Her parents, President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford were, at the time, en-route from Belgium to Spain as part of a diplomatic tour. In 1975, first daughter Susan Ford held her school’s prom in the East Room of the White House. Image via Gray Villet / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock, Hbl / AP / Shutterstock, Francis Miller / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock, Glasshouse Images / Shutterstock, Thomas D Mcavoy / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstockand Wallace Kirkland / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock.Īs American wealth and leisure time increased, proms became more extravagant, eventually migrating from high school gymnasiums to hotel ballrooms and country clubs. Over the ensuing decades, proms made their way down to the high school level, first appearing in high school yearbooks in the 1930s and ’40s, and becoming more formalized in the post-WWII McCarthy era - a time of tremendous economic growth and rigid social conformity.Ī lot of post-WWII proms looked the same. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Andy Hardy Meets Debutante 1940. The name “prom” was derived from the term “promenade,” the simplest of dance moves whereby women were led around the dance floor by their male partners. Images via History / Shutterstock, History / Shutterstock, History / Shutterstockand History / Shutterstock. We crown these historical illustrations Prom Royalty for their winning captions. Prom used to be for people looking for spouses. Proms, at this time, served a similar purpose to that of a debutante ball - presenting women of a certain age to the marriageable men of their socioeconomic set.
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Students would put on their “Sunday best” to dance and socialize with members of the opposite sex. Nothing bad ever happens at prom! Image via Snap / Shutterstock.Īlthough, today, we think of proms as being synonymous with high school, the first proms were actually collegiate affairs, occurring at elite institutions across the Northeast, starting in the late 19th century.īack then, prom was a more casual event. Prom was raised and immortalized in film and television, and exported across the world like so many McDonald’s restaurant franchises. In either case, the prom is deeply, unabashedly American. It is a regressive, heteronormative tradition rooted in conformity and consumerism with a long history of racism, classism, and homophobia. A rite of passage not to be missed.įor others, prom just sucks. The social culmination of their waning teenage adolescence. For some, it’s the greatest night of their young lives. Here’s a look at its history, as told by photos in Shutterstock’s Editorial Collection.