Sadie Hawkins Day was first introduced in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner Comic Strip in 1937. Subsequently, students in the United States and Canada organized Sadie Hawkins Dances where the females invited the males. AU students held their first Sadie Hawkins Dance in November 1939. It was an annual event in the 1940s and 1950s though it was held in the spring starting in 1955. By 1963, AU students began celebrating Sadie Hawkins Weekend which included a variety of activities in addition to the dance. In 1966 and 1967, the students held a Li’l Abner election.

Students were encouraged to dress “Dogpatch style.” Appropriate attire included no shoes or sneakers, patched jeans or “ragged” shorts and wild hats. The girls presented their dates with vegetable corsages. The dances included mock weddings where the students exchanged pipe cleaner rings and received wedding certificates.

Sddie Hawkins Dance Photos, The Eagle, October 25, 1951

Sadie Hawkins Dance Photos, The Eagle, November 21, 1952