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Sadie Hawkins Day is Coming. Will You Scoff at It or Celebrate?
Is the pseudo-holiday insulting or frivolous fun?
Many remember Sadie Hawkins Day, back in it’s heyday with a smile. Every November 13th, the only day of the year parents approved of their daughters asking a boy out. The pseudo-holiday was usually celebrated with a high school or college campus dance. But what many don’t remember is, who was Sadie Hawkins, anyway?
Sadie Hawkins was a fictional character created by Al Capp, an American Cartoonist, in the comic strip “Li’l Abner,” which ran from 1934–1977. In a time when most comics were set in big cities in the Northeast, Capp’s characters lived in the mountain village of Dogpatch, Kentucky.
The characters had colorful names and big personalities. Marrin’ Sam, a preacher, performed $2 weddings. Earthquake McGoon considered himself “the worlds dirtiest wrassler.” Joe Btfsplk was the jinx of Dogpatch. A dark cloud followed him everywhere.
On November 1937, Capp concocted a gender role reversal in Dogpatch that set his reader’s imaginations on fire. Hezekiah Hawkins was a prominent citizen in town with a 35-year-old unmarried daughter named Sadie. She was hailed, “the homeliest gal in all them hills.” Concerned his daughter would become a spinster, Hezekiah invited all the local…
