Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1896-12-29
: FOR BETTER OR WORSE.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE.
some OF tho Quaint Old Marriage Gus
toms and superstitions.
According to an old writer the
wedding ring was first designed by
Prometheus and fashioned out Of
adamant and iron by Tubal Cain.
The same writer says that it was
given by Adam to. his son to this
end, that Herewith he should es-
pouse a wife, When paradise had
quite receded from view, men, who
are deceivers ever, got into fash
ION OF wedding with ring made of
PUSHES, to make their vows the less
binding. But in 1912 the bishop Of
Salisbury ehectually put his foot
down on this practice. Wedding
rings were made as often of silver
as Of gold and of fantastic shapes,
With ''posies'' inside; one of which
ran:
Fortune doth send you, hap 1t we'll or iii,
This plain gold ring to we'd you to your will.
The wedding cake is the remains
OF Roman custom. In ancient
Rome a bride held in her left hand
three wheat ears; the attendant girls
threw corn, either in grains or in
small bits of cake, upon the heads
OF the newly married pair, and the
guests picked up the pieces and alto
them. In the eighteenth century the
wedding cake came into general use.
It was then composed of solid blocks
laid together and iced over with
sugar. When it was served, it was
held over the brides head, and the
outer crust was broken. Then the
cakes inside fell on the floor and
we're distributed to the company.
Throwing the slipper has an origin
the reverse of sentimental and is a
"Reminiscences Of those barbarous
times when the relations Of man and
wife we're much akin to those Of
master and slave. The shoe was an
Anglo-Saxon emblem of authority
and was given by the brides father
to her husband in token Of transfer
ence Of power, which the groom &C.
knowledged by tapping hts bride
lightly on the head with it as an
earnest of>mastership.
The superstitions connected with
entering the married state are nu-
merous and curious, and most of
them are a purely feminine posses
sion AS preliminary there is
little difficulty about choosing day,
if this little verse is tc be believed;
Monday for wealth.
Tuesday for health,
Wednesday the best day Of all.
Thursday for crosses.
Friday for losses,
Saturday no luck at ALL
If day has finally been chosen,
then comes the question of season.
MARRY in Lent, and you'll live to
repent takes that period out Of
consideration. Then each month
has certain unlucky days, on which
marrying and giving in marriage
Is not to be thought of: Then there
are other sibylline utterances to
which the prospective bride should
pay heed. She must know that ito
change the name and not the letter
is to change for the worse and not
the better;' also that to marry and
yet Ito keep her own name is to
keep her condition forever the
same"
When all these little obstacles are
overcome, a bride in arraying her
self for the ceremony must be sure
to wear
Something old and something new.
Something borrowed and something blue.
The sun must shine on her we'd
ding day, and she must not trip on
the way to the church or cross tho
threshold with the left foot first.
The same applies to the bridegroom.
No one must open an umbrella while
the bridal pair are in the house.
That would bring the worst Of ill
luck A horseshoe and wishbone
hidden in the flowers under which
the pair stand to plight their troth
have a most salutary influence on
their future life.
So, if those who are contemplating
matrimony. wish to secure the prize
of happiness in that lottery of lot
teries, they have only to follow
faithfully all the directions here
given.-Newark Advertiser.