It’s that prom time of year, a season of dress fittings, tuxedo renting, and shoe dyeings. To honor this once-in-a-lifetime event (or thrice-in-a-lifetime event, if you’re my sister), Time Magazine took a brief look at its history.

The word prom is short for promenade, the formal, introductory parading of guests at a party. The prom can be traced back to the simple co-ed banquets that 19th century American universities held for each year’s graduating class. A growing teenage culture pushed proms younger and younger, and by the 1940s the adolescent dance we know today had almost entirely taken hold. In the 1950s, a thriving postwar economy allowed high schools to eschew the traditional gymnasium in favor of proms held in hotels or at country clubs.

Uh … I graduated from high school in 1994, and my prom was held in the school gym. I’m kind of bitter that there was no great economic upturn that would have instead given me a sweet location to party the night away with my friends and schoolmates. It’s funny how elaborate proms are in this day and age, actually—country clubs, limos, even helicopters and horse-drawn carriages. Interesting, too, that when I was in school back in the dark ages, we referred to it as “the prom” whereas now, it’s just PROM. The article was dropped somewhere between 1994 and now, while I was unaware.

As cultural mores have changed, so has the prom–begrudgingly. An Alabama principal was sued in 1994 for threatening to cancel the prom if interracial couples attended. And despite the two South Dakota boys who in 1979 became one of the first known same-sex couples to openly attend a prom, some schools still have anti-gay bans in place.

Yeah, as these examples as well as the more recent Constance McMillen story illustrates, the prom concept is in many ways a setup for things that aren’t so great. How many cherries are unceremoniously popped on prom night? First drinks? Drugs? And how many hearts are broken?

The expectations of prom, from movies and in stories told from friends and family, are such that it’s almost impossible for one night to live up to. However, the hopes and dreams of high school girls and boys perpetuate. Even though I found the perfect dress and had my hair professionally done and had a tall, handsome date, my prom was lame.

I’m glad I went, though, if only so I can say that I went to it (and even though we left early because there seemed to be a dozen other more fun things to do).

Is that really as sad as it sounds? Did you go to your prom? Was it everything that you hoped it’d be?

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