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When I was growing up (born in Truman administration), kids were spanked - one for every year, plus one to grow on - and the day following was pinching day.
The spanking was playful, not painful, but even so, when an adult mentions having a birthdays jokes about spankings are treated as if one were advocating severe beatings. And nobody seems to know about "pinching day", the day after one's birthday.
Look up pinching day on Google, and only the first entry is relevant, the rest referring to St Patrick's day. That first entry is for WikiBin
which doesn't allow one to read a page unless logged in - and their is neither a place to log in, nor a place to register with the site, but if you look at the Google cache of the page, it appears most of the people who remember the term are in their 60s and older, and grew up not too far from South Central Michigan.
That would be meaningless, of course, if WikiBin primarily attracts users from that age and geographic demographic.
The link in the first sentence, though, is for the ngram viewer. There are no valid ngrams to plot for "pinch day" or "day after birthday" It appears that most all the links Google gives are quoting a ballad known as 'The Mayer's Song' where the lyrics describe a bitingly-cold day as a pinching day. The folklore of Sussex, according to a 1973 book, has Oak-Apple Day (May 29) known as pinching day of pinch-bum day, and in some localities, May 1 (aka May Day) or the day following, May 2, were known as pinching day or pinch-bum day.
Oak Apple Day is also known as Royal Oak Day. This was to celebrate the King of England, Charles II, escaping capture on May 29, 1651 by hiding in an oak tree. There is a Rpyal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, so perhaps Michiganders brought the custom of pinching day from England, and associated it with birthdays, to cleanse the custom of its association with royalty, but that's a BIG stretch. An ngram search on Oak-Apple Day gives a plot, but the page doesn't like to Google Books cites.
Can anyone identify where pinching day came from, and where it was practiced? I remember that I did NOT look forward to a birthday paddling, but the idea of my brothers pinching me the following day terrified me, and I so screamed bloody murder that my mother would put the kibosh on it. My brothers were rather abusive to me and welcomed any reason legitimize my abuse by them. I think it was a pinch a yeaer, same as the paddling, but I'm not sure.
I fall outside of your demographic. I do not recall any Pinching Day tradition. However, there may be a crossover in that the custom I recall was for smacks on the rump or, later, punches on the upper arm. These were often followed by the "one to grow on," as you mention, or "a PINCH to grow on."
Close to the demographic (Wisconsin). We had this birthday tradition called "going through the paddling machine." It was kinda like running the gauntlet. All the people would line up, and the birthday person would have to crawl on hands and knees through the line, between the legs of each participant, and receive a single swat on the behind from each. Usually done on a grass lawn. But there was no pinching involved. Girls and boys both participated. Of course, that was back in those innocent times before sexual harassment, corporeal punishment, or political correctness were even talked about.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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