May Pole Traditions

 

1948 May Dance

After sunrise on May 1^st, the flower and branches that had been gathered from the forest were placed around the windowsills and door frames of people's homes. Then began the process of choosing a May pole from the woods, which was cut down and stripped of its park. Garlands of flowers were placed on the pole and ribbons were attached. The pole was erected upright and young men and women gathered to dance around it, weaving the ribbons in and out. This was done, similar to the Romans’ Floralia festival, to please the goddess Flora, who had dominion over flowers. Alternatively, people danced to please the tree spirits, hoping for a good harvest that year.

May Pole Dance 1913

Later, May poles were painted in stripes of yellow and black. Sometimes the poles were simply painted white or kept natural. Around 8 to 10 or more ribbons were hooked to the pole, depending on how large the May Queen’s court was. However, there had to be an even number of dancers. Each dancer received one ribbon to hold as they danced, often in bright colors or pastels. The top of the pole often held a flower wreath or sometime a May basket filled with flowers.

May Pole Dancer 1966

The dance goes as follows: two groups of dancers stand on opposite sides of the pole. All the dancers on the right go in that direction weaving in and out of the other group of dancers until the last dancer in that group has passed the last dancer on the left side. The dancers on the left then weaved in out of the dancers on the right until the last left dancer passed the last right dancer. Then, all parties transferred their ribbon to the opposite hand and each group reversed This is repeated until the pole has been braided to the bottom.

Citations:

American Child Health Association. May Day Festival Book: Some Suggestions for Celebrating Child Health Day. New York: American Child Health Association, 1929. Print.

Baldwin Wallace University Archives

Beard, Lina and Adelia Belle Beard. The Original Girl's Handy Book. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers Inc, 2007. Print.

Parker, Lucie. “Greet May with a Maypole” Weldon Owen. Bonnier Corporation, 1 May 2012. Web.  28 March 2015.