nPostednon June 4, 2015
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nI’mnpretty sure that “Old Maids” Day is way too old fashioned to still bencelebrated…right?
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| Actress, director, producer, screenwriter Diane Keaton |
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nItnused to be that the established wisdom was that all women wanted tonget married, needed to get married, should get married.
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nAndnif a woman got to be a certain age and still hadn’t married, she was sometimes called an “old maid.” And, honestly, she was seen bynmany as an object of pity. “Oh, poor dear. She never married, younknow…”
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| Queen Elizabeth I famously never married |
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nOfncourse, some men and women DO want to find someone special, sharentheir life with that one special someone, and make it all official byngetting married. n
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nButnsome don’t.
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nAndnsome men and women who want to get married never find the specialnsomeone who thinks that they are a special someone as well…and somenpeople are disappointed.
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nButnwe know now that humans are important and can make huge contributionsnwhether they are male or female, married or single. Humans can benhappy and fulfilled no matter what, too!
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nOkay?
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nOkay…butnwhat about this “Old Maid’s” Day?
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nApparently,non this date in 1948, a woman who worked at a shirt factory innNorristown, Pennsylvania, secretly put a greeting card and a corsagenof flowers on the work tables of unmarried women who were 30 yearsnold or older.
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nNaturally,nthe women who got the cards and flowers wondered what was going on.nAnd the women who didn’t get anything wondered, too.
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nWhenevernMarion Richards was asked if she knew what was going on, she wouldnwhisper, “Shhh, this is Old Maid’s Day.”
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nSonsoon everyone knew that Richards had been the gift giver.
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Andnthat day was super fun at the shirt factory. Someone brought out icencream as a special treat. That night some married women and youngnsingle girls gave a party for the “Old Maids,” and Richards wasnasked to give a speech; she said she hoped that Old Maids Day wouldnnever be called “Spinsters Day” and that it would never bencommercialized. Everyone agreed that recognition of unmarried womennshould happen once a year in Norristown.
Andnthat day was super fun at the shirt factory. Someone brought out icencream as a special treat. That night some married women and youngnsingle girls gave a party for the “Old Maids,” and Richards wasnasked to give a speech; she said she hoped that Old Maids Day wouldnnever be called “Spinsters Day” and that it would never bencommercialized. Everyone agreed that recognition of unmarried womennshould happen once a year in Norristown.n
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nAndnthere was a bit of newspaper coverage – and soon Richards and “OldnMaids Day” secretary Dora McCracken were inundated with lettersnfrom people wanting to privately celebrate their own unmarriednfriends and relatives on June 4 or who wanted to start a publicncelebration in their own town. Letters came even from otherncountries, such as Germany, Canada, England, and Finland. n
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nBynthe way…
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nCannyou think of a reason that there were more unmarried women in thenlate 1940s?
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nManynwomen had been waiting for men that they loved to return back fromnWorld War II. And the tragic truth about war is that some soldiers donnot come back home.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAudacitynto Hope Day
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nCleannAir DayninnCanada
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nQueen’snbirthday in Niue
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nAnniversarynof Henry Ford’s first test drive
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nAnniversarynof the great auk going extinct
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Plan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
Plan ahead:
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Check out my Pinterest boards for:
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nJune holidays
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nJune birthdays
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nHistorical anniversaries in June
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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nnJuly holidays
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nnJuly birthdays
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nnHistorical anniversaries in July
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