Here’s how Utahns celebrated May Day in years past

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — It’s May again, and despite recent spring storms, May usually means warm weather — and that means May festivities.

Kids used to gather in the parks and the schoolyards and just celebrate. Dancing was a big part of the May Day celebrations — which would sometimes last for almost a full week — and everyone did the steps they practiced during the winter.

Spring means fashion, and fashion means hoop skirts … right?

The newspapers would announce May Day festivities with flair, often making the upcoming activities headlines.

And, at the height of everything, was the maypole dance, which was standard at almost every May party at an elementary school well into the 1960s.

Pam Gosdis remembers the maypole dance as an honor given to the sixth graders at the long-gone Madison Elementary.

“Cloth ribbons coming down from the maypole, and, you know, whatever our corresponding ribbon was, we had to wear that same color outfit,” she said.

The Utah Historical Society has a number of photos of maypole dancing from those special days. Some of the earliest pictures of Utah reflect the time-honored festivities.

In 1872, Brigham Young and his party paused in northern Utah to watch a celebration with a maypole. At the turn of the century, the Ogden paper offered tips on throwing a May Day party for the kids.

Some schools picked royalty for the day, some schools had activities throughout the day — like boxing, horse shoe throwing and dancing — but the maypole was at the center of it all.

“It was a lot of fun. I liked it,” she said. “Everybody had their part, you know, and you got to see the finished product.”

It’s time to dance into May!

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