A popular social event of Ridgeway’s early days was the “box supper”. This event was usually a fundraiser for an organization like a church or school to help raise money for projects like a library or musical instruments. Young ladies were asked to provide a decorated box containing a supper for two. Fried chicken was a popular menu item in these boxes. The boxes were then sold or auctioned off to the young men in who then shared the meal with the lady who donated it. A girl might drop hints about which box was hers so that the boy she was sweet on could bid on it and they could share the meal.
At one Blythedale box supper, several young men who tried to avoid sharing the meal were called “shoats” (another word for young pigs). “One fellow was halted at the door and told to wend his way back on the inside and that if he didn’t want to eat supper with the girl to go and give her the box and not cheat her out of her supper. ‘He went and eat with the girl.’” (Ridgeway Journal, 11/07/1907)
Another fundraiser for the evening was a cake contest, essentially a popularity contest for the ladies. Men would vote via donations and the lady with the most votes would win a cake. The women would then vote for the “ugliest man” and the winner would receive a pipe.
These fundraisers were very popular and usually pretty successful. The church or school sponsoring the supper might get anywhere from $20-$45 for the fundraiser.
In 1908, the Union school held a box supper which included a “brief but well rendered program of recitations, dialogues and songs given by the children and phonograph music.” (Ridgeway Journal, 12/17/1908) The sale of the boxes, cake sale and pipe sale amounted to $45.10, which is about $1500 in today’s money.
Got a favorite memory or pictures of Christmas in Ridgeway? I am looking for personal stories and/or pictures of Ridgeway Christmas happenings. If you would like to share, send an email to ridgewaycba@gmail.com or stop by Paula’s Sewing Corner! I would particularly love any pictures of Main Street decorations if you have any – I’ve not found any yet.
