Ever heard of Sadie Hawkins Day? This old-timey observance presents a fine opportunity for the gentler sex to giddy up and grab the guy who’s been a little…reluctant. There’s an old riddle about why bachelors make poor grammarians (When asked to conjugate, they decline.) Well, this whole Sadie Hawkins thing started back in 1937, with cartoonist Al Capp and his comic strip called Lil’ Abner.
A race would be run by all the eligible bachelors of Dogpatch. The slowest of this lot would be the first Sadie would catch. By rules of the game, he must consent to marrying her.
For the record, Sadie Hawkins Day falls on November 13th in 2022. Being February, however, this essay is about the related Valentines Day observance in Lafayette Square.
Lafayette Square Marquis – February 1977
Here’s what looks like an editorial from 42 years ago in the Marquis. Check it out, and see if you pick up some echoes of Lil’ Abner:
Some residents of the Square have suggested that the Marquis initiate a gossip column in the interest of increasing the social flavor of this publication. The difficulty with that is twofold. First, the formalization of gossip seems somehow to destroy the spontaneity essential to the definition of the word, and publication of these juicy tidbits eliminates the inherent secrecy. Second, the kind of activity that most people around here view as gossip cannot be printed within the bounds of good taste.
BUT, in an effort to supply the residents of this neighborhood with some of the social stimulus necessary to a full and happy life and sometimes so missing in the neighborhood, the Marquis will, next month, begin publishing a series of “Most Eligibles”. To begin with, as most of the members of the staff are female, we will feature the “Ten Most Eligible Bachelors” in the Square, and will proceed during the coming months with Single Women, Male and Female Divorcee’s, etc.
We hope through this method to inform our residents of what is available socially on all sides, and to bring a little more spice to the local mating game. Please relate your suggestions and comments to either Cele Austermann or Barbara Geisman, and look forward to this exciting addition to the publication. Cele and Barbara signed it, in addition to Cathy Sheehan, Jennie Rutter, Judy Taylor, Judy Anderson, Betsy Cook, Mary Dean Keyes and Marit Clark.
February 1977 Lafayette Square Marquis
And so, the race was on. Fun to reconsider 1977. Saturday Night Fever and Love Boat and “two wild and crazy guys,” Nike with their new slogan, “Just do it,” and the general bonanza of living in modern times. It somehow felt like the old rules didn’t apply, and I guess that extended right into the work hard/play hard rebuilding of Lafayette Square by these young bohemians. There wasn’t a genuine “Sadie” among them, but you have to give them credit for seizing the initiative.
With thanks to Capp Enterprises, Inc. for permission to use the Lil’ Abner comic panels.
More than likely, any “eligible bachelors” at that time would have been married to their needy and hopelessly crumbling houses and consequently poor candidates for an actual marriage. But one can certainly parse out a sense of playfulness in the Marquis and, by extension, the Neighborhood.
I’ll buy that, Duke. Many neighborhoods seem to exist without finding much sense of community. That’s not this. Thanks for your thoughts, always.
Mike,
Fun article on a Valentine’s morning. Keep them coming!
Dan
Great article! We had Sadie Hawkins Dance in high school. . . never knew the WHOLE story!
Thanks, Susan; Yep, we had it too, and I think everyone was supposed to dress in backwoods garb. That was odd for Western Montanans who mostly dressed like that anyway.