My life is entering a new chapter and this adds another milestone that many have experienced but it is new, as well as special, for me.
My oldest granddaughter is getting married in June. Recently I attended a bridal shower for her at the community hall at Golden Prairie. This community was my old stomping grounds when I came to teach in the fall of 1960. I got married there in August 1962 and it is where my two sons were raised on the farm. Now their families live in the area, the family circle having changed after the death of my husband Melvin in 1997.
While bridal showers are usually a norm at the present time for the young girl getting married, the early history of showers goes back to the 16th century. A dowry was expected when the young bride left home to be married. If the family was poor or if the father did not approve of the marriage, the dowry was non-existent. This is where friends of the bride took it upon themselves to give gifts to the bride to compensate the lack of the dowry and to encourage the wedding to take place. The involvement of this practice has changed and broadened over the years. What was at one time considered as wedding gifts are now shower gifts as the process is more elaborate and sophisticated. The bridal shower I attended followed the theme of a “high tea” with a spectacular luncheon and many useful gifts given.
Bridal showers have changed from the days when I was a bride and got many gifts which graced my first home. Now there are items available which were not on my radar at the time. This is a great change from my mother’s day when she married Dad and received a clucking hen with chicks as a wedding gift; there was no shower. This gift was useful in starting a food chain on the farm, thus it showed progression of time and change over the years.
