Dark History - 138: Dark History: Debutante Balls, Prom, & Daughters for sale?

Episode Date: July 17, 2024

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Some of us loved Prom. Some of us thought it was stupid. Some of us didn’t even go. But why do we even do it? And when did Prom start? Turns out… the roots of this high school tradition goes back centuries and involves something *VERY* controversial. This is the Dark History of… Debutante Balls & Prom. I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in tomorrow for more Dark History.  Want some cool Bailey Merch?  Shop Dark History Merch: https://www.baileysarian.com _______ You can find the Dark History podcast on Apple, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcasts, and every Thursday here on my YouTube for the visual side of things.  Apple Podcast- https://www.apple.co/darkhistory Dark History Merch-  https://www.baileysarian.com _______ FOLLOW ME AROUND   Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d  Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: [e-mail]  Business Related Emails: [e-mail] Business Related Mail:  Bailey Sarian  4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300  Burbank, CA 91505 _______ Shop the SKIMS Soft Lounge Collection at SKIMS.com.After you place your order, select "podcast" in the survey and select Dark History in the dropdown menu that follows. For listeners of the show, Dipsea is offering an extended 30 day free trial when you go to https://www.DipseaStories.com/DARKHISTORY. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid I.V. when you go to https://www.LIQUIDIV.com and use code DARKHISTORY at checkout.  Now’s the best time to get started at https://www.StitchFix.com/darkhistory and get $100 off… that’s $25 off your first 4 Fixes for a limited time only. Must redeem within 7 days of sign up. Offer does not include Kids Fixes.

I'm gonna pitch you a dark movie. Okay listen, set in 1955 in the foggy Pacific Northwest, a teenager named Suzy Quinn is on her way to her winter formal dance. While driving with her boyfriend, they're run off the road by a drunk driver and then they drown in the river and die. It's so tragic. 40 years later Suie comes back as a ghost to haunt the boy who lives in her old house. I know I was like why not a drunk driver? Anyways. And to get revenge on the criminal banker trying to put her parents out on the streets. Creepy right? Maybe? No? Well friends, this is the plot of Suzy Q. It's a Disney movie from 1996. Did you see it? Ah! Starring Amy Jo Johnson. Shout out to the Pink Ranger. It was actually a favorite of mine and

for some reason I was watching it the other day and it's so good. I love it. I used to be obsessed with it when I was a kid. Suzy's winter formal dance made me think of prom. Bing! Idea. Dark history, right? Some of us loved prom, some of us, you know, thought it was dumb, some of us didn't go, but it was like, why do we even do it? And when did prom start? Well, it turns out the roots of this high school tradition goes back centuries and involves something very controversial, of course. This is the dark history of debutante balls and prom. Ah!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. Here we believe history does not have to be boring. I mean, it might be tragic, sometimes it's happy, but either way, it's our dark history. Before we get into it, don't forget to like and subscribe. I come out with that hot, juicy history gas every week.

And yeah, so do it. And let me know like what you think, because I love hearing from you guys in the comments section. And then at the end, you know, I read the comments, so make sure to leave a comment, okay? Listen, during this episode, if you're home and you got nothing else to do,

take a shot every time I say balls. Oh yeah. It's gonna be fun. Now, let's get into it, shall we? But first we should acknowledge the two beauties in the room. (*audience clapping*) Choices were made. Choices were made. Gorgeous, flawless, beautiful. Love the hair, Joan. It's big. How'd you get that volume? I'm always trying to get volume. Paul, you look,

I mean this in the nicest way, but like, you know when you go through those mazes in, during Halloween, like those spooky mazes, you would be in one of those mazes. during Halloween like those spooky mazes you would be in one of those mazes and I would definitely scream when I turned around the corner you just look creepy but like really I mean that in a nice way. Jonas is giving a little bit of John Benet Ramsey you know sorry okay I feel guilty. Okay, anywho, once again, I was left out of the group chat, so I didn't know I was supposed to dress up. You guys, whatever.

Anyways, so prom. So to understand the history of prom, we need to talk about the history of something called a debutante ball. Are you familiar? Because I was not. Now, I mean, when I think of debutante ball, instantly I go to like toddlers and Tierra's, but I guess it's really not that far off because

the word debutante comes from the French word debuté, which means to begin. And then you throw in tante on the end or the back of it and it translates as quote female beginner. It's kind of like borderline like oh female beginner of what? I don't know. Fun fact this is also where we get the word debut. Oh yeah you know like um to present something for the first time like Bailey Sarian in her Broadway debut as Simba in The Lion King. Oh, I wish I could. Someone pick me up and I'd be like, wah, I'd be really good.

So when it comes to debutante balls, the thing that is being presented for the first time is a teenage girl. That's right. Throughout history, debutante balls have been formal events where young ladies are formally presented to society as women for the first time. They're like, there she is, to America.

You know, cause she's like present. She's like, I'm here America. Hi, I'm a woman now. And this idea that young women should be publicly evaluated, critiqued and put up for sale goes back centuries. Something I like about fashion lately is you can actually wear your lounge wear out of the house. Remember like 10 years ago,

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And it moves with my body and I don't feel restricted You know the ribbed tank is truly the best I have a bajillion in black because I wear it like every day I wear the tank with like some jeans or something or when i'm at home I wear the tank and the briefs or the fold over pants. I love it! It's comfortable! Soft! Shop the Skims Soft Lounge Collection at skims.com now available in sizes extra extra small to 4x and if you haven't yet be sure to let them know I sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select dark history in the dropdown menu that follows. Thanks, Kims. Now let's get back to today's story. Back around 450 BC,

there was a Greek historian named Herodotus. Because of all the investigations and writing he did, Herodotus is actually referred to as the father of history and he documented an interesting event in Babylon. Herodotus explained that the Babylonians would round up all of the young women and bring them to the town square or somewhere public. Then a crowd of men, all of of them single and like, you know, kind of horny, they would form a circle around the women. Once the circle was complete and no

woman could escape, an auctioneer would have each girl stand up one by one. He would always start with the most attractive lady in the group because she would allegedly bring in like the most money and then you know The bidding would begin. I know I was like, oh my god I feel so bad if you were like called last and you're like really damn am I that bad? Like you thought you're cute and then it was very humbling Anyways, whoever bid the highest got to take you know The lady home and then the auctioneer would move on to like the next most attractive girl until highest got to take the lady home. And then the auctioneer would move on to the next most attractive girl

until he got to the last bottom of the barrel kind of thing. Yeah, poor Babylonian Bertha. She may not be a looker, but damn, she can make a mean keyline pie. Any bidders? So how do you sell that? Now Herodotus said that these men weren't paying top dollar for these women to be their slaves.

The goal was like actually to buy a wife, but potato, potato, you know. To the woman being purchased, I mean, I don't know if there really was a difference. These displays of treating young ladies like produce at a farmer's market continued through the middle ages all across Europe. Now at this time, whatever class you were born into, you were kind of stuck, you were stuck there. That is unless you can marry an heiress with lots of

money. And this is exactly what a lot of self-made working class men in Europe tried to do. I don't know where they got the money to do this, like maybe by selling their own daughter off, but uh they did it. If a working-class person could buy a wealthy wife, they also bought that wealthy wife's connections and by doing this they could rise in the social ranks. I mean, back then, more than anything, it was all about forming powerful alliances. And the fast way to do this was through marriage. From the 1500s to the 1700s, the practice of publicly presenting young women for marriage in the upper class became very popular.

For women back then, finding a husband was priority number one. I mean, no matter what social class they were in. That's because women needed a husband in order to like, have money and to do really anything. Without a husband at this time, a woman had no way to support herself. These early versions of debutante markets were around for a very long time, and it was just something that people did. Some historians believe the first debutante parties emerged around the 17th century.

They were nothing like those Babylonian men, you know, surrounding women in a circle. But then one special English king came along and said, what if we add a little razzle dazzle to the whole debutante experience? And let's do it to honor my wife. Eh? Idea? Well in the late 1700s, King George III was on the English throne. We actually talked about him in the Astor Place episode.

Remember? Oh you don't? Well we did. He was that mad king who didn't want anyone to perform King Lear because he thought people were making fun of him, which they were. Anyway, he had a wife, Queen Charlotte, and they had a reputation problem and were accused of being cheap. So King George wanted to do something to shut everyone up, you know? He's like, I'll show them. I'm not cheap.

Kind of. He's like, I'll show them. I'm not cheap. Kinda. In 1780, King George decided to throw an over the top, an elaborate party for his wife's birthday. And I think it's safe to assume she was probably very into this idea, because Queen Charlotte loved making her birthday like a whole thing. On her special day, Charlotte liked being surrounded by friends, royal advisors, and young pretty maids of honor. I mean pretty much Charlotte just she loved the attention. I think we all know like one of those friends who it's like their birthday month. It's not just their birthday, it's a freaking month and you're like girl it's not that serious you know. I'm sorry if you're that person I'm sorry but like that's Charlotte. Same. And the highlight of the birthday parties was when the cute maids of honor would wheel in a gigantic cake. Like I guess Queen Charlotte

loved that part. So the king knew that this would be an easy sell to his wife. She's like more attention, say less. And that party in 1780 would be the very first formal debutante ball. So it was originally known as Queen Charlotte's Birthday Party, but over time became known as the Queen Charlotte's Ball. Now if you scored an invite to this event it was kind of like winning the lottery. I mean it was a coveted invite because this meant that you were going to be part of the quote presentation at court as in the royal court. So the girls were going to be part of the quote, presentation at court, as in the royal court. So the girls were going to be presented to the king and queen. The age of these girls presented at royal court was around 17 to 18 years old.

So it was not easy to get an invitation. The parents of the young girl would request one from the Lord Chamberlain of the household. This guy was a high-ranking officer to the king and queen and he was the big rulemaker when it came to all of this stuff. So Lord Chamberlain would decide if a girl got an invite or not. Her acceptance depended totally on the reputation of her parents and as you can imagine the upper and noble classes of society were considered to have the best reputations. Now if a girl got one of those golden tickets, it was time to get ready for the greatest

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For listeners of the show, Dipsy is offering an extended 30-day free trial when you go to dipsystories.com slash dark history. DPSE stories.com slash dark history. Thank me later. She was gonna be presented to the fricking king and queen. For these royal presentations, a girl had to look the part.

And of course, like she wanted to stand out among the others. So step one, the outfit. The outfit. What do these debutantes wear? Let's talk about it. Well, in order to even be seen by the queen, a debutante had to wear a certain type of outfit. This included a white or pale gown,

absolutely no loud colors, none of outfit. This included a white or pale gown, absolutely no loud colors, none of that. The gown must also include a graceful, tasteful, an elegant train. And the cherry on top was the headdress was made of ostrich feathers. If these requirements were not met, the debutante would be refused entry. No marriage for you.

But if she got in, the debutante was then brought before the king and queen. Next, she was expected to bow. But this wasn't like any old run of the mill bow. It was actually a very formal, very strict type of curtsy. And you had to do it perfectly or you'd be judged, okay? It all begins with the starting position. The girl would be standing upright facing the king and queen

and then would calm the bow. The girl would take a step back with one foot, bend the knees into a deep curtsy and slightly bow her head. The deeper the curtsy and the longer the girl held it, uh, showed like more respect for the king and queen. It reminds me of the movie Anastasia where she where she bows. I guess they bow a lot in a lot of princess movies actually, huh? Yeah. Okay. Bow. Finally, the recovery. The girl would like rise from the curtsy, step back to her original position, and then gracefully walk away without turning her back to the king and queen.

Hard work, let me tell you. So once this happened, it officially signaled to the world that this young lady was ready for marriage. So bring on the suitors. The annual court presentations became the biggest events of the social calendar. And this kicked off what became known as the debutante season in London. From May to July of every year, it was a non-stop string of social events, from like garden parties to races and concerts and like to other luxurious balls. The debutantes would

network with other wealthy women and mingle with potential husbands. They had this whole system of dance cards. I guess each debutante had a card specific to her and men could mark themselves down on it, essentially reserving a dance with the debutante later on. And the guys had to be fast because the most popular debutantes had full dance cards right away.

I mean, it was serious business. They didn't just wanna right away. I mean, what a serious business. They didn't just want to get married, I mean, they wanted to marry right. To do that, preparations for the season were intense. According to the late Fiona McCarthy, a debutante who was presented before Queen Elizabeth II, these preparations lasted for several months before the formal presentation at Buckingham Palace. Debutantes would spend a few months at a finishing school where they would learn a foreign language, work on etiquette, practice their dance skills,

and then perfect that fancy ass curtsy. And you know, of course, you're going to Buckingham Palace, so it's like you wouldn't wanna wear something that you already own. A new wardrobe was a must. Fiona said that every debutante needed a minimum of six dance dresses. One had to be white and that was for Queen Charlotte's ball. Two or three of the dresses needed to be long and formal for the other lavish balls. Then they needed several silk or chiffon day dresses. On top of all that,

they needed to accessorize with shoes, gloves, handbags, blah blah blah diamonds. You get it. And when the season ended, they capped it all off with dances and house parties in the country. And then I imagine that they would sleep for like nine straight days after that because this schedule, huh? Geez. Now, Queen Charlotte died in 1818, but the presentation of debutantes at the royal court continued for almost another 180 years. And over time, the invite list evolved

and so did the application process. So let's say you were once a debutante who was presented before the queen. That meant you were entitled to nominate a debutante of your own choice. And if she was selected by the Lord Chamberlain, you'd go to the ball at Buckingham Palace with her as her chaperone.

And doing it this way made sure that the invite list was kept to a privileged group of people, like daughters of earls, dukes, diplomats, doctors, lawyers, and bankers. This was all just really one giant display of wealth and power. So this whole thing was like one big fashion show. So it's no wonder that debutantes would be profiled in English publications like the Tatler.

I mean, they were like the celebs of their time. That also meant that the debutantes were under an intense microscope. I mean, they needed to be polite and proper 100% of the time. And virginity was a requirement. I know, I was like, how'd they check? I don't know. You virgin, liar. The whole point of these debutante balls was to parade these pure, perfect young ladies

in front of wealthy men like, you see? You like what you see? Take your pick. Now I don't know if there were any rules for the men, but I do know that men who got a little too handsy with the debutantes could get blacklisted. So that's good. Something. I mean of course there are going to be some guys who take it too far. with the debutantes could get blacklisted. So that's good, something. I mean, of course, like there are gonna be some guys

who take it too far. I guess like within the groups, there were secret codes that would be circulated around to kind of warn each other of problematic guys. One of these codes was NSIT, which stood for not safe in taxis. And there was another MTF, which meant must touch flesh. As in like this, this monster can't help himself.

Don't be in a room alone with him. He must touch flesh. But despite the dark side of debutante balls, they were still sought after events. Because as we've learned on this show, the Royals were the trendsetters of their day. If they did something, everyone wanted to do it. So the debutante trend became a fad that reached other countries real fast, including the United

States of America. Historians say that not long after the American Revolution, George Washington and his wife Martha hosted their own version of a debutante ball. And something I found interesting was that you didn't have to be English to be presented at court over in London. In fact, there were a bunch of heiresses

who traveled from North America to England to be presented to the King and Queen. Barbara Hutton, a famous American debutante, she was presented to the King and Queen. Barbara Hutton, a famous American debutante, she was presented to the King and Queen of England in 1931. She said, quote, money alone can't bring you happiness, but money alone has not brought me unhappiness, end quote. I mean, okay. Usually you hear rich people just say like,

oh, money can't bring you happiness. And you're like, well, I'm happy when my bills are paid. But like this quote is kind of, it's like it can't bring you happiness, but it didn't bring me unhappiness. Like at least it's a little bit more honest, you know? Now many wealthy American women like Barbara wanted to fall in love with an aristocrat

and marry into royalty. I mean, they had wealth, but they also wanted prestige. And getting into the Queen Charlotte's ball was the best way to meet royal men. Yeah, this is where you're gonna meet them. And there was a name for these women. They were called dollar princesses. Right now, okay.

It's like being a groupie, but dollar tree, kinda. And this next wealthy American woman put all those dollar princesses to shame. She didn't just marry any ordinary British aristocrat. She went straight to the top. I gotta get out of here, I gotta marry rich. Wallace Simpson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up as a wealthy debutante and socialite.

In 1931, she met Prince Edward, who became the King of England five years later. Well, Wallace and Edward fell in love and wanted to get married. But it was scandalous. That's because Wallace had two ex-husbands who were both alive. Now at the time, you see what happened was at the time, the Church of England said no royal could get married in the church if either of them had a former spouse still living. And that was a problem, especially because the King of England was also the head of the Church of England. Uh-oh.

So there was a conflict of interest here. King Edward was like, screw it, I don't care. I love Wallace. And he decided to marry her anyway. Now this caused a constitutional crisis in England. I mean, people were, their heads were blown off. They were just so mad. Outraged is a great word I could use in this place.

So just 325 days after taking the throne, Edward stepped down from being the king so he and Wallace could move to France and live happily ever after. A man who literally chooses you over being a king? That's love. And so romantic. Is that a movie? They should make that a movie. That's love. And so romantic. Is that a movie?

They should make that a movie. That's very sweet. So it's very clear being a debutante can get you places. So it's no wonder that in the early to mid 1800s, debutante balls started popping up in New York, Louisiana, Philadelphia, and even Chicago. Now in 1817, a debutante ball was held in Savannah, Georgia. In fact, it still goes on to this very day

and is now known as the Christmas Cotillion. It was so popular that debutante balls spread through the South like wildfire. To this day, the American South is well known for their lavish debutante balls, where fathers present their daughters to the community for the first time as women. Much like in England,

American debutantes became A-listers themselves. There was so much hype and buzz around these young women's outfits and activities that journalist Walter Winchell invented a word, celebutante. It was invented to describe one woman in particular. Brenda Frazier was a famous debutante in New York. She was so popular in the 1930s she was given the nickname Deb of the Decade. Wow what an honor huh? And when the debutante season rolled around in 1938

Brenda was already a veteran of the scene. So she waited for like all the other little rich girls to make their debut and then you know get them out of the way so all the focus could be on her. But hours passed by and Brenda was nowhere to be found. Just me and my friends here getting ready to watch the Summer Olympics. Hey. I mean, whenever I'm watching the Summer Olympics, I don't know about you guys, but I get really thirsty. I mean, all that hard work makes me exhausted. They're amazing, those athletes.

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watching gymnastics and keeping myself hydrated this summer with Liquid IV. I love gymnastics. It's so good. Oh my god, I know. Turn your ordinary water into extraordinary hydration with Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code dark history at checkout. That's 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code dark history at liquidiv.com. So time is passing and everyone was like, where's Brenda? Where is Brenda?

Like, have you seen Brenda? Where is Brenda? Where is Brenda? And then the next seen Brenda? Where is Brenda? Where is Brenda? And then the next day, she finally revealed herself to the public. I know, what an entrance. The San Francisco Chronicle, which was 2,500 miles away, announced Brenda is finally out. Now we can all relax. Whether the balls were held in the north or south, most of these celebutants had two things in common.

They were wealthy and they were white. So American women of color decided to stop waiting around for an invite and did something about it. In 1895, the first black debutante ball premiered in New Orleans and it was tied to Mardi Gras celebration. They quickly then spread to other states like Illinois and Georgia. But the goals of Black debutante balls were much different than those of the

typical white ones. Brittany Noel Corbin, a former debutante and guest curator at the Lucy C. Laney Museum of Black History, has done a lot of research into this. She said, quote, It was a way for black families to be part of this uplift movement and really combat the stereotypical views of black people in America. One of these stereotypes was that black men are absent from the home. According to Brittany,

these debutante balls really highlighted the core family and black love, and they focused on educating their young women and preparing them for life and society. These debutante balls were really important for the confidence of young Black women living in a world where they were and are constantly compared to white beauty standards. They were especially important during the time of Jim Crow laws and during the Civil Rights Movement.

It wasn't just like Black Americans getting into the debutante game. Mexican-American debutante balls premiered in Laredo, Texas in 1898. The event was thrown by the Society of Martha Washington. So the debutantes got the nickname Las Marthas. Also, it wasn't all about wealth. Working class families got involved and viewed the event as a rite of passage for their daughters.

And the event still goes on today. And even though it's not all about the 1%, that doesn't mean, you know, it isn't over the top and posh. The dresses the girls wear take like a year to make. They can weigh up to a hundred pounds and can cost nearly $30,000. I know, I almost passed out. I was like, what?

What? $30,000 for a dress? What? It better have like diamonds all over it, okay? But exclusivity is the lifeblood of the wealthy. And over time, the British debutante season, including presentation at court and the Queen Charlotte's ball, became less exclusive. That's because society was changing after World War II. I mean, people were just less interested in, you know, old stuffy traditions,

and that included the royals themselves. In the 1950s, Prince Philip allegedly said that debutante presentations in front of the queen was, quote, bloody daft. Yeah, which is like a very English way to say, really stupid. Princess Margaret went on record saying, quote, we had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in.

Ooh, I don't know, every tart. Can I say that? Tart, I love a pop tart. In 1958, Queen Elizabeth II officially ended the debutante presentation at Buckingham Palace. Fun fact, the very last debutante presented to the queen was Sandra Seagram, who is the great granddaughter of the guy who invented

that big Canadian's alcohol company. You know, just because the Queen Charlotte's Ball ended in London, it didn't mean that debutante balls disappeared. Nay, nay. I mean, their popularity over there faded, sure. But in 1954, the debutante ball was founded in New York, you know, to carry on the tradition in America. And if you Google the pictures, blip blop blop, because you can see like photos of the same dress they have the white gloves same hair do

they just really they all look the same they all look the same and it's just like it's so boring well maybe that's what they're going for bailey maybe they want to be boring because they want their personalities to stand out but it's not because they're spending a lot of money with like the dresses and all that so it's like i don't get a lot of money with like the dresses and all that. So it's like, I don't get it. Anyway, so they all look the same and you're like, okay, cool. And then like standing by them is like their dad or they're like a male chaperone

and they're all in like black tuxedos and they all look the same. So it's just a copy and paste, you know, just, I don't know, just creepy. It looks weird. But good for you guys. Stay busy, rich people. Sure do have a lot of time on your hands, huh? But now that we know all about Debbie Tom Balls, the scene is officially set to talk about prom. Yeah? And it starts off all well and good. But, you know, this is America, So it doesn't take long for it to completely go off the rails We're good at doing that. So historians link Debbie Tom Balls and prom

They are linked like this. Both of them are about teens announcing to the world like hey, look at me I'm a grown adult now, yay, you know? And it's like very formal, they're over the top, these big public events. But I mean, there is a big difference. Anne Anderson, the author of High School Prom, Marketing, Morals, and the American Team, I think says it the best, saying quote,

prom is the democratic debutante ball. And us Americans, I mean, we love our democracy. So the word prom itself comes from the word promenade. It typically means a place to take a leisurely stroll. It also is used to describe movements in ballet and ballroom dancing. But during the late 1800s, it took on a new meaning thanks to the Ivy League colleges.

Promenade concerts at this time featured young people dressed to the nines and dancing. It was like, put on your tuxedo, we're going to listen to music and dance on the promenade. I don't know, maybe we're lazy or something, but I guess we thought promenade was too long so we were like, prom! Just prom! was too long so we were like prom, just prom. I mean no one knows for sure when the first American prom was celebrated but it was at some point. The first prom mentioned in the record books happened on December 5th 1879 and on this day the Harvard student newspaper The Crimson had an article that mentioned the quote, junior prom. And then we

see prom pop up again in 1895 in the diary of a guy named Dwight Morrow. We know about this guy's diary because he went on to become an important ambassador and U.S. Senator. I know because at first it sounds kind of weird. It's like why do we know this guy's diary? But he became important, so he read his diary, you know? That's what you do. But weird. It's like, why do we know this guy's diary? But he became impor. So he read his diary, you know? That's what you do. But when he was in college, he wrote in his diary that he had been invited to the junior prom

at Smith College. Okay, so those are proms that were happening at college. But high school proms, as we know them today, they began happening around 1920. But they were for white students only. I guess these events were meant to teach kids how to behave properly when it came to race and gender. I know, but it's like how can you like do that when black students aren't even allowed in? Make it make sense. Right. But then high school proms start to gain more popularity. That's because it wanted to give the debutante ball experience to middle-class high schoolers,

but without the debutante ball price tag. And of course, it was a hit. Amy Best, the writer of Prom Night, Youth, Schools, and Popular Culture, said, quote, the message was that you did not have to be rich to wear a fancy frock, to be adorned with a corsage, or to waltz the night away. By the 1930s, prom was very important to high schoolers around America.

I mean, it was so important that when the Great Depression happened, high school principals postponed their proms. I mean, they did this because they worried less fortunate students would be psychologically wounded if the prom happened and they couldn't afford to go. High school prom at this time looked and felt a lot like Debbie Chomp balls.

I mean, they had the same rules and dress codes. For example, like girls could not wear masculine clothing. In other words, no pants, women could not wear masculine clothing. In other words, no pants. Women could not wear pants, no pants. And in 1938, there was a dating guide that came out and it was written by Norton Hughes Jonathan. It was called, Gentlemen Aren't Sissies. It sounds like a book title written

by a high school football coach. Well, Norton here told young men that wooing women the old school way, you know with a sense of humor and charm, was a waste of time. He said if young men wanted to attract desirable prom dates, they needed to quote, spend money like water. Yeah. I was kidding.

But I wouldn't mind. Anywho, the 1940s and the 50s are considered the golden age of prom. After World War II, the American middle class exploded and so did proms. This happened because people realized they could actually make money off of teen trends and the prom itself.

Prom kings and queens were being crowned left and right. And instead of like a simple fancy evening in the high school gym, like these proms moved to luxurious hotel ballrooms and big banquet halls. Then in 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in a major case. It was called Brown versus Board of Education. And it essentially said that it was unconstitutional for public schools to be segregated. So effective immediately,

public schools that shut out black students had to open their doors to them. And I mentioned this because the Supreme Court ruling didn't just cover, you know, the classroom. It also applied to all school events including prom. But eye roll. Some parents did not like this and went looking for a loophole. Paul needs a summer refresh. I mean, yes, he already has clothes, but he's been wearing the same shirt forever. Paul, is that really what you're gonna wear to our anniversary dinner?

I mean, I thought you were digging me somewhere nice. Well solution it's time to reach out to your Stitch Fix stylist. You know because they do all the shopping for you and it's the easiest way to update your wardrobe this season. All you have to do is give your stylist your size, style, and budget preferences, and they will send you personalized pieces that fit flawlessly. Stitch Fix is the best way to discover new styles and brands just for you. I mean, they learn about your taste, and then they collaborate with you

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That's StitchFix.com slash dark history for $100 off. StitchFix.com slash dark history. Must redeem within seven days of sign up and offer does not include kids fixes. In 1970, white parents at Charleston high school in Mississippi, they were pissed off about the, uh, Supreme court decision. So they organized an invite only prom for just the white students. White parents argued that since these events were privately funded, there were no civil rights violations. And in response, black parents were

like, how about you shut the fuck up? Okay. And then they organized their own prom for their own kids. Around the same time, interest in prom started to dip because during the 60s and the 70s, the counterculture revolution changed everything and people were rebelling against the establishment. On top of this, you know, a lot of parents were concerned about their kids who were like 18 maybe being drafted into the Vietnam War. So like worrying about prom is like not that important, you know? Eventually pop culture showed up and like got America interested in prom again.

In 1976, the horror movie, Carrie, hit theaters and shocked everyone. You remember Carrie, they came out with a new one too, remember? But you've seen the original Carrie, I hope. The movie featured Carrie, a supernatural teenager getting a bucket of pig's blood dumped on her head after she's crowned prom queen as a joke.

And then she gets her revenge. Carrie does. Oh yes, she does. By trapping everyone inside the gym and then burning them alive. So people were like, yeah, let's go to prom. It's really amped me up. Prom stories became lighter and then more fun in the 80s.

Movies like Footloose and Pretty in Pink made audiences feel like prom was this amazing thing and like it's an experience no one should miss. People were like, yeah, prom. I don't know. Well, all this is going on. Charleston High School, Mississippi, their proms were still segregated.

Yeah, I'm sure there's other ones too. This is one we know about. In 1997, the high school gained national attention when actor Morgan Freeman got involved. Yeah, 97, they were still doing the shit. Morgan said he was willing to sponsor the prom, meaning pay for it, only if the high school agreed to have one prom for students of all colors.

And Charleston High School refused. Yeah. They continued having racially segregated proms up until 2008. And that isn't even like the worst offender. Wilcox County High School in Georgia, they didn't even have their first integrated prom for all of their students until April 27, 2013. 2013?

That was just 11 years ago. And it was the students themselves who made it happen. So when you really start to look at it, prom becomes a reflection of controversial social issues happening in America. For example, prom has also been a battleground for LGBTQ plus and gender rights. In 2016, students at Foothill High School

were set to cast their votes for the schools like prom King and Queen. Haley Lack and her girlfriend, Jenna, they wanted to be considered in the race. But then the school got involved and said, a lesbian couple could not run to be King and Queen. The school principal said the traditional titles of King and Queen could only go to be king and queen. The school principal said the traditional titles of king and queen could only go to a boy and girl. This story quickly picked up national attention

and even the ACLU weighed in stating it was discrimination based on sexual orientation. So Haley and Jenna they took their fight all the way to the school district and they won. The school reversed their decision and the couple was able to run for prom royalty. I don't know if they like won the titles but I think like bigger picture they definitely won. Yeah because they got the school policy reversed I mean way to go. In 2017 Boylan Catholic High School in Illinois made national headlines because they created a 21 slide presentation explaining what was acceptable to wear to prom.

Well, someone got ahold of it and then they published it online. This prom guide said girls' dresses, they shouldn't have necklines low enough to show cleavage and that skirts should hit below mid thigh. It was all about the dress and as usual stated, you know, not much about the menswear. So the issue is like due to different body types, the same dress is going to obviously fit much differently from one girl to the next.

Plus like if you have like a bigger chest, you know, like sometimes you can't help it if there's cleavage. Point blank you know what I'm saying but in this 21 slide presentation several pages and 11 slides were dedicated to telling the ladies what they could and could not wear but only two slides just four pictures and one sentence talked about the men's dress code. Then just last year in 2023, a student named B. Hayes was barred from prom at Nashville Christian School because they wore a suit to the event and the school felt that they should have worn a dress. Unfortunately, the school held firm in their decision.

So the community stepped up and threw a private prom for B and 25 of their friends. But despite all the scandals, prom is big business in America. I mean there's so much money that goes into it. Hair, nails, makeup, tux, restaurant, photos, florists, ticket limo, whatever, you know? It's just like a never ending list of expenses. And like the excuses like, well itending list of expenses and like the excuse is like, well it's for one night, like who cares? So that kind of like makes you spend even more money.

I mean there is like no exact dollar amount that we can put on the prom industry but according to fortune business insights the prom dress market alone was worth 14 billion billion in 2023. Damn, I know. And an economist for Fortune said past surveys put the average cost of prom between 600 to $1,000. And there's some people who reported spending close to like $2,000 for prom. They, damn, what the fuck? You know what, you know what? This is my senior prom.

I went to the thrift store. I got a white pair of high heels I found, spray painted them hot pink, and my mom made me this simple black dress. And then I wore a zip up hoodie. I'm not even kidding. I wore a zip up hoodie and sunglasses. I thought it was so cool.

But I think I spent like five bucks on the shoes. The spray paint I think I borrowed from the neighbor. So you really don't have to spend that much money to have fun, you guys, okay? Just thought. There was one stat that stood out to me in my research. According to a 2015 study by Visa, it's a credit card company, families at or below the poverty line that stood out to me in my research. According to a 2015 study by Visa,

it's a credit card company, families at or below the poverty line spend about $600 more on prom than families who are more well off. I mean, I don't know if anyone has answers as to why that is. We can make assumptions. Maybe families feel more pressure

to keep up with the wealthier families. Maybe they save duckball year for this. Or maybe they just don't want to disappoint their kid so they go like above and beyond. I mean we don't know but whatever the reason is, it touches on an important truth. Whether we're talking about debutante balls or prom, people shell out freaking money just for one night. De Tom Balls and prom, it's hard to say because it has such a questionable background as we've learned. Used to be about like selling women,

presenting your woman to be hopefully like married off to someone rich and wealthy. And then prom is just like an excuse to party and spend a shit ton of money, but I don't know, like, I don't know. What is it? Why do we do it? I still don't even know.

Look, maybe it's just as simple as this. Wealthy or not, we like to play dress up? I don't know. And maybe like prom can be fun. Like you don't have to spend a lot of money to have fun at prom, period. I don't know. It could be, but do whatever the fuck you want.

Share your life, right? Just don't go on debt over what? One night? Yeah, whatever. And like don't drink and drive, okay? That's the takeaway here. If you're going to prom, don't drink and drive, you idiots. Thank you so much.

Speaking of death, that's not funny, but like, you know, I recently read somewhere that like 17 people die every single day because they're waiting for an organ transplant that never comes. And honestly, that was very shocking. 17 people every single day. And I guess there are more than, you know,

a hundred thousand people on the national transplant waiting list. I mean, when you think about it, the fact that we can take an organ out of one person and put it in another person and they can live, they can keep living a full life, I mean, that's wild. So I wondered when the hell did we start doing this? I was fully caught in this late night rabbit hole.

It came across something wild. It's a big word. That is xenotransplantation. Hey. And this is when the organ of an animal that isn't human, because it's an animal, is put into a human so they can live. And while this sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, it actually goes way back

to the mid 1800s. So come back next week for the dark history of organ transplants and pig hearts. Well friends, thank you for hanging out with me today. You can join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also catch my murder, mystery, and makeup. Plus don't forget to subscribe

because I'm here for you weekly with new content. And don't forget to like too or something like that. Hit that like, leave a comment, subscribe, take a lap, come back, great. I love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to leave a comment below so I can see what you guys are saying and your comment might even be featured

in a future episode. If you went to prom, tell me, wouldn't you wear? How much did you spend? I won't judge. I might. Do I wanna know? Now, let's read a couple of comments you guys have left me.

Our favorite part. Taryn Michelle 5763 left a comment on our Astor Place riot episode. I really love this episode. Who would have thought I'd be so invested in what happens between two crazy actors fighting centuries ago. Bailey you're the best. Thank you for all that you do. Oh my god. Thank you for all that you do. Oh my God. Thank you, Taryn. You know, that's why I started Dark History is because like you come across these stories and you're like, what the fuck?

What? Like it's hard to believe, right? And it's like, I just wanted to talk about it. I wanted to learn, but like in a fun way. And that's what my goal is here with Dark History. Like, wasn't that a wild story? It's so random and petty and it's history. So thank you, Taryn. That means a lot.

I appreciate you. Cassidy RRY, RR? Cassidy RR left me a comment saying, "'Thank you, Bailey, so much for keeping me company at work during Graveyard Shift. I appreciate you so much.'" Oh my God, Cassidy, thank you for listening. You guys are so nice. Graveyard shift I'm so sorry that's really tough. Are you listening right now? Well if you are I'm

sorry that's really hard um yeah cuz you gotta like sleep during the day but like that throws everything off right and like things aren't open 24 hours so it's like if you got shit to do it's kind of an inconvenience, isn't it? Okay, well thank you, Cassidy. I appreciate you. Alexis M. Arnold left us an episode suggestion. I'd love to see Bailey do a dark history on the Titanic. It's something I become obsessed with every now and again.

Oh my God, Alexis, I hear you. I hear you. I don't know why we haven't done an episode on the Titanic. Hello. Do you remember when the movie came out and it came on two VHSs? And that was kind of iconic. Like you don't know any other movies that came out on two VHSs.

And then you would skip to the second one because that's where like the juicy drama happened. You get the titties, you get the boat going down, you get like the sad ending, you get the diamond, you wish to throw it, Titanic. I will look into this Alexis, I appreciate it. I love you guys for watching and engaging, keep on commenting because maybe you'll be featured. Eh? And hey, if you don't know, Dark History is an Audioboom original. A special thank you to our expert Lucinda Gosling,

author of Debutantes and the London Season, published by Shire Books. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I hope you have a good rest of your day. You make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye. Five, six, seven, eight.