Tuesday, February 25, 2020

WOOOO WEEE!!! It's nigh time to get your man traps ready!



Well girls, it’s about to happen. I know you’ve been waiting four long hard years just pining away for your handsome young man and Saturday time is up. In my neck of the woods, February 29th is Sadie Hawkins Day!!!!

I know some of you young’ens have no hoot and a holler of who Sadie Hawkins might be! Let me enlighten you just a wee bit. 

Miss Sadie was invented by Al Capp in his comic strip Lil’ Abner. Abner was set in the fictional town of Dogpatch. She was, by all accounts, the most “homeliest gal in town”.  All her life, she sat a waiting for some man to come a court’in. Alas, at 35 she has seen her hopes dwindle and become the leading spinster of Dogpatch.

Now, her daddy, being a good minded man feared his daughter would spend her whole life living in the home so he called all the he-man in the county to his front porch and declared that this day would be “Sadie Hawkins Day”.  Old man Hawkins was a might smart for his britches. He knew his Sadie could outrun most of them fellars. So, a foot race ensued. All the men a run’in and Sadie just a chase’in. 




Sadie seemed to have set her heart on a fetching young he-man named Adam. Unfortunately, Adam seemed rather fond of another young lady named Theresa who had so many courtship offers you had to take your shoes off (if you had them) to count. 

What would have happened if she’d a clasped one of these fine young men in her arms, why they’d a had to marry her. You see, on Sadie Hawkins Day, a man can’t refuse a woman’s proposal.

Growing up in school, we did Sadie Hawkins Day. On the day before the 29th of February, there was a two-hour break around lunchtime. It was our chance, not to do a foot race, but to find the young man of our dreams and ask him to the dance the next day. Of course, he couldn’t refuse us. Of course, the boys all hid in the bathroom or boys locker rooms. But oh, the fun, cause everyone wore those short shorts that Daisy Duke seemed to put in fashion a year or so back and the boys dressed in jeans and plaid like Lil’ Abner. 



Does this holiday have any other history????

Oh, funny you should ask.
The whole extra day came about as they tried to reconcile the Georgian and Julian Calendars. The extra day was added every four years under what is called Coordinated Universal Time based on the variations of the earth’s rotation. 

HOWEVER, the fun part comes from Ireland and Britain’s history.  Tradition has it, ladies may propose marriage only in Leap years begun by St. Patrick (yep, the guy who chased the snakes from Ireland) or Brigid of Kildare.  In 1228, Mary Queen of Scots, who was then in Norway, levied fines if the proposal was refused. Fines included gloves, a single rose, and a kiss. One has to remember; she was only 5 at the time.  

 By the 17th century, the Leap Day was when women could wear pants and no man could refuse the request of marriage.  A few hundred years later, breeches were forgotten and the signal for men to hide was the flash of a red petticoat. (Makes you wonder why Rhett bought that one for Mammy)

Whatever reason you choose; you gals get yourself ready to catch your man on Saturday.
Now, if you find yourself with nothing to do, I’m going to be hosting a Sadie Hawkins Day over on my Facebook author page. We are going to be talking hero’s and heroine’s, fun situations, and playing my version of Mystery Date.  I hope some of you will come over and play along. Win some swag or a book. 

The link to my author’s page is: https://bit.ly/2Tbx7Th 

Y'all have fun now, ya hear! 

Nan O'Berry.

2 comments:

Julie Lence said...

Hi Nan. What a fun blog!! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and the history that comes along with leap year. Thank you so much for sharing.

Alicia Haney said...

When our son was in HS , he went to Sadie Hawkins, the girls would invite the guys and then the girls would buy themselves a matching shirt and they would go to the dance together. Thank you for sharing about this , there's a lot more to Sadie Hawkings then I ever knew, I learned more about it. :) Have a Great rest of the week. God Bless you.