Gunnison news-champion., 1920-05-28
HOW MANY OF you KNOW
WHAT CHARlvARI MEANS!

HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW
WHAT CHARlvARI MEANS!
We were talking Of weddings one
day reccntly-a friend and the writer
of this article-and we remarked that
"there wall be a charivai pretty soon,
as q wedding is scheduled for q few
weeks hence. There should be . law
against it," said our friend, ''it is real
ly nothing more or less than an in
suit to the newly married couple"
She called our attention to several
weddings in Denver recently, at which
the bridal pair were treated to q
charivari. which nearly wound up in
the death of the bride in one case and
IN another instance, the groom was
seriously injured in trying to escape
his tormentors- Now. honestly, do
you Know what . charivari really is
or how il originated? Listen here,
since the month Of weddings is close
At hand. and remember the following
which 9e are assured is perfectly
The dictionary says y chArivari ID
"a mock serenade, with kettles horns,
etc. intended as an annoyonce or IN
insult"
The encyclopaedia gives the follow
ing defination Of charivari: "The
charivari is an old French custom, re-
served for ill-assorted and unpopular
marriages; for the widow or widower
who remarked too soon and also gen.
orally . mockery. for unpopular peo-
sons. At the beginning Of the 18th
hidden by the Council Of Tours under
alta. cH =.
French are said to have introduced il
under the corrupted name of 'chiva-
rec"
So there you are! You probably
only started with the rest to have q
little fun y at the expense Of the
were insulting them. France seems
to have outgrown this vulgar form of
entertainment, but It still flourishes
in the United States. And IL seems
to have degenerated even below its
original form, for the serenaders of
today not only make unearthly noises
with cowbe!ls, tin pans, horns and the
like. but demand entrance into the
home and in many instances demand
refreshmcnts, Of some sort. OF course
it is only intended as . Joke on the
newly-weds, but few ever stop to con-
slider how utterly unfair It Is to the
newly married pair to be expected to
entertain crowd Of uninvited guests,
some Of them even strangers. and
quite often many of them mere YOUNG
sters who have no sense Of the fitness
OF things and follow the crowd |" the
result il the rooms are soon filed "a
ovsrfiowing, confusion reigns and
there is not enough refreshments 70
go around, with the result that con-
siderable extra expense is added 70
the already large bill TO satisfy the
self-invited guests.
There is no harm in friendly de-
monstration shown the couple inst
settling in their new home, but there
1t should end. Rude forms Of amuse.
ment at the expense of the wedding
pair, damaging grounds and house
hold articles, etc. is not and never car
be cOnsidered in the light Of Z Joke by
the victims. Not so many months apc
there WAS q chArivari given = newly.
married couple here in our own town
The next morning, the grounds sur.
rounding the residence looked as i,
2 herd OF cattle had ran wild ovel
them while there was enough tinware
and rubbish of various kinds used IN,
night before to create . racket, t.
NIL Junk wagon. This couple escap
ed easily, however, for an exchane,
from town not 20 many miles from
Gunnison tells Of = charivari which
was given prominent business mar
and bride. They were located in theil
new home and when the racket out
Eide began. made mn their vni,,de M
to notice it, whereupon, the serenader r,
procured . garden hose and literall,
soaked the beds, carpets and furnitur,
Of their room. And they called il ,
good joke too. This was insult, plair
and simple and there are hundreds ol
such cases. Let's cut such foolish
ness out. Chariviri Is an insult-N
Webster says so-And by the way
oont say ehivares, pronounce 4