Womanless wedding

A womanless wedding taking place at a Methodist church in Cincinnati, Ohio in the early 20th century

A womanless wedding is a traditional community ritual performance, popular in the United States in the early 19th century.[1] In this comic ritual, males would act out all roles of a traditional wedding party – including those of bridesmaids, flower girls, and the mother of the bride – while dressed in gowns and dresses.[2] The event often raised money for charities, civic organizations, and churches.[1]

The performances were so popular that scripts were developed around the idea, and the do-it-yourself theatrical productions were passed along from city to city.[1] Some of the stagings included impersonations of notable Americans, such as Henry Ford and Charlie Chaplin.[1]

History

Womanless weddings began in the American South, but spread throughout the United States.[1] Southern towns were already staging burlesque shows, and womanless weddings gave another opportunity to raise funds in the form of an admission fee.[3] Womanless weddings traditionally raised funds for causes and organizations, such as a North Carolina womanless wedding which was attended by more than 1000 people to raise funds for the Parent Teacher Association.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Linton Weeks. "When 'Womanless Weddings' Were Trendy", npr.org, 16 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Kemp, Bill (2015-07-12). "Staged 'womanless weddings' once drew crowds". The Pantagraph. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  3. ↑ "Encyclopedia of North Carolina: Womanless Weddings". Retrieved June 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Forest City Courier from Forest City, North Carolina 1922". Retrieved June 17, 2015.
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