What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1492945
February 19-25, 2023 What's up! 9 couple might send love letters and eventually there would be a proposal, asking her parents for approval, an engagement ring and public announcements. In the meantime, the bride-to-be was preparing her trousseau — her wedding dress and the other clothes, linens, etc., she would take to her new home. "One of the charming aspects of courtship was that it took place largely in the home of the woman," Smith says. "A young man visited the woman at her family home and got to know her and her family in that casual and cozy environment. There were no dates, expensive dinners, cab fare and theater tickets. When 'dating' began to replace courtship, men complained of the incredible expense of taking a young woman out! "On the other hand, much of the etiquette of courtship was very strict and might seem unnecessarily formal to us today. [And] for a woman, marriage was also seen as one of the greatest moments of her life. Featured in the exhibit, a series of art prints from 1911 reveal the first two of the 'Greatest Moments in a Girl's Life,' the proposal and the trousseau. "I hope our visitors enjoy this sweet tour about love, but that they also appreciate the many social rules and expectations that dictated the formal process of courtship," Smith says. "Some things, like giving Valentines and flowers, are the same, but many things are very different." Lizzie Hawkins courted her future husband in the front parlor of the hawkins house, smith says. "One of the charming aspects of courtship was that it took place largely in the home of the woman. a young man visited the woman at her family home and got to know her and her family in that casual and cozy environment." (Courtesy photos/rhM)