Toga party
A toga party is a particular kind of costume party in which party-goers wear a toga, or a semblance thereof, normally made from a bed sheet, and sandals. They are a popular tradition on college and university campuses in the United States and Canada.
The first recorded college student toga party was in 1953, when Pomona College students wore togas and ivy wreaths, and brought their dorm mattresses to freshman Mark Neuman's home on Hillcrest Avenue in nearby Flintridge[citation needed]. Toga parties were depicted in the 1978 film Animal House, which propelled the ritual into a widespread and enduring practice. The Guinness World Record for the largest toga party is 5,400 participants. The event, organized by the University of Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology, was held on 24 February 2012 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Chris Miller, who was one of the writers of Animal House, attended Dartmouth College where the toga party was a popular costume event at major fraternity parties (such as Winter Carnival and Green Key Weekend) during the late 1950s and early 1960s. First lady Eleanor Roosevelt held a toga party to spoof the followers of the "Caesar," her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[1]
Costumes are worn by both men and women. The Animal House scene was not the first mention of a toga party in popular media. A toga party was also briefly described in Tom Wolfe's 1968 story The Pump House Gang, although somewhat different from the version in the film.
[edit] See also
- Athenian festivals
- Roman festivals
- Dionysus - Greek god of grapes and wine.
