Wedding Tradition of Dancing in a Pig Trough Discussed

   From: "Terry Arnold"  
   Subject: Re: Wedding and Pig Trough 
   Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 12:26:53 -0500 
  
   Hi Richard,

   Thank you for responding to my question. I happened onto folklore, in
   general, last semester as I re-entered college for the first time in 23
   years. Folklore kind of just fit into my schedule but I didn't really know
   what I was getting in to. It's become kind of an addiction, taking another
   course this semester and anthropology courses as background information for
   me. It really sparked an interest that I didn't even know I had. I think
   folklore is truly fascinating and fun!

   Thanks again for your help.

   Have a great day!

   Terry :-)
   -----Original Message-----
   From: Richard King 
   To: tarnold@fwi.com 
   Date: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 12:09 PM
   Subject: Wedding and Pig Trough


   >Terry:
   >Hi! Recently (well, it was Aug 26) you asked me for information about the
   >wedding tradition below. I checked around and yes, I've found some references
   >to it as being done, but I don't have anything really specific or long-ish in
   >my library. I did a search using alltheweb.com (a very large search engine on
   >the web) and found at least 10 items. I used the terms: >weddings and "pig
   >trough"> (typed exactly like that, only don't use the > symbols). One I found
   >mentions it as a Native American tradition, and you can see it at
   >http://www.weddingbells.com/canada/trends/archive.html -- so, basically, yes,
   >is seems to be an accepted tradition in some places. A German American
   >folklore book in our library mentions some other wedding traditions, but not
   >that one. Interestingly, there seem to be lots of wedding traditions involving
   >feet, socks, shoes, cleaning feet in water, etc. Probably if you look at
   >wedding folklore books in a large research library you'll find more about it.
   >
   >One of my favorite books, AMERICAN FOLKLORE: AN EYCYCLOPEDIA (New York:
   >Garland Publishing, 1996), mentions the dancing in pig trough tradition
   >briefly in its WEDDINGS heading on page 752. There is no specific source
   >reference, but the author lists 5 different sources she used in writing the
   >article. You might check to see if a local library has this book and check her
   >References, if you are able. One of the books listed is WEDDING CUSTOMS AND
   >FOLKLORE, by Margaret Baker (1977). You might see if your library has this or
   >other similar wedding folklore books.
   >
   >Hope this helps. Good luck with what really is a fascinating subject.
   >
   >Richard King
   >Shake Library
   >Vincennes University
   >rking6king@netscape.net
   >
   >Subject:
   > Wedding Reception Tradition
   > Date:
   > Thu, 26 Aug 1999 17:54:33 -0500
   > From:
   > "Terry Arnold" 
   > To:
   > rking
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >Hello,
   >
   >I am very interested in a tradition that I witnessed at a wedding years
   >ago. It was the hog trough dance. If a younger sibling married before an
   >older sibling, the older sibling would then have to dance in a hog trough
   >at the wedding reception of the younger sibling. Do you have any resource
   >materials for this tradition? I was told that it was a German tradition
   >and was associated with farming communities.
   >
   >I will be appreciate any information you can provide.
   >
   >Thank you.
   >
   >Terry Arnold
   >tarnold@fwi.com
   >
   > - att1.htm
   >
   >_________