9. It was Al Capp’s version of Appalachia which gave America Sadie Hawkins Day
Sadie Hawkins Day first appeared in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner in 1937, when Sadie – a character in the strip known as “the homeliest gal in all them hills”, was allowed to chase down her own husband. All of the bachelors of Dogpatch were forced to participate in a race for their lives, or at least for their lives as unmarried men. They were given “a fair start” after which Sadie set off in pursuit, with “Th’ one she ketches’ll be her husban'”. Sadie caught herself a husband and the town decided the event would be a good means of ridding itself of lazy bachelors and made Sadie Hawkins Day an annual event. Within two years Sadie Hawkins’ festivities were widespread enough in the United States to warrant an article in Life Magazine.