APS member Bob Marousky recently reminded us here at the APS of a tradition that has been enshrined in comics, films, and, most importantly, postcards: Leap Day proposals.
Unmarried ladies wait to pounce on a "poor lone bachelor" in this example of a Leap Year postcard. Courtesy of Bob Marousky.
Once upon a time (or today, depending on where you live), Leap Day was more than an extra day in February — it was a chance for women to take the lead in a relationship, whether that meant asking their male partners to dance or proposing marriage. In Ireland, the tradition is known as Bachelor's Day and allegedly originated with St. Brigid and St. Patrick, who struck a deal to allow women to propose marriage once every four years. This seems unlikely on a number of fronts, but the tradition is certainly quite old and well-attested both in Ireland and in nearby England and Scotland. In some cases, if a woman is refused, she can impose a fine of sorts on the object of her affection, requiring various combinations of gloves, furs, and other finery as recompense.
Women were not always expected to wait until February 29, as seen in this postcard. Instead, the entirety of the leap year (in this case, 1908) was fair game for proposals. Courtesy of Bob Marousky.
Meanwhile, in America, we can trace the origins of Leap Day and Leap Year proposals to the mid-1800s. In 1860, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of his daughter attending a "leap year dance" where in a role reversal men were asked to dance by women. 1908 seems to have been a particularly important year for the tradition in America, and a variety of postcards were created on the theme. Though likely meant as an opportunity for a good-natured ribbing, some examples are more laughing at than laughing with women who were either uninterested or unlucky in love.
Some Leap Year postcards take equal shots at both men and women, including this "How to catch them" example. Courtesy of Bob Marousky.
Over the years, the tradition of women taking the lead on Leap Day has become conflated with, or perhaps inspired, another holiday you might be more familiar with: Sadie Hawkins Day. The "folk event and pseudo-holiday" was the brainchild of Al Capp, creator of the comic strip Li'l Abner. In the comic, the local mayor's daughter, Sadie Hawkins, is described as "homeliest gal in all them hills." In order to get her married, her father orchestrates a foot race between Sadie and the unmarried men of the town; whoever Sadie catches has to marry her. Over the years, the event became a tradition both in the comic strip and in real life — in 1939, Life reported that 201 U.S. colleges held a Sadie Hawkins Day event. However, Capp was clear that the event took place annually in November, not every fourth February. Still, it seems likely that the artist was inspired by the Leap Day tradition, and maybe (just maybe) by one of these postcards.
In the modern era, when we're far more used to women actively participating in courtship or remaining happily single, these traditions may seem unnecessary (and just a hair misogynistic). But as always, pieces of history like these Leap Day postcards provide a fascinating glimpse into the past and a means to start a conversation in the present.
Thank you to Bob for providing the images that accompany this article and links to other resources, including Alan Mays' collection of Leap Year postcards.
Did you or someone you know receive a proposal on Leap Day? Know of any other Leap Day philately? Tell us about it — email [email protected]
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