A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 21. (Békéscsaba, 2000)

Baligáné Szűcs Irén: Life of unmarried women and men and match-making in Füzesgyarmat in the first half of the 20th century

В. Szűcs Irén Life of unmarried women and men and match-making in Füzesgyarmat in the first half of the 20

th century - Irén В. Szűcs Résumé Füzesgyarmat belongs to those settlements of Nagysárrét of which population forms a continuous and relatively close community since the Hungarian conquest. The incalculable, uncertain conditions of existence led to a labour-centred scale of values in the peasant society, although variedly by classes. They started to involve children gradually into the work from the age of six-seven, taking care of giving them tasks preferably suitable to their age, later their sex. Till the age of marriage girls were supposed to learn the most important women's tasks (e.g. cooking, bread baking, washing, lime-washing, poultry breeding etc.), the young men had to be able to mow and naturally have the knowledge connecting to breeding animals and agriculture. The match-making was considered as an important decision influencing the rest of the individual's life thus the community customs, moral norms ruled its course and circumstances in a detailed way. Selecting the intended pair the parents, as the right of the decision was predominantly theirs, endeavoured to validate the principle of "similar should marry similar", which was apparent in the regional, religious and trade endogamy and the consideration of the property aspects before anything else. The behavioural, aesthetic expectations as well as the individual feelings of the youth often didn't get sufficiently emphatic role. The addresses, which took place also in strict frames (e.g. young men could go sweet-hearting only on special days of the week, the parents of the girl, especially the mother was always present etc.) and could last for more years sometimes. Match-makers helped those who did not find their match in time or got divorced or widowed. They were usually old, well-speaking, reliable women. From the 1930s-40s the old, communal meeting-entertainment forms, work opportunities partially disappeared, partially transformed, giving their place to new ones, the ties influencing the match-making got slack and the individual attraction became more and more important. Irén В. Szűcs Jantyik Mátyás Museum Békés Széchenyi Square 4 5630 174