Paddles "Traditional size" vs. current.
 

Sometimes it is really confusing when I hear about Paddles being decorated, and what they are talking about is no more than 18 inches long, 6 inches wide and so covered in additional wood cutouts that you'd be nuts to use it for "swinging"...

When did the new size and type (heavily decorated) come into more standard use?

The size that you describe is what we were using in the early 80s. They were gifts given from Littles to their Bigs. We never used them to actually paddle anyone. It was just a keepsake.

Yes I've been seeing these for quite some times with the decorations. There are loads of pintrest pages dedicated to sharing differing styles, and methods of decoration. Some of them are super creative.

So this leads to two questions...
1) Did the Sororities ever use the "traditional" 2+ foot long "paddling size" paddles
2) If the Sororities did, when did they go away?

Basically, at this point I'm trying to connect the Fraternity 2+ foot long paddles used until the early 1960s with the Sorority "Decoration" paddles of the 1980s.

I pledged in 1963 and have only seen the decorated paddles in my NpC group

We used small paddles as a gift to our Bigs.

The large paddle was used for a pledge mom. Each semester, the PC would work together to decorate a large paddle as a gift to the PM at the end of the semester.

At Northwestern University (IL) in the early 90s sorority house windows still featured many 2+ foot long paddles, usually in a crossed-paddles pattern like the letter 'X', two to each window, in house after house.

I can also state my Dad's local greek fraternity during the early 1950's created carved signature paddles for each member that were only sixteen inches long; don't know what size paddles other frats on his campus used.

Our chapter did not have a house. So, therefore not adequate storage for large size paddles as decoration. I know the fraternities on our campus did have the larger paddles on display representing each pledge class hanging throughout the house. So, perhaps it's not an issue of era as much as it is an issue of places to display larger paddles. Today, our chapters aren't permitted to use any paddles for decoration or otherwise, considered as symbols of hazing, but then they were just a symbol of Greek tradition.

I did a Google search for "vintage sorority paddle". Lots of pictures turn up for those 2ft long paddles for NPCs. The general date range appears to be for the 1950s, '60s and '70s. There were a couple paddles that came up that were dated for the 1980s. So, just from that perspective, one could speculate that they began to fall out of favor in the 1980s. I went to college in the mid to late '90s and decorated paddles were the "thing" in my area.

My chapter did not use manufactured paddles. We made our own by hand and they varied in size. They were unique and a lot of thought went into making them.

LOL. One of my pledge brothers used a "wooden paint stirrer" to make his paddle for fear of getting "whacked" with it (by his Big) on initiation night.

Hahahahahaha!!!! :D

Could have been worse. He could have gone the other way and deliberately chosen a paddle with holes in it that hurts *worse* than a solid paddle.

Can people post photos of what they're talking about? I'm having a hard time following.

I have yet to master trying to put in a photo with my post, but if you go to etsy and then search sorority paddle custom you'll see different examples and photos from various GLOs. :)

I personally don't have a paddle from my org but I love the creativity that people put into it.

Sure!



https://i.ibb.co/LR2mFMz/vintagepaddlefraternity.jpg

Vintage paddle


https://i.ibb.co/Pmh9H2X/Greek-Paddle-305-kit-main.jpg

Decorated wood paddle


https://i.ibb.co/QHZqZY1/paddles-dzmodern.jpg

Modern decorated paddles. These highly-embellished paddles seemed to have come into play around 2010 or so.