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Although it is acceptable in many places for the first-footer to be a resident of the house, they must not be in the house at the stroke of midnight in order to first-foot (thus going out of the house after midnight and then coming back into the same house is not considered to be first-footing). It is said to be desirable for the first-foot to be a tall, dark-haired male; a female or fair-haired male are in some places regarded as unlucky. In [[Worcestershire]], luck is ensured by stopping the first [[carol singer]] who appears and leading him through the house. {{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} In [[Yorkshire]] it must always be a male who enters the house first, but his fairness is no objection.
The first-foot usually brings several gifts, including perhaps a coin (silver is considered good luck), bread, salt, coal, evergreen, and/or a drink (usually [[whisky]]), which represent financial prosperity, food, flavour, warmth, long-life, and good cheer respectively
In a similar [[Greece|Greek]] tradition (pothariko), it is believed that the first person to enter the house on [[New Year's Eve]] brings either good luck or bad luck. Many households to this day keep this tradition and specially select who enters first into the house. After the first-foot, also called "podariko" (from the root ''pod-'', or foot), the lady of the house serves the guests with [[Christmas]] treats or gives them an amount of money to ensure that good luck will come in the New Year.
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