People have mixed feelings about change.
We are often pleasantly surprised to note changes in others, yet we are also inclined to happily announce when someone has avoided them. Despite our ambivalence, major life changes are the focus of family and community ceremonies, which often are accompanied by giving certain types of gifts. If occupational awards are parts of our material biographies, then keepsakes of our personal lives must comprise significant parts of our autobiographies. Although we tend to think of some of our customs as being age-old traditions, they do change. For example, the black wedding dress pictured at left was not particularly unusual when it was worn in 1879.