Prom is short for the term promenade, which means to “stroll”. Prom was originally created for college universities graduating classes, but was later continued by high school students. Back then, when a man was interested in a woman, he would court her to an event with the permission of her parents.
He would bring a gift of some sort to her parents, usually flowers. The man would pull a flower from the bouquet and attach it to the woman’s dress. This was the creation of the prom corsage. Around 1950, high schools began hosting prom in the gymnasiums.
Some scholars believe prom originated from upper-class women who were escorted to these balls to be introduced to dating in the mid 1800’s. Not just anyone could get into these formal dances. It depended on your wealth. Prom was considered the first social event for young adults. It was one of the most important days of a teenager’s life.
Pictures were taken and savored as if it were those from a wedding. In the 1900’s, prom became a more casual event where teens wore church etiquette and had tea. Closer to the 1930’s, girls started wearing more revealing dresses, high heels, and party clothes. It became more ornamented during the 1950’s. Ladies competed to have the best dress as well as the best date. Gentlemen competed to have the latest, most spunky transportation.
Prom “king” and “queen” was prominent around this time. The corsage is a french word meaning “a bouquet of the bodice”. It began with ancient Greek women wearing them on their wedding day. They believed it scared off evil spirits. Corsages consist of many different types of flowers and have been around for quite some time.
They have been worn many ways. Today, most girls wear them on their wrists and guys wear them on their tux. They can be worn in hair, on handbags, the shoulders, ankle, and many other areas. According to Gwen Bruno who wrote this article on Garden Guides, the tradition is to “wear them on the left side of the chest, closest to the heart."
Picture available at http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/BVDC/bvdc0804/bvdc080400061/2885942-prom-corsage.jpg
I didn't know you were supposed to wear your corsage on that side of your body, I wore it wrong last year then. Thanks for the information =].
ReplyDeleteI'm surprise that there is a lot of history behind prom. You did a good job of breaking it down and making it understandable. (:
ReplyDeleteI never knew there was that much information behind prom!
ReplyDelete