Recently Daniel and I learned of an old Hungarian/Transylvanian custom that I thought I'd share. Many years ago, whenever Hungarian parents had a daughter that had reached a marriagable age and that they wanted to marry off, they would paint their houses blue as a signal to prospective suitors.
Unfortunately, I'm not really sure what happened after the paint job was finished. I assume that any single young men who wanted to get hitched would just knock on the front door and ask for an introduction to the daughter. And then if things went well enough, they would get married and the poor family (including their new son-in-law) would end up having to paint the house again. Seems like a lot of work. Surely a "Daughter Available" sign in the window would have been easier?
There are currently at least three blue houses in Máriapócs but as far as we know, none of them have daughters available for marriage.
- Amanda
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