The History Of Sadie Hawkins
January 22, 2019
Sadie Hawkins
We have all heard the news about the dance coming up soon, but most of us were surprised to hear that the theme will be a Sadie Hawkins space theme. Though this is an interesting theme in of itself, not a lot of us know much about a Sadie Hawkins’ history.
On November 15, 1937 was the first time a Sadie Hawkins comic was made. Writer Al Capp had a comic strip called Li’l Abner. One day he wrote a comic that would soon turn into a yearly tradition. Basically the story is a about a rich and powerful man by the name of Hezekiah Hawkins. He had a daughter who was apparently very ugly, and her name was Sadie Hawkins. Sadie had been looking for a husband for the last 15 years of her life, and at the age of 35, her father was scared that she would become an old maid. He then decided that he should take things into his own hands. He told every single man in the town that when he shot his gun they where all supposed run, and if his daughter caught one of them then they would be her new husband.
This became an annual comic strip for Al Capp and he continued the tradition for 40 years. But only 2 years after the first Sadie Hawkins comic was made, it was reported that over 200 colleges were participating in Sadie Hawkins related activities. Such as holding dances where the women would ask the men to the dance. At this time the dance was meant to give women a sense of empowerment. Though the idea that you needed special permission to be able to ask a boy out didn’t sit well with people.
ASB is hopeful that the Sadies in Space themed dance will be a success. Tickets will be available on February 4th, and the dance will be held on February 8th in the East gym from 7-11pm. although in recent years Sadie Hawkins dances have not been a big hit, ASB hopes it will be better this year.
