Quote:
Originally posted by dekeguy
I'm in my Dad's office in London right now, so when I saw this question I asked him about pinning. He tells me that back in the 60s pinning was considered a very serious committment and was tantamount to a formal engagement. In his chapter they did not use a pinning ceremony per se but rather it was a private event between the two principals that would be recognized by the whole chapter at the next weekly function. Some people treated pinning as a 'pre-engagement' and most tended to view it as an engagement made official by the giving of the pin in lieu of an engagement ring. My experience was similar to Dad's but I think we tended to view it as a pre-engagement, very serious but not quite as bindingly committed as a formal engagement, although damned close. I know some houses had pinning ceremonies but I never saw one at our house. There probably is such a ceremony but I do not think it was ever in widespread use in our fraternity.
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I guess I need to clairfy my question. I know that pinning is a pre-cursor to engagement. I also know that at a lot of places they do laviliering (sp?). I also get the significance and the importance...that part I know.
I guess what I'm trying to get after is, how/when did pinnings start? Beyond just the importance of giving you're girlfriend/fiance to be, your letters (thus signifying her importance in your life), is there any other symbolism in the act? Like obviously, in the example I gave, there is a little bit more to the idea than just the pending engagement.