Sadie Hawkins was just a fertile imagination of the famous cartoonist Al Capp. She was one of the popular characters of the Lil’ Abner cartoon series. The character Sadie was the daughter of Hekzebiah Hawkins, who was the first setters of the town – Dogpatch. The cartoon ran successfully for over 40 years from 1934.
About Sadie Hawkins
Sadie was the homeliest girl in all the areas around. She was quite impatient for over 15 years to have a perfect suitor showing up at her door; however, none prospective suitor showed up. With the passing of each year, Sadie was becoming more and more panicky about this situation. And it was not just her, but even her father was not willing to keep her spinster daughter for the rest of her life.
How did she find a perfect suitor for the wedding?
After waiting for around 16 or 17 years of her birth, Sadie’s father called up all the bachelors of Dogpatch together and declared the day as Sadie Hawkins Day. A race was planned as a way for Sadie to choose her lucky chap. It was decided that whoever wins the race will become her lawfully wedded husband.
What happens on the Sadie Hawkins Day?
The rest of the spinster of Dogpatch thought that race was an excellent idea and insisted on making Sadie Hawkins Day become a mandatory yearly event. But this turned out to be a horrifying day for the suitors of the town, and the worst part was that the men had no say in it.
It meant that if a woman holds a man, and is dragged by her to the finish line while screaming and crying, then they had to get married before the sunset. This scenario was something that reflects a caveman ambushing a woman and dragging her to his cave to enjoy the benefits.
Sadie Hawkins got renowned because of the origination of American folk-holiday – Sadie Hawkins Day that originated from a race and not from a dance.
Why was the Sadie Hawkins Day added in the plot?
The Sadie Hawkins Day was involved in the storyline to showcase the romance between the two main characters Daisy Mae and Abner. The couple somewhat reflected the best qualities of Ross and Rachel from “Friends.” Finally, after adding a hint of misery in the plot, Al Capp allowed the two characters to get married.
When did the Sadie Hawkins Dance take place in the plot?
The dance tradition did not start until one time; she decided to take someplace one evening before the race to plan a ball. All the spinster girls wore traditionally hobnailed boots through which they might end up hurting men in the ballroom. It was an unintentional act that might have adverse effects on the men as they might not be able to perform in the race the next day.
What reflected the popularity of Sadie Hawkins Day?
The popularity of Sadie Hawkins Day was growing real fast amongst the college campuses by 1939. Over 200 colleges were willingly celebrating the Sadie Hawkins Day that year, thus, making it evident that its popularity was growing with time.
The main reason why it was gaining so much popularity was that it was something that strode the youth from the great depression and was low activity in which everyone could participate. It offered a novelty to the women to ask out men for a social outing. However, few countries felt deeply offensive to this tradition, but it still took place.
By then, Al Capp did not decide the date but eventually chose it to be on the next Saturday of 9th November of every year. Later in the year 1952, it was reported that over 40,000 different locations were celebrating the Sadie Hawkins Day along with the dance night, an evening before the race.
