When high school proms began in the early 1900s, they were relatively simple affairs. Students would come in their Sunday best, but would not purchase new clothes for the event. The occasion called for tea, socializing, and dancing. During the 1920s and 1930s, American youth began to experience more freedom with the arrival of the car and other luxury items. The high school prom expanded into a yearly class banquet at which seniors arrived in party clothes and danced.n the 1950s, as Americans enjoyed the luxury of the post-war economy, proms began to become elaborate, expensive events.
It became very important to come with the best-looking date, and being named to the prom court guaranteed instant social status. It was also during the 1950s that teenage girls began to pay more attention to their prom dresses and make special shopping trips for the perfect outfit. While the high school gym was adequate for sophomore dances, the settings of junior and seniors proms were gradually moved to grander locations.
In the 1980s, the prom began to take on larger-than-life stature, as several teen movies advertised it as the ultimate coming-of-age event in a young person’s life. Competition for the prom court intensified greatly, with the title of prom queen becoming closely akin to true royalty. Prom had become a climactic point in a teenager's life, the moment when fantasies and relationships either blossomed or disintegrated.Today's proms have become expensive, all-night affairs, with after-prom activities often extending into the dawn of the next day. Stretch Hummers, fancy dresses, and glamorous ballrooms are now prom-night standards. Still, the prom has begun to relax a little in its dating requirements. While tradition still dictates that a boy ask a girl to the prom, more and more girls are beginning to take their prom destinies into their own hands and do the asking. Nontraditional couples are also becoming a more common sight at the prom. In practically every way, prom has moved beyond the days of strictly chaperoned, etiquette banquets to glamorous extravaganzas where nearly anything goes.
