Pueblo chieftain., 1922-01-01
(By FREDERIC J. HAsK1N.)

dlStaSte Tor thenl. Ihey are py no
means extinct, OF course. as anyone
may SEQ by glancing at the society
columns OF the newspapers, but even
the wealthy, who rarely miss an op-
portunity for elaborate display. are
losing interest in them. 1t is consid-
cred much smarter now to be mar
ried In a casual, unobtrusive way.
| Thus. in the days news we find that
an attorney of international fame and
his finance have been married by
hardware dealer. who also happens
to be Justice of the peace. A young
heiress casually informs her family
that she has married certain youth
in Connecticut a few days before. ad-
mitting that she had kept the matter
a secret because she was afraid they
would make her have a big we'd
ding" And there is the still moro
modern case of Il young man who.
, finding that he has oversight on his
wedding morning and will be late for
| his appointment at the city magis-
trate's. hastily dons an overcoat and
! is married in his pajamas.
Il simply cannot understand the
young people nowadays" complained
society matron who has recently
her family. when I was young We
were perfectly delighted to have at
tractive weddings-why we looked
forward to them as the greatest
events of our lives and knew exactly
what color our bridesmaids would
, wear FROM the time VIC We're 14-but
my daughters have such strange
ideas. I did manage to get my Oldest.
Elizabeth. married in church. but she
refused to have more than one at
tendant, maid-of-honor and ehe
wouldn't wear my wedding dress-l
had always kept 1t for her. She IN
sisted upon n plain travelling suit.
a q taf nf vial n
she made us limit the invitations to
25 people. She didn't intend to be q
martyr for the benefit of her rela-
tives and friends. she declared. She
didn't feel she owed them that much!
The Casual Marriage.
II thought Elizabeth was rather
fard and inconsiderate at the timc.
but she was tho soul of gentleness
and good humor compared to my
younger daughters 1 didn't know
Genevieve was engaged until shc told
me she was going to Greenwich to be
married one morning.
"Oh. naturally. / gasped, striving
hard to be modern. and would you
consider 1t an impcrtinence it we
marryr
Now. Mama, don't get upset. she
pleaded It's Jack, tho one with tho
nice brown eyes. you know. who's
Just come back from China
But he isn't Chinaman. is her
inquired.
"'oh. Mama, please be decent she
said. You know Jack. He's been hero
to dinner at least threo times. / Just
knew you'd fuss about my getting
married suddenly this way, because
you're so old-fashioned. you think |
everybody ought TO be married in
church. We'll. I won't go thru that
harbartc ceremony, and won't |
promise TO obey my husband, and |
won't send announcements TO all my |
second cousins and friends intimatinH
that the house is open for wedding
presents
We'll. now that I look back upon
It. tho matron continued reflectively. |
"Genevicv does not seem 40 startling
either. Wo both crien after awhile. |
and finally she agreed to let me go
to Greenwich with them. But when
We came home and announced the
news TO Laura, my youngest and most
modern daughter, she announced that
she was married too-had been mar
ried a week before in Wilmington.
But it really isn't important
Mama, she explained calmly when
asked her why I had not been told. |
I'm going right on living here at
home. because you see. Peter has 10
live with his mother-shc needs him |
so-and | could never get along living
with both of them. Just because
want to marry Peter is no reason why
should mako myself miserable
Sociologists. who like to comment
upon the significance of things tell
us that this modern contempt for tho |
conventional wedding is only one more |
manifestation OF the decline OF paren- |
tai authority. The wedding, as We
know ittodsy. is a survival of time |
more than II hundred years ago. when |
parental
those days. marriage was an institu- |
tion designed solely for the benefit OF
the family and not the individual
Young people married according to |
thoir parents directions. thereby en-
riching the family Golfers. often the |
sons Of the household were permitted |
certain latitude of choice, but the |
daughters. ncvori Every flapper had |
her bride-pricc then, and a fairly |
comely lass was n valuable family |
asset, often worth as much as five |
sheep or "A couple OF cows to her |
father. Naturally. tho transfcrencc of |
such valuable property was an import |
ant circumstance. TO bc celebrated |
with impressive solemnity and. in an |
age when very few people could read |
or write, to be extensively witnessed. |
Thus originated the wedding to which |
large numbers of relatives and friends |
were invited.
FRAMED UP MARRIAGES
In many parts of the world today |
marriages are still arranged by the
parents upon monetary basis. and
the young people involved do not oven
see each other until they appear for
the ceremony. In Afghanistan, for ex-
ample the mother of the bridegroom is
the one who makes the first advances
In the marriage negotiations. She must
provide the trousseau for the bride and
must share equally with tho brides
family the expenses of the wedding
hospitality which often embraces as
many ASIA thousand persons. Not only |
is a goodly sum paid for the bride, but
tho wedding contract clearly states
upon what financial grounds she will
stand during her married life. and in
case of her husbands death. during
her widowhood. The obligations are
~. Il. i.