Rowen Bailey

19th century debutante balls were held in the home in order to show off the wealth of the hosting family. The debutantes would wear long, white dresses. Married women were able to dress in bright colors and patterns, but young debutante women would wear white to symbolize purity and innocence. (2) Families would display their fanciest dishes and silverware, put their expensive belongings on display, and do anything else in order to signal to guests their wealth and social status. Hosts and attendees would eat, socialize, and dance, all with the goal of partnering their young daughters off with a young gentleman of equal or higher status. The event was held with the goal of portraying young women in the most proper, high-class image and finding them a partner who fit the same image.

These early debutante balls were an important milestone in a young woman’s life. They were one of the defining moments of the transition from girlhood to womanhood. The ability to host a debutante ball alone signifies great wealth and popularity within a community. Debutante balls were an important social marker for young people and adults alike. 

Lower class families, often families of color, did not have the luxury of hosting or attending these debutante balls, as they were reserved for high class families and many children of lower class families worked. With children in the labor force, there was little ability to focus on things like finding a partner or announcing your maturity to society. There was not “fancy silverware” to display or extravagant clothing to don. (3)  During this time for lower class families, the priority was set on survival. With debutante balls being inaccessible to the middle and lower classes, debutante balls remained exclusive and highly coveted, reinforcing the importance of social status and wealth in the United States. 

As the labor force grew older and children began schooling, debutante balls influenced a new type of youth social gathering. As schools began to separate by age, public schools became a hub for socialization and youth culture. Candance Sinin Chen states that “high schools served as an incubator for a national youth culture.” (4) In the early twentieth century, many private universities hosted prom-like events to celebrate their youth and enjoy their young-adult-filled lives. As high schools became more common and things like student publications created a channel throughout not only a school’s community, but from school to school, high school students picked up on this college tradition. (5) These college proms were not seen as a rite of passage, but as a celebration of the rites of passage that had already been put behind the partygoers. (6) This priority shift opened up the accessibility of the prom to people of more diverse socioeconomic statuses. Many students could enjoy the prom in its new, casual setting, celebrating with classmates. Because of this sudden shift in priority, it may appear that the prom is its own creation, unattached to the United States’ favoring of wealthy, popular people. However, the prom regained its connections to high-class status competitions as the practice was passed down to younger generations and gained a sense of tradition in high school settings. As high schools in the United States adopted the prom tradition, the element of competition and wealth was reintroduced. 

Influenced by college proms, early high school proms were often hosted in casual dress and as a way to let loose and socialize with one’s classmates. Once campuses began to dedicate time and commitment to the prom as a tradition and an important part of school culture, the element of competition and pageantry returned. High schools began to try to one-up other schools’ proms, increasing the need to show off. (7) Each prom had to outshine not only the last, but also every other high school’s prom in the area. This increasing pressure called for more elegance, more class, and more money.
By the 1930s, high school proms were largely formal events. Ladies donned long, elaborate, fancy dresses with matching jewelry and accessories and spent hours perfecting their hair and makeup, all with the goal of standing out from the crowd at their high school’s big night. The prom became a site to impress and court classmates and peers.

As the practices of modern dating emerged, more and more students began bringing dates to the prom. As dating shifted from an in-home activity to one constantly in motion, the prom became a hub for youth dating culture. In the 1930s, high school proms were a social dating hotspot. A woman would come with one date, but the expectation was that other men would interfere and try to get to know her, known as “cutting in”. (8) If a woman didn’t spend her evening with multiple men, she was seen as unattractive and undesirable. As a man at the prom, if your date was popular enough to have many other guys come and cut in, your social status was boosted. Proms often utilized dance cards, pieces of paper or small booklets that allowed women to create a sort of itinerary or list of the men she’d dance with through the night. 

Of course, much of the desire to cut in came from a young woman’s appearance. A girl who looked the best in her dress, had the nicest hair and makeup, and sported the freshest, most unique corsage was more attractive to suitors than a girl who wore the same dress as three other girls, who had a purse from the chain store around the corner, and who wore her mother’s hand-me-down shoes. These desires for uniqueness and visual prestige began the competitive nature that we know the prom to have today. Women attendees needed to look the best out of their classmates in order to attract multiple suitors and to avoid pity and being looked down upon. In 1966, high school student Gloria recounted in her diary : “6 more days….I got my shoes for the prom. There white alligator leather with a little gloss to ‘um so precious! Put on my formal today!” (9) Through all of her excitement about her date, about the dancing, and about the decorations, the type of shoes she bought stood out- because they were that important for her success at the prom. Early twentieth century proms served not only as a dating scene, but also as a place to climb the school’s social ladder and outshine other classmates. 

Today, the prom is a highly anticipated event usually reserved for high school upperclassmen. It is a celebration of the time spent at high school and is often a significant milestone in an American student’s life. Prom remains a hub for dating culture, with rituals such as the “promposal”, matching outfits, and corsages and boutonnieres being an inherent part of the prom process. The stakes are high to have a perfect prom night: get great photos, have a killer group to show up with, and dance the night away to the most perfect, most popular songs. In many cases, prom planning takes place months in advance in many parts. Intense dedication is given when planning the large-scale details, like the event theme, down to the most minute personal details, like what color manicure will match best with one’s dress. 

In the twenty-first century, the high school prom is a precious, formative event that is often the peak of a student’s high school career– if you’re a popular, at least slightly wealthy student. Today, the prom takes on multiple goals: to commemorate the high school experience, to have a night to dress up and have fun, and more, but woven into every prom expectation is the inherent need to prove wealth and popularity. In addition to the goal of just having fun, there are other, more implicit goals embedded within the 21st century high school prom. The pressure is on to wear a unique dress, to have the best makeup and accessories, and to have the best ride to the dance, among many others. Prom goers want to make a strong  impression on their classmates, and to do that, you have to appear better than the rest. 

One of the most prevalent prom traditions today is that of the prom court. Students or school staff vote for students to become prom “royalty”, often recognized with gifts and accessories in front of the school. 

Students who value the social validation of being on the prom court often go to great lengths to be selected, including launching full campaigns to earn the votes of the student body. Some schools have eliminated the prom court altogether in order to make all students feel included. Where prom court does exist, the high school social scene morphs into a jungle of competition in the short time before the prom. Of course, only a small group of students have a fighting chance at becoming a member of the prom court. Given that students must be voted onto the court, candidates must have the popular vote of the student body, and therefore must be popular. This makes a competition out of the high school social scene, where the already popular students fight to earn the affection of the student body. Popularity in high school often comes from social status: who wears the best clothes, has the most friends, goes on the best trips.

One popular YouTube influencer, Hannah Meloche, created a video showing how intense her prom preparation was for her and her friends. 

To make an impression at the prom, you need money. (10) In 2015, a survey conducted by Visa found that American families spent an average of $919 on sending their students to the prom. (11) Families who cannot afford the factors that history has decided make a worthwhile prom night won’t be able to enjoy the night as much as wealthy people could. Lower-income students often don’t receive the praise and recognition that wealthier students do, keeping the target audience of the modern high school prom to higher-income students and their families. The deeply-embedded prom standards we know today wouldn’t exist without the historical debutante balls and historical traditions of financial competition among communities in the United States. The prom, while being a fun event for high school students across the country, remains a competition to flex wealth and social status. 

Throughout history, the prom and its other formative events have been created with the goal of proving wealth and status. Though the event has highlighted more fun aspects over time, like a night of dancing, socialization, and class bonding, the standards for a successful prom such as fancy dresses, suits, and fancy flowers limit the enjoyment of prom to the wealthy and popular people in a community. The prom has almost always been geared toward high-income students and their families, whether it be overtly or implied. Though the high school prom’s overt exclusion of marginalized groups has largely concluded, there are still barriers in place keeping people from being able to fully participate. The prom, though one of the largest American teenage traditions, was built on the idea that you must be wealthy and popular to be successful and desirable.

Footnotes 

1. Lindqwister, Elizabeth. "A Waltz through Gilded Age America: Nineteenth-Century Dance Manuals and the Sociosexual Anxiety of a Debutante Ball." Herodotus Undergraduate History Journal 29 (2019): 62-73.

2. Fleming, R.S. “‘Coming Out’ During the Early Victorian Era; about Debutantes.” Kate Tattersall Adventures, January 5, 2021. http://www.katetattersall.com/coming-out-during-the-early-victorian-era-debutantes/. 

3. Blower, Brooke. "Coming of Age." Lecture at CAS HI 303, HAR 208, February 23, 2023. 

4. Candace Sinin Chen, “Prom: How a High School Ritual Brought Youth Closer to Adulthood, 1890-1970” (PhD diss., UC Berkley, 2012), 1-122.

5. Ann Anderson, “High School Prom: Marketing, Morals and the American Teen” (McFarland and Company, inc., Publishers, 2012), 1-188. 

6. Candace Sinin Chen, “Prom: How a High School Ritual Brought Youth Closer to Adulthood, 1890-1970” (PhD diss., UC Berkley, 2012), 1-122.

7. Ann Anderson, “High School Prom: Marketing, Morals and the American Teen” (McFarland and Company, inc., Publishers, 2012), 1-188.

8. Ann Anderson, “High School Prom: Marketing, Morals and the American Teen” (McFarland and Company, inc., Publishers, 2012), 1-188. 

9. Christy, Gloria Shacklett. “1966 Diary Evokes Fond Memories of the Prom.” Rutherford County Tennessee Historical Society. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://rutherfordtnhistory.org/1966-diary-evokes-fond-memories-of-the-prom/. 

10. Amy L. Best, “Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture” (Routledge, 2000), 1-170.

11. “Cost of High School ‘Promposals’ Hits $324.” Visa Inc. - Cost of High School "Promposals" Hits $324. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://investor.visa.com/news/news-details/2015/Cost-of-High-School-Promposals-Hits-324/default.aspx. 

MEDIA 

Fig. 1: Fleming, R.S. “‘Coming Out’ During the Early Victorian Era; about Debutantes.” Kate Tattersall Adventures, January 5, 2021. http://www.katetattersall.com/coming-out-during-the-early-victorian-era-debutantes/.  

Fig. 2: Holland, Evangeline. “The Edwardian Debutante.” Edwardian Promenade, December 6, 2013. https://www.edwardianpromenade.com/society/the-edwardian-debutante/. 

Fig. 3: HistoryAdmin. “1930’s & 40’s Prom – A Night To Remember.” DeForest Area Historical Society, March 18, 2022. http://deforesthistory.org/2018/05/16/prom-a-night-to-remember-1930s-40s/. 

Fig. 4: “On the Banks of the Red Cedar: Soph Prom Dance Card, 1940.” On the Banks of the Red Cedar| Soph Prom dance card, 1940. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Object/162-565-2393/soph-prom-dance-card-1940/. 

Fig.5: Hermitt, Joe. “McCaskey High School 2023 Senior Prom: See 59 Photos from the Night.” pennlive, April 20, 2023. https://www.pennlive.com/prom/2023/04/mccaskey-high-school-2023-senior-prom-see-60-photos-from-the-night.html. 

Fig. 6: “The MacDuffie School 2022 Prom at the Ranch in Southwick (Photos).” masslive, June 14, 2022. https://www.masslive.com/prom/2022/05/2022-prom-photos-the-macduffie-school-prom-at-the-ranch-in-southwick.html. 

Fig. 7: What Senior Prom Is Actually Like. YouTube, 2019. https://youtu.be/4hke467kMBg.