Plate smashing is a Greek custom that peaked in the 60s and 70s, involving the intentional smashing of

plates Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

or poes glasses during celebratory occasions. In

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, the practice is most typical of foreigners'

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

image of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and while it occurs more rarely today, it continues to be seen on certain occasions, such as weddings, although

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

plates are more likely to be used.

History in Greece

Modern times

The practice was started by an entrepreneur, Babavea, who opened the Folies d'été cabaret at the end of

Herodes Atticus Herodes Atticus (; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned many Athenian public w ...

. During the junta period, plate breaking was fought and banned as a separate offense by law punishable by up to 5 years in prison.Όταν οι Αθηναίοι έσπαγαν πιάτα στη «Νεράϊδα»
, Alimos on line, 24-4-2015. Despite the junta ban, the breakup continued and many celebrities were referred to the prosecutor, such as the ex-husband of

Zoe Laskari Zoe Laskari (, ; 12 December 1942 – 18 August 2017) was a Greek actress and beauty pageant titleholder. After being crowned Star Hellas 1959 and representing Greece at Miss Universe 1959, where she was placed in the top-15, she switched to act ...

, Petros Koutoumanos,

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

and

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...

. The junta finally issued a special opinion, which ruled that there was no offense if the breaking of dishes was accompanied by the acceptance of the behavior of the person doing this act by those present. Today there are still patrons who let off steam by smashing plates in nightclubs and other objects. The only gypsum plate manufacturing industry operating today in Greece is that of Gentzos Constantinos, based in

Diavata Diavata () is a town in Central Macedonia Greece. A community of the Delta municipality. Before the 2011 local government reform it was part of the municipality of Echedoros, of which it was a municipal district. The community of Diavata covers an ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

.Ο Ελληνας σπάει πιάτα στις πίστες για να διώξει την κρίση -Ραγδαία αύξηση στην παραγωγή γύψινων πιάτων
iefimerida.gr, 20-12-2013, ανάκτηση 21-1-2016. The practice of breaking seems to have been replaced by throwing flowers towards the stage where the artist is singing, which was first started by

Marinella Kyriaki Papadopoulou (; born 19 May 1938), known by her stage name Marinella (), is a Greek singer whose career has spanned several decades. She is well regarded due to her impressive vocal range.Dragoumanos, Petros (2009). ''Elliniki Diskogr ...

Greek Films depicting the practice of smashing dishes

* ''

Never on Sunday ''Never on Sunday'' (, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin. The film tells the story of Ilya, a contented Greek prostitute ( Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an earnest American classic ...

'' (1960) * '' The Blue Beads'' (1967) * ''Some tired boys'' (1967) * ''

It's a Long Road ''It's a Long Road'' (''Όλα είναι δρόμος'' Óla eínai drómos) is a 1998 film by Greek film director Pantelis Voulgaris. It is a triptych, with all three parts taking place in Thrace, one of the more economically depressed parts o ...

'' (1998) * ''I Really Play the Man'' (1983) * ''

Rembetiko Rebetiko (, ), plural rebetika ( ), occasionally transliterated as rembetiko or rebetico, is a term used to designate previously disparate kinds of urban Greek music which in the 1930s went through a process of musical syncretism and develope ...

'' (1983)

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Kefi - The Spirit of Greece," about.com

* ttp://www.greecetravel.com/mazarakis/wisdom/plates.html "Breaking Plates in Greek Tavernas," greecetravel.com Culture of Greece Tableware

History in Greece

Modern times

Greek Films depicting the practice of smashing dishes

See also

References

External links