Weddings and Parties with the Pioneers

The pioneers
brightened
life on the
frontier
with parties
and other
get-togethers.
They mixed
work with
fun and sports
whenever possible.

In autumn, they held cornhusking
contests and nut-gathering parties.

In spring, they assembled in maple groves
to make sugar and syrup. The women often
got together for quilting parties.
The quilts were much in demand as bedcovers.

The settlers always enjoyed a house-raising.
The men stopped working on the house now and
then to run races or to hold wrestling bouts
or shooting contests. After the job was finished,
everyone celebrated with a lively feast.
The women prepared plenty of food, and after eating,
the settlers sat around telling stories. As a rule,
someone brought along a fiddle, and dancing and
singing went on until late in the night.

A wedding was a special time of fun and celebration.
The pioneers liked to play tricks on a couple about
to be married. Sometimes the women "kidnapped" the
bride while the men rode off with the groom.
Of course, both managed to escape in time to be married.
During the couple's wedding night, some guests, usually
young men and boys, gathered outside the newlyweds' home.
There, the assembled group shouted, banged on pans, and
otherwise created great noise in a tradition called a
charivari (pronounced shihv uh REE).

A wedding custom called charivari is widespread in various
European societies. On the wedding night, friends of the
bride and groom provide a noisy serenade by banging on pots
and pans outside the couple's bedroom. The desire to avoid
charivari led to the practice of leaving on a honeymoon
immediately after a wedding.