I'm too young to be pre-Vatican II, but I did want to share that I found a picture of my grandmother wearing a mantilla at my dad's baptism in 1970. And I've ended up with several of her and my great aunt's old mantillas.
I don't know why they went with those instead of hats or scarves-- they both attended an ethnically German parish in Southern Texas. It's in an area with lots of Hispanic/Mexican influence though.
I have more thoughts on this than I can type out at the moment, but one in particular — I’ve heard many people point out how “the veil” is not really authentically “traditional” as in handed down in an unbroken line. (I’m most familiar with Italian ethnic parishes where it seems to me like the scarf with lace kind of exists along a spectrum with the lace veil).
But — it makes perfect sense that as women stopped wearing hats everywhere as a fashion issue, but still needed to cover their head at Mass, the thin scarf/veil is really the only practical solution, and I wonder if that’s why it became so popular. Because the scarf/veil, unlike the hat, can be squished into a purse or glovebox for when needed.
What veiling practices were normative in Europe or other parts of the world (e.g., look at Nagasaki Urakami Cathedral before bombing & even today, for veiling practice) the pre-conciliar period were an outgrowth of a practice that dates back to Apostolic times; in fact Pope St. Linus (the immediate successor to St. Peter) decreed that women should be veiled in church for spiritual reasons. In fact, many saints have also expounded on this. There is, indeed, a "theology of veiling". (please see: https://fatima.org/news-views/catholic-apologetics-183/) Your point about head coverings as a general historical practice without spiritual rationale is most likely deficient; it is more likely that the practice was kept, for practical or cultural reasons, even in communities that may have lost the faith or were lukewarm. The pre-conciliar veiling practice in the US was most likely shaped by clerics (and the laity themselves) who wanted Catholics to assimilate into predominant WASP culture.
I’ was born in 1958. I had a veil for first holy communion. I was in Catholic school for 2nd and 3rd grade. I think we had little beanies, woven fabric, not knit, with a little button on top. When my family went to mass, my mother, sisters and I wore hats of some sort. One year for Christmas we got rabbit fur helmets with matching muffs. When I was 10, my mother bought my sisters and I combs with large organza bows and hanging ribbons with daisies at the ends for Easter. I remember being worried that they were not really hats. Don’t remember hats after that. We were in the Chicago suburbs at the time.
I'm too young to be pre-Vatican II, but I did want to share that I found a picture of my grandmother wearing a mantilla at my dad's baptism in 1970. And I've ended up with several of her and my great aunt's old mantillas.
I don't know why they went with those instead of hats or scarves-- they both attended an ethnically German parish in Southern Texas. It's in an area with lots of Hispanic/Mexican influence though.
I have more thoughts on this than I can type out at the moment, but one in particular — I’ve heard many people point out how “the veil” is not really authentically “traditional” as in handed down in an unbroken line. (I’m most familiar with Italian ethnic parishes where it seems to me like the scarf with lace kind of exists along a spectrum with the lace veil).
But — it makes perfect sense that as women stopped wearing hats everywhere as a fashion issue, but still needed to cover their head at Mass, the thin scarf/veil is really the only practical solution, and I wonder if that’s why it became so popular. Because the scarf/veil, unlike the hat, can be squished into a purse or glovebox for when needed.
What veiling practices were normative in Europe or other parts of the world (e.g., look at Nagasaki Urakami Cathedral before bombing & even today, for veiling practice) the pre-conciliar period were an outgrowth of a practice that dates back to Apostolic times; in fact Pope St. Linus (the immediate successor to St. Peter) decreed that women should be veiled in church for spiritual reasons. In fact, many saints have also expounded on this. There is, indeed, a "theology of veiling". (please see: https://fatima.org/news-views/catholic-apologetics-183/) Your point about head coverings as a general historical practice without spiritual rationale is most likely deficient; it is more likely that the practice was kept, for practical or cultural reasons, even in communities that may have lost the faith or were lukewarm. The pre-conciliar veiling practice in the US was most likely shaped by clerics (and the laity themselves) who wanted Catholics to assimilate into predominant WASP culture.
I was born in 1961, wore little round pieces of lace we called 'doilies' or a hat, but usually doilies, until 1970. Then we stopped.
I’ was born in 1958. I had a veil for first holy communion. I was in Catholic school for 2nd and 3rd grade. I think we had little beanies, woven fabric, not knit, with a little button on top. When my family went to mass, my mother, sisters and I wore hats of some sort. One year for Christmas we got rabbit fur helmets with matching muffs. When I was 10, my mother bought my sisters and I combs with large organza bows and hanging ribbons with daisies at the ends for Easter. I remember being worried that they were not really hats. Don’t remember hats after that. We were in the Chicago suburbs at the time.
I certainly remember from my grade school days (1960-68) the girls who forgot a hat putting a Kleenex on their heads!