1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,280 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: talking about the surprising origin of Sadie Hawkins Day, the 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: only holiday based on events in a comic strip. The 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: day was November seven. Cartoonist Al Cap introduced the pseudo 8 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: holiday known as Sadie Hawkins Day in his Little Abner 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: comic strip. While many listeners have likely never heard of 10 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: Lil Abner, they're probably still familiar with the idea of 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: a Sadie Hawkins school dance, an event where the traditional 12 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: roles are reversed and the girls asked the guys to dance. 13 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: It's a somewhat outdated tradition, but it's still going strong 14 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: in some US middle schools today. The concept goes by 15 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: plenty of other names, too, including the Sweetheart Dance, the 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: Girl's Reverse, the Backwards Dance, and a host of others, 17 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: but Sadie Hawkins is the most common by far, and 18 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: it sprang directly from a controversial story first told in 19 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: the panels of Little Abner in nineteen thirty two, a 20 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,199 Speaker 1: twenty three year old aspiring cartoonists named Al Cap left 21 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: his hometown in New Haven, Connecticut, and hitchhike to New 22 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: York City in search of work. He eventually found a 23 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: job at the Associated Press, contributing scripts and drawings for 24 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: several existing comic strips. By nine thirty four, Cap had 25 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: come up with an idea for his own comic strip, 26 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: a series about the lives and misadventures of the residents 27 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: of a fictional Kentucky town called dog Patch. He called 28 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: the strip Lil Abner after its main character, a young 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: man named Abner, who was actually quite large for his age, 30 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 1: making up for his lack of brains with an overabundance 31 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: of muscles. Many of the storylines centered on Abner getting 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: into trouble, often after being fooled by his more intelligent peers, 33 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: only to be rescued by his longtime girlfriend, Daisy May. 34 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: As you may have gathered, much of the strip's humor 35 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 1: relied on stereotypes about hillbilly culture in the U s. South. 36 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: Most of the characters were simple minded farmers who knew 37 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: little about modern civilization and whose dialogue was loaded with 38 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: Southern slang and Appalachian dialect. The setup wasn't as mean 39 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: spirited as it might sound, though, and there was often 40 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: a good deal of biting social commentary hidden within the stories, 41 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: including references to the national events, trends, and politics of 42 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: the day. As a result, Little Abner attracted a surprisingly 43 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: wide audience given its subject matter, and even are remarkably, 44 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: it held on too much of that readership for more 45 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: than four decades. After debuting on August thirteenth, nineteen thirty four, 46 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: the strip ran all the way until November of nineteen 47 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: seventy seven. At its peak, Lil Abner was carried by 48 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: more than nine hundred US newspapers and about a hundred 49 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: more overseas. The series was adapted in books, plays, movies, 50 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: and TV shows, and spawned a successful line of merchandise too. However, 51 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: its most lasting contribution to American culture is, without a doubt, 52 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: the annual tradition of Sadie Hawkins Day. The storyline that 53 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: gave rise to the holiday began on November fifteenth, nineteen 54 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: thirty seven, and revolved around the Hawkins family of dog Patch. 55 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: Wealthy patriarch heck Zabia Hawkins had grown increasingly worried that 56 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: his daughter Sadie might never find a husband. He didn't 57 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: think much of her prospects because she was already thirty 58 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: five years old, on the verge of spinsterhood in his mind, 59 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: and was known throughout the town as quote the homeliest 60 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: gal in all them hills. And so heck Zabaiah did 61 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 1: what any loving father would do. He gathered all the 62 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: eligible bachelor's in town at gunpoint and set up a 63 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: foot race in which his daughter would chase after them, 64 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: and if she happened to catch one before he reached 65 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: the finish line, that man would be legally bound to 66 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: marry her once again at gunpoint. In the end, Sadie 67 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: did catch herself a husband, and that success inspired the 68 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: other unmarried women of dog Patch to make Sadie Hawkins 69 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: Day an annual event. A storyline like that would be 70 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: a non starter today, but in ninety seven readers ate 71 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: it up. Within a few years, Sadie Hawkins Day took 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: on a life of its own and became a real 73 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: world event, only with dancing instead of forced marriage. Of course, 74 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 1: al Cap never imagined his throwaway gag would gain so 75 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: much traction with the public, but after the initial strip 76 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: in n seven, he received so much fan mail that 77 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: he revisited the storyline the following year. By that time, 78 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: some American college students had already borrowed the idea of 79 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: gender role reversal by holding Sadie Hawkins dances on campus. 80 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: The trend continued to grow from there, and by the 81 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: winter of nineteen thirty nine, Life Magazine reported that more 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: than two hundred colleges across the United States had declared 83 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: Sadie Hawkins Days of their own. Meanwhile, al Capp continued 84 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: to bow to public demand by going back to the 85 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: Sadie Hawkins theme each November. With Sadie herself already wedded, 86 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,679 Speaker 1: the strip shifted focus back to its protagonist, Lil Abner 87 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: and his ongoing quest to outrace his girlfriend Daisy May. 88 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: That routine continued, with some variation for the next two decades, 89 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: it's culminating with the couple's marriage in nineteen fifty two. 90 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: By that point, Sadie Hawkins Day was reportedly celebrated, and 91 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: more than forty thousand institutions nationwide. During that period, al 92 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: Capp said he received tens of thousands of letters from colleges, communities, 93 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: and church groups who all wanted to know the official 94 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: date for Sadie Hawkins Day so that they could plan accordingly. 95 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: The cartoonists dodged the question for decades, insisting that there 96 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: was no set date and that it just happened on 97 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 1: the day when he said it happened. That uncertainty led 98 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: people to draw their own conclusions. Most settled on November, 99 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: two days before the event's first appearance in the comics, 100 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: but others thought the premier date itself made the most sense. Still, 101 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,239 Speaker 1: some people conflated the idea with Bachelor's Day, an old 102 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: Celtic tradition where women were encouraged to buck tradition and 103 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: propose marriage themselves during leap years. As a result, some 104 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: Americans started celebrating Sadie Hawkins Day on February twenty nine, 105 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: making it a once every four years event instead of 106 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: an annual one. Al Capp finally put an end to 107 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: the confusion, and the very last Little Abner Daily strip 108 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: that he ever wrote, on November five, nineteen seventy seven, 109 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: he declared once and for all that the true date 110 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: for Sadie Hawkins Day was November twenty six. Most colleges 111 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: and universities adjusted their calendars accordingly, and as the years 112 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: went by, high schools and middle schools began adopting the 113 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: practice as well, even though most of their students had 114 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: no idea who Sadie Hawkins was, or that the idea 115 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: had spun out of a nineteen thirties comic strip. Sadie 116 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: Hawkins Day may seem like a relic of the past now, 117 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: especially given its problematic origin, but it's worth noting how 118 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: progressive an idea it was when it first caught on. 119 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: Not the comic strip version that was always pretty sexist 120 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: and terrible, but the real world dances were a chance 121 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: for young American women to claim a bit of agency 122 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: in their own love lives during a time when that 123 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: was mostly discouraged. To be clear, al Capp was no feminist. 124 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: In fact, he was a known womanizer and was frequently 125 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: accused of sexual harassment and assault. But buried beneath his 126 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: tired jokes about desperate and man hungry spinsters was the 127 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: kernel of a good idea that women should be able 128 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: to play a more active role in finding their romantic partners. 129 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: I think that's what struck a chord with the public 130 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: and why Sadie Hawkins dances became such a staple of 131 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: student life. On some level, the country was ready to 132 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: leave behind its outdated gender norms, even if only for 133 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: one day a year. Thankfully, teenagers and adults are a 134 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: lot more open minded about asking each other out these days. 135 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: Everyone's free to make that first move, regardless of gender, 136 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: and while it can still be scary to put yourself 137 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: out there like that, at least we can just send 138 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: a text, no awkward dance or misogynist foot race required. 139 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,959 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 140 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 141 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: have a second and you're so inclined, consider following us 142 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,679 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d i HC Show, 143 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free 144 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: to send them my way at this day at I 145 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 146 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you 147 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another day in history class.