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Monday, May 02, 2016

A Forgotten Tradition: May Basket Day

Maybe there really was a time when America was more innocent.

Back when May Basket Day was a thing, perhaps.

The curious custom — still practiced in discrete pockets of the country — went something like this: As the month of April rolled to an end, people would begin gathering flowers and candies and other goodies to put in May baskets to hang on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones on May 1.

In some communities, hanging a May basket on someone's door was a chance to express romantic interest. If a basket-hanger was espied by the recipient, the recipient would give chase and try to steal a kiss from the basket-hanger.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess it beats rounding up all of the virgins in town and forcing them to dance around a large phallic symbol erected in someone's back yard.

Anonymous said...

My may pole got quite a bit of attention every spring.

Anonymous said...

3:24 PM - and so did the virgins who danced around it.