Why You Can't Put Empty Bottles On The Table: Signs And Facts

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Why you can't put empty bottles on the table: where do the legs of the ban grow from?

Every person at least once in his life has heard the sign that empty bottles cannot be put on the table. But few can explain the nature of this prohibition. Nevertheless, this superstition is quite old and has several meanings at once.

Signs and superstitions about empty bottles on the table

The main sign says that an empty bottle placed on the table can bring money problems, hunger and devastation to the house. However, in addition to this, our ancestors believed that unclean spirits can settle in empty bottles, which will harm the guests at the table, and also spoil all food and drinks.

In some cities and villages of Russia, they still believe that leaving an empty bottle on the table means calling death into the house.

According to another sign, an empty container plays the role of an energy funnel, capable of pulling everything positive that a person has. Anyone who sits near an empty bottle can easily lose happiness, health and success. If a girl sits next to an empty container, she may lose the ability to become a mother.

There is another superstition: if an empty bottle is on the table in someone's house, then grief will soon happen in the owner's family - someone from the household will die

Logical reasons for the ban

The sign that it is impossible to put empty bottles on the table appeared at the beginning of the 19th century and had an absolutely ordinary reason. In the post-war period in 1812, Russian Cossacks were in France and often visited drinking establishments. They noticed that the waiters were counting the empty bottles on the guests' table and thus calculating how much the guest had to pay. To pay less, the Cossacks put empty containers under the table, and paid only for two or three bottles left on the surface.

During the Soviet period, people believed that empty bottles would bring trouble and put them under the table. However, this was due not only to superstition. Often, empty containers under the table were removed in restaurants or canteens where it was impossible to bring your own alcohol. Since it was expensive to buy booze there, people secretly brought it with them and poured it under the tablecloth, and put the bottle under the table.

Sometimes it turns out that the table is so filled with various dishes that the empty vessels simply have nowhere to put, so it is better to remove them immediately

Modern people no longer believe in omens, but they still remove empty bottles from the table. This is done for various purposes:

• empty containers take up space on the table, which can be used under other dishes;
• empty bottles create an unsightly look on the table and prevent guests from seeing each other;
• drunk people become more relaxed and inattentive, so they may accidentally drop an empty bottle, which will break right on the table;
• an empty bottle can be a dangerous weapon for quarreling guests.

Whether or not to leave empty containers on the table is up to everyone to decide. However, it is worth remembering that there is an unspoken rule: if the owner does not remove the empty bottle from the table, then there is no more alcohol in the house, and it is time for the guests to leave.