Party Time in Upper St. Clair

With fall here, we will likely see cooler weather before too long, which for many people means spending more time indoors.

Before televisions, gaming consoles, and computers, what did Upper St. Clair residents do to pass the time? A hundred years ago, friends and neighbors would get together on occasion and throw a house party.

According to a 1975 interview with Emma Hoffman [1903-1982], the small youngsters, as she called them, would go into a room at parties so that they could play games, pop popcorn, make taffy, etc. away from the hustle and bustle of the older "youngsters."  The older age group would usually dance, and the older men played euchre on occasion.

What does a house party look like? The interviewer asked Ms. Hoffman, "How did they dance in the homes? Did they just roll back the rug, or what did they do?"

Ms. Hoffman replied, "Well, they either danced on the carpet, or we had a piece of muslin that they used.  Of course, the carpet was from wall to wall, they didn't have rugs then, it was mostly carpeted, and to make it slide easily, they would put this muslin over top of the wool rug.  There was always somebody in the party who played the violin or played the piano."

Ms. Hoffman goes on to explain that these events were family gatherings. "It was a family type activity- children, all ages, would go with their parents to different houses."  Even though dancing was the highlight of the evening, the young folks didn't think too much about dancing with the right guy or gal.  They were just there for an evening of fun with other local families.  The young folks didn't go out in couples but came with the entire family for what sounded like a good time for all.  "A crowd of us would get together and we had square dancing and round dancing."  If during the wintertime someone's house wasn't available to host the dancing party, Ms. Hoffman says they would travel to Castle Shannon to the dance pavilion at Grove Station.

While you might not roll out the muslin fabric for smooth dancing this winter, we hope you have a few fun family gatherings of your own to look forward to as the chill begins to set in.

Image from the Archives of the Historical Society of Upper St. Clair. 
20120210-hpicusc-0020. A group photograph with corn husks ca. 1910-1930. Unknown creator. Possibly those pictured were members of the McEwen family.