Sadie Hawkins: A race to get a date
More stories from Allisya Mullins
The Winter Ball is a Sadie Hawkins dance, where the girls ask the guys. But do you know why it’s called Sadie Hawkins? Read on to find out!
Girls, get your proposals ready because Winter Ball is on the horizon. Like many years in the past, CHS is having a Sadie Hawkins-styled Winter Ball, set for February 6. But do you even know how this Sadie Hawkins tradition even started?
First off, Sadie Hawkins was not an actual person. She is a made-up character who made her debut in cartoon artist Al Capp’s November 15, 1937 comic strip called “Li’l Abner.”
This comic strip was set in the fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, Kentucky. Sadie was the daughter of Hezekiah Hawkins, the town’s most wealthy and powerful man, and she was fed up with waiting for a man to sweep her off her feet and marry her.
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Despite how impatient she was, it was hard to find a guy right for her because Sadie was so ugly. This terrified Hezekiah since his “ancient” 35-year-old daughter would suffer, according to the writers at WomenYouShouldKnow.net, the “worst humiliation a woman could ever experience”; being an old maid; so he took the matter into his own hands.
He called all the bachelors in town, declared it “Sadie Hawkins Day” (November 13) and ordered a race of eligible bachelors with Sadie chasing after them. When a man was caught, he would be legally bound to marry her.
With this information both seniors Allison Matter and Kaitlin Albright said, “I think that this is hilarious! I never knew that before, and it is interesting to know that that is how it all started.”
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Allisya Mullins is currently a junior at Carlisle High School and is the student life section writer and a photographer. Allisya is new to Carlisle High...
Amina • Jan 15, 2016 at 10:18 pm
A Sadie Hawkins-style dance is always fun because it is nice being able to see how creative the girls can get with proposals. They aren’t always the easiest things, so it is nice to experience what the boys have to do in order to make it “the best of the best” every year.
Lynn Darby • Jan 14, 2016 at 8:46 am
I think this way is an interesting way to hold a school dance. It offers an alternative way where girls can ask the dude.
Hannah Hixson • Jan 13, 2016 at 11:32 am
I think that a Sadie Hawkins dance is really neat because it’s different than the regular boy asks girl like Homecoming and Prom. I’ve never been to one because I moved here last year and I didn’t go because of ballet. I’m hoping to go this year because I’m a senior and I can also find a clever way to ask a guy at school.
Madi Clepper • Jan 12, 2016 at 8:18 am
I’ve never been to winter ball before but I plan on attending this year since its my senior year. I like how every year winter ball Is Sadie Hawkins style. it’s a nice way to mix things up and for the girls to come up with an interesting way to ask the guys.