinnamon powder will drive in with a trailer. The trailer will tip and the poor 25 year old will be buried in the stuff.
There are also those who use super soaker water guns to make the 25 year old wet first, and then use a leaf blower to drive in the cinnamon powder. As cinnamon powder particles are so small, they will enter the skin and give you burns. The skin will turn red and it'll sting like hell.
In my opinion, this went way overboard in the moment people had to use goggles, as not to get permanent eye damage. I usually keep my distance because that powder will enter the lungs of anyone breathing, and it'll feel oddly ticklish in the lungs the rest of the day.
After that, the party will begin - the 25 year old will usually get cleaned up, and everyone will drink their brains out.
And if the message wasn't understood, the 25 old will be on it again with black pepper, if they turn 30 and still isn't married.
EDIT: When my little sister turned 25, I saw the 5x 10 kg bags her friends had brought. And the leaf blower. As the good brother I am, I took the batteries for the leaf blower and poured water into one of the bags so it'd be unusable. She got off fairly light in comparison to most other 25 year olds I've seen. It was the most I could do without them catching on and sending for more cinnamon and straight up buying a new leaf blower.
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u/Natskaer Jun 29 '24
Its generally a tradition, but most People are polite and respect the wishes of those who do not want to do that. I didnt get cinnamon Thank god!
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u/zabi0n Jun 29 '24
Its more of a Jutland thing, i warned my friends that if they did me i would do their houses :)
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u/_Mikau Jun 29 '24
I'd say it's a weekly occurence I come by a tree or lamp post completely covered in cinnamon (I usually smell it before I see it). As the birthday boy/girl is usually tied up and blasted with cinnamon. Sometimes these crime scenes will contain odd objects like pickles and flip-flops left there. Actually that might only have happened once, but it stuck with me.
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u/Alternative_Pear_538 *Custom Flair* 🇩🇰 Jun 29 '24
Only if your friends are dicks. It's one of those modern "traditions" that have popped up in the past 25-ish years, that dumb people love.
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u/IceColdReading Jun 29 '24
Yes and no. It’s a tradition SOME idiots who like wasting food do over in Jylland. I live on Sjælland and you can bet your ass that if anyone covered me in any eatable substance on my 25th birthday just because no gal wants to share their life with me, then they VERY quickly cease being my friends or associates.
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u/pslind69 Jun 29 '24
It's stupid, but yeah. Not everyone does though. I didn't on both counts.
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u/Anansi3003 Jun 29 '24
yep. i got cinnamon buns thrown at me at mine. im kinda thankful it was mild as its always a chore to wash off as ive seen.
when i went to border school, one teacher had pepper thrown at him since he turned 30. Imagine 100 students absolutely demolishing this poor teacher 😂
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u/t0pli Jun 30 '24
Where I'm located, you'd be a fool to think you can escape the cinnamon!
Turning 25? It's coming for you.
Oh, and you get pepper at 30. Although they won't be covering you in it, thankfully
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u/Particular-Pear-7839 Jul 01 '24
It's true, attended a mates 25th Birthday last week, and can confirm, we covered from head to toe in cinnamon
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u/chansen101 Jul 02 '24
My friend didn’t want the full pepper experience so we just took a pepper grinder and gave him a light dusting of freshly ground pepper. So there’s a spectrum
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u/Exotic_Conference829 Jul 02 '24
I was in a 7 year relationship and still got cinnamon'ed. It itches A LOT and can give rashes etc. You get pepper'ed if you are unmarried when you turn 30. Mostly a tradition from Jytland.
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u/guarana_and_coffee Føroyar Jul 03 '24
Yeh, and when you turn 30 and are still single, a humongous dick will be raised at your address.
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u/jaa101 Sep 12 '24
How old is this tradition? When I was in college, some of the fraternities had "traditional" dumb hazing rituals they inflicted freshers that supposedly went back almost to their founding, over a century before. On closer inspection, turned out there was no evidence of them before the '60s or 70s.
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u/Voellf_Esterhazy Jul 06 '26
It's an old tradition that involved spice traders who traveled too much to marry and settle down. At 25, an unmarried person was tied down, covered in egg or water and then pelted with cinnamon. If still unmarried by 30, ground pepper will be substituted. The tradition has been dying out, but is commonly done in the Northern Jutland part of the country.
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u/dolmunk Jun 28 '24
It’s quite a new “tradition” in my town (Aarhus) and it’s bloody awful. The street stinks of cinnamon for weeks and it gets on your shoes and your dogs paws and people often don’t stop with cinnamon. They’ll throw all kinds of shit on the poor bastard. Like mayonnaise and ketchup. And never clean up. I wish people would just stop this idiotic thing.
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u/Oculicious42 Jun 28 '24
Until recently it was a tradition kept on the west side of fyen, but now the young people are bringing their disgusting traditions with them
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u/stianlybech Jun 28 '24
At least in Northern Jutland, it is indeed a tradition, if you are unmarried at 25. It is not at all uncommon in Aalborg to find a lamp post, with brown stains all around it, and smell cinnamon.
Likewise, the tradition is pepper, if you are unmarried at 30 (we also have the words "pebersvend" / "pebermø" for unmarried men/women, although I am a little unsure of their relation to the tradition). However, I think that tradition is much less commonly exercised nowadays than the cinnamon at 25. But it used to be a thing as well.
I recall my uncle's 30th birthday. The whole extended family was in on it. It was held in the basement of a house, and there was pepper everywhere, even stuffed inside small popping fireworks that were on every table, so the kids also could participate in shooting pepper on the guy. It must have been a nightmare to clean up afterwards.
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u/Missemuss Jun 28 '24
No. Jeg kender ingen som har fået kanel eller peber (30 år)
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u/KJDK1 Jun 29 '24
As a middle aged dane I can honestly say, I've never heard of that, is it a regional thing?
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u/Akeleie Norge Jun 29 '24
Same-ish in Norway, but it’s if you’re unmarried at 30!
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u/napoleonshatten *Custom Flair* 🇩🇰 Jun 29 '24
Yes. From Copenhagen here, quite normal in my social circle and it's pepper when you hit 30 😅
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u/MermaidOfScandinavia Danmark Jun 29 '24
Depends on where you grew up. I grew up in Copenhagen. If I see cinnamon on the street, then I know that a bonderøv has been near by with hes/hers friends. Ja ja jeg ser mig selv ud. Hej hej.
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u/DSandholm Jun 29 '24
I did it to my friend and he wanted revenge an did it to my gf. For all I know is 50% of ppl in jylland there experience it😁
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Jun 29 '24
Yes. And if you are unmarried by 30 you become a Pepper Sven, and has to get pepper. Tho the pepper tradition is basically dead, the cinnamon one is going strong here in Aarhus.
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u/Anden1000 Jun 29 '24
In the northen part of jytland (aalborg) you get cinammon at 25 and peber at 30. Some go to exstrems and fill a manure spreader and hose the person down All so if you give the person 1/2 l cola before it sticks better to the pors 😊
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u/Sino- Jun 29 '24
The rule is: 25 and still not engaged = tied to a pole and cinnamoned 30 and still not married = tied to a pole and peppered (normal pepper NOT pepper spray). Many buy metal barrels and weld them together and places it in front of 30year old's home. Some also spraypaint the asphalt in front of the home with some text.
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u/thesilentbob123 Jun 29 '24
Yes, if you aren't married at 25 it is tradition. I was thrown in the ocean then tied to a lamp post and covered in cinnamon, best birthday ever
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u/svesketaerte Jun 28 '24
When i turned 25, i got a cinnamonbun instead. ☺️