Why empty bottles should not be left on the table.

According to popular belief, empty bottles and other containers on the table will bring great losses, poverty, hunger to the owners of the house. It is also believed that evil spirits can settle in narrow vessels. That is why superstitious people turn all empty dishes upside down at night. And just in case, two torches are placed on top of the cross.

According to another sign, an empty bottle can adversely affect nulliparous girls in the house. If they sit at the table where there is an empty bottle, they will never be able to know all the delights of motherhood.

In addition, there is a belief that an empty vessel has the power to draw energy and health out of a person. Therefore, it must be removed. In this case, even under the table, the bottle should be closed with a cork or napkin.

During the time of the hussars, the military had their own belief. The soldiers believed that if the empty bottle was not removed from the table, the next time they would not get together with the same company. One of the hussars will die in the next battle.

Historical facts

According to another version, such a tradition appeared at the time Patriotic War 1812-1814. Russian Cossacks, once in France, went to have dinner in a tavern. They put empty wine bottles under the table so as not to interfere. When it was time to pay, the waiter counted them only those bottles that were on the table. As it turned out, in France at that time it was customary in drinking establishments - to issue an invoice judging by the empty dishes on the table of customers. The Cossacks immediately took this into service, and in this way they began to save money - order a drink, and quietly hide the bottles under the table.

And in times Soviet Union It was strictly forbidden to bring alcoholic beverages with you to restaurants or cafes. However, the enterprising working class still found a way to carry a bottle in their bosom. After all, buying wine or vodka in a store was much cheaper than ordering in a public catering. The bottle was placed under the table, imperceptibly poured into glasses and drunk quickly so that the waiters would not notice. Since then, the habit has taken root Soviet people keep the bottle under the table.

If you look at the tradition of removing empty bottles from the table from a practical point of view, unnecessary containers only get in the way. And it is removed to make room for new dishes, or so that inadvertently no one touches the battery of the container with an elbow and does not get hurt. And it's just not aesthetically pleasing when festive table full of empty dishes.

About why it is not customary to put empty bottles on the table.

Why can't you put an empty bottle on the table?

Probably everyone has heard about this sign. Where did it come from? There are several explanations.


superstition

There is an opinion that if you leave an empty bottle on the table, then the house will always be empty, there will be nothing to put on the table. For the same reason on dining table no empty dishes should stand, whether it be cups, salad bowls or plates.

It is also believed that in a house where empty bottles are left on the table, there will be no money and prosperity.

People say that evil spirits start up in unclosed empty bottles and putting them on the table means making the whole table “unclean”.

You can often hear that empty bottles on the table are a transparent hint to guests that it is time for them to leave.


Historical version

The historical version of the appearance of such a sign says that when early XIX centuries, Russian Cossacks came during a military campaign in France, they, of course, could not ignore the local drinking establishments. In those days, it was customary to issue an invoice according to the number of empty bottles that remained on the table after the feast. The Russians, having shown ingenuity, removed some of the bottles from the table and, accordingly, paid less. This version sounds pretty plausible, doesn't it?


Practical Considerations

And finally, based on banal practical considerations, empty bottles on the table just get in the way, take up space and need to be removed. In addition, an empty bottle is less stable than a full one and it can fall on other dishes and break.

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    We all love holidays, we love guests, we love noisy feasts. And, maybe you never even knew about this sign, but you always try to remove an empty bottle from the table. Didn't you wonder why?

    “Not beautiful,” one of you will say.

    “The table must be a full bowl,” someone will add.

    And you will, of course, be right.

    And, nevertheless, there is such a sign: an empty bottle on the table - to poverty. And we don't want that, right?

    Where did this omen come from?

    As usual, there are several options.

    So, option one.

    It is connected with a story about how Russian Cossacks deceived French waiters. Somehow, our Cossacks accompanied the highest royal officials to Paris. We stopped to wait and in the evening decided to go to dinner at a local restaurant. Our Cossacks are noisy people. They sat down at the table and ordered various dishes for themselves. Well, booze, of course. They sat for a long time, ate deliciously, drank sweetly, and empty bottles were removed from the table so that they would not interfere. At the end of the evening, when the waiter counted them, the Cossacks noticed that the bottles that were under the table had not been billed. This was immediately adopted. The most dexterous managed to generally pay only for food, drinking a few bottles of wine.

    Of course, later, the French waiters realized their mistake and tried to remove the empty bottles themselves, in order to at least fix what to demand money for.

    Second option.

    If you have ever been in Russian villages, you might have noticed that housewives always turn empty pots, jars, and cups upside down at night.

    Someone will say that everything dries faster after washing. Maybe so, but popular belief says that there should not be empty dishes on the table. An evil spirit can live in it. And empty bottles are a very comfortable home, and even with a wine spirit.

    Option three.

    In the Soviet Union, since the middle of the last century, there was a ban on bringing alcoholic beverages with you to cafes and restaurants. But our people still managed to carry something with them in order to save money. All this was spilled under the table and immediately consumed, so that the waiter would not notice the dirty trick. At the same time, the bottle was placed under the table so as not to “shine”.

    Here we have the explanation of this sign.

    And for sweets. There is also such a sign that if you make a wish, holding an empty bottle in your hands, and then blow into it and cork it again, then the desire accumulates over time and will certainly come true. But you still have to remove the bottle from the table.

    I wish you that your table is always a full bowl. So, there is no place for an empty bottle on it.

    Even modern people involuntarily follow some traditions and adhere to old signs. Practically in each of these "interpretations" there is a rational grain of logic, but it is not always possible to find a reasonable explanation for signs.

    One of the most incomprehensible signs is empty bottles left on the table. Indeed, an empty glass or glass is put on the table when a gala dinner is served, and why is it forbidden to leave an empty bottle?

    Sign "empty bottle on the table"

    If an empty bottle appears on the table, it is a bad omen. Why? It has long been believed that it promises hunger, poverty and other problems that will certainly affect this house. In addition, there is an opinion that an empty vessel on the table is able to draw into itself the energy of a person sitting next to him, his strength, take away his health and good luck.

    Another very interesting interpretation of the sign says that empty bottles should not be left on the table if a woman is sitting behind it. It is worse if this is a nulliparous woman, since such a “neighborhood” threatens her with difficult childbirth in the future or she will not be able to become a mother at all.

    Eastern wisdom says that evil spirits settle in empty bottles. If such a vessel is on the table, the spirits leave their refuge and cause trouble and disaster. Therefore, it is recommended to remove empty bottles from the table, and be sure to close the neck with a cork or other device. If you believe the sign, an empty bottle left on the table causes trouble: family discord awaits the owners of this house, money will go away, quarrels and illnesses will settle in the house. An empty bottle on the dining table promises big trouble for all family members.

    Is there a more rational and logical explanation for such a sign? It turns out that there are signs with superstitions that have absolutely nothing to do with it. Even during the First World War, visitors to taverns were counted on the amount of alcohol they had drunk, that is, how many empty bottles were left after a meal. The soldiers, who frequented the taverns, often hid empty bottles under the table to make dinner cheaper. Since then, the tradition has remained not to leave empty bottles on the table, but to hide them under it.

    Whether it is worth taking a sign seriously is a personal matter. For some it's easy historical fact, which has taken root in society, and for others it is a warning of the ancestors, which, nevertheless, is worth heeding so as not to bring trouble to the family and home.

    During the feast, alcoholic drinks flow like an inexhaustible river. But as soon as you gape a little and leave an empty bottle on the table, you immediately get a lot of complaints addressed to you. Everyone knows that this is not worth doing and it is better to hide it under the table, but not everyone can substantiate such a statement. Why does an empty bottle sitting peacefully on a table bother some people? Let's try to figure it out!

    There are several versions of the origin of this belief.

    mystical

    Many are sure that an empty bottle on the table will bring emptiness to this table and into the master's pockets. Popular belief says that empty dishes can become a refuge for evil spirits. According to another, no less common superstition, an empty vessel, with a narrowed shape resembling a funnel, has the ability to suck energy out of a person, leaving his bodily shell devastated. There is also a sign that an empty bottle is a harbinger of a quarrel or a hint to overstayed guests that it is time and honor to know.

    Practical

    Empty bottles on the table just get in the way. It's just dirty dishes that have already been used and it's time to put them away.

    In addition, the weight of an empty bottle is less than a full one; accordingly, it is less stable and, during a stormy feast, can inadvertently fall and break, causing inconvenience to the owners.

    historical

    There are more mundane theories about the origins of this popular dining tradition. There is a legend that it owes its origin to the Russian Cossacks, who returned from France after the military campaign of 1812-1814.

    Then the Parisian waiters did not keep a strict record of the number of bottles of alcohol sold. It was much easier to count the empty bottles that remained on the table after the gatherings.

    The Cossacks realized that they could save a lot of money by hiding a certain number of drunk bottles from the table.

    Since then, the tradition has gone to put empty bottles under the table!