Courtship in Sicily

[kirsten0993]

Hello - Has anyone heard of an old Sicilian custom where a family with an unmarried daughter would hang a sign or some other marker on the outside of their home to signal that a single woman lived there who was looking to get married. A family member has a vague recollection of a story like this relating to 1940s Messina, but I can't find anything like this on the internet.

Thank you!

[darkerhorse]

Sounds embarrassing for the girl.

[kirsten0993]

I'm wondering if it was possibly something more subtle. Maybe a statute or picture of Saint Agatha of Sicily, patron saint of single women? The story goes that someone could tell that a single woman lived there because there was something on the outside of the home.