Americans were left stumped after seeing a popular Australian Christmas tradition on an episode of Bluey.
Those who watched the ‘Christmas Swim’ episode of the Australian cartoon would have seen the family of dogs gather around a table for a festive lunch with an array of colorful tissue paper wreaths.
But only those in Australia and the UK could relate to what was happening.
“Apparently the rest of the world doesn’t make paper crowns at Christmas,” an Australian posted on Reddit along with a snapshot of the episode.
It is a tradition in Australia and the United Kingdom for guests to open Christmas cookies, or chocolates as they are often called. Cardboard tubes are wrapped in festive paper designs and contain a paper crown, a written joke or riddle, and sometimes a toy.
All guests then wear the paper crown for the rest of the meal.
It is a British Commonwealth issue. They’re in some of the Christmas scenes in Harry Potter, for example,” responded one Australian expat.
“Yes, I just asked a Canadian and he assured me that they have crackers and paper hats and that they knew what they were talking about,” another responded.
Those who watched the ‘Christmas Swim’ episode of the Australian cartoon would have seen the dog family gather around a table for a festive lunch with an array of colorful tissue paper wreaths.
“Apparently the rest of the world doesn’t make paper crowns at Christmas,” an Australian posted on Reddit along with a snapshot of the episode.
However, those in England identified a slight difference, which also generates some discomfort at Christmas time.
‘We also have them in England and, as far as I know, we exclusively call them crackers. Chocolates are a kind of polo,” said a woman from the United Kingdom.
“This made for some interesting looks when I was working at a shopping center help desk in Cairns and kept directing people to the lolly shop when they asked for chocolates.”
It is not the first time that the Christmas Bluey episode has perplexed American viewers.
In 2023, Brittany, a mother from the US, noticed the colorful “crowns” and immediately posted to the Facebook group “Adult Bluey Fans” to ask why.
‘Can any of our lovely Australian members tell me why they are wearing all the crowns in episode 26 of season two, Christmas Swim? I thought he was so cute and would love to know more about him!’ she wrote.
More than 1,300 people flooded the comments and many couldn’t believe it wasn’t a universal tradition.
‘It’s a tradition in Australia. “Bad jokes, paper crowns, salads, seafood, cricket, Christmas is amazing,” wrote one proud Australian.
It is a tradition in Australia and the United Kingdom for guests to open Christmas cookies, or chocolates as they are often called. 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 quintessential Australian traditions,” another woman added, detailing what a classic Australian Christmas is like.
He explained that because Christmas falls in the middle of the Australian summer, rather than winter in the northern hemisphere, the lunch meeting is usually outside, under the patio, by the pool or inside, next to the air conditioning.
“The food is usually the most eclectic mix of hot turkey/chicken, roast potatoes, ham, salad, prawns, seafood and barbecue, followed by pavlova and Christmas pudding,” he continued.
‘All around a plastic tree. After everything is over, water fights, backyard cricket, and pool games begin.
Other Australians couldn’t believe chocolates weren’t used internationally during the festive season.
‘I’m amazed, I thought Christmas hats/cookies were universal. Basically, it’s Grinch behavior to not 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 cool! Thank you very much for telling me about this. My family can adopt this as a new tradition!’