New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve was the occasion for a prolonged revelry. The Athenians locked their houses and gathered on Ermou Street to spend the whole day in frantic and noisy celebrations. The atmosphere vibrated with rattles, drums, whistles and trumpet sounds while the children ran up and down the street with triumphant cries. People formed two currents (ascending and descending), but the mass of people often got stuck in traffic jams when a lady’s hair became tangled in someone’s walking stick.

Creator: American Stereoscopic Company (1907)
Source: Library of Congress