Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Take the Leap!

In a leap year, tradition has it that an unmarried woman

can propose to a man on February 29th (leap day),

and he must accept her proposal...or buy her a new dress!

What's a single girl got to lose??

;)

(public domain postcards circa 1908 - click on them to enlarge)

15 comments:

anitamombanita said...

Love it! Wish I'd known that when I was single...I'm sure I'd have picked up a few new dresses!! heehee

Brian Miller said...

i did not realize this...hmm...better get on the horn and let a few buddies know to watch their backs today...smiles.

karen said...

Throw in a pair of shoes and you've got a deal! Too bad I didn't know about this about 14 years ago. On second thought, I might have missed out on the best deal of all: LaMar!

Unknown said...

LOL. One of Ethan's classmates is in love with a secondary student. Somewhere she heard this tradition. So she wore a pretty dress, and proposed to him!

Susan said...

Cute! I thought about this as well. (Sadie Hawkins day.) Never heard about the dress though! Dang! So many years of missed out loveliness. (But then again, what if they said yes!)

Darlene said...

That might be a way for a gal to get a few new dresses if she is a fast worker and can propose to several guys on February 29.

I did not know about this, but I think it is interesting to find out new things. Imagine, I'm almost 85 years old and I never did hear about this.

Very fun post.

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

Love it. Marry her or get a new dress. Win win!

yaya said...

I knew about the marriage proposal, but not about the dress deal. Dang!

Grandma Yellow Hair said...

I am like Brian I did not realize this and now I better get on the horn and tell my daughter to get busy.
Love
Maggie

Lindsey Buck said...

How interesting! I love that - now I just have to badger my husband into getting me new clothes. :)

CB said...

I did not know this!
All day I was trying to think up something clever I could do because it was leap day.
Oh wait this wouldn't have worked - I'm already married and so is Bon Jovi! Oh well - Hee hee

Gail said...

That is an interesting bit of history!

The new dress my be the nicer prize!

Grandma Honey said...

Never heard of this tradition! I wonder if some women really did wait for 4 years to pass so they could propose.

Leovi said...

What fun, make use of the single. Greetings.

Myrna Foster said...

What a funny tradition! :o)