# Very obscure question about sweet 16 parties in Sofia, Bulgaria, in the 1920s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908 "2012-04-16T00:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/1 "2012-04-16T00:38:08Z")
Dopers usually know everything, but this might prove a challenge… I am writing a historical story, and a girl turns 16 in 1928 or so in Sofia, Bulgaria. She has a sweet 16 party. I would like to know if there was/is any such custom in Sofia or Bulgaria. Thanks for your help! ---
**Author:** ![Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Weaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/2 "2012-04-16T00:44:53Z")
I’m pretty sure that sweet sixteen parties only happen in America and only recently at that. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/3 "2012-04-16T00:50:43Z")
It is my understanding that sweet sixteen parties are an almost exclusively American thing. I really doubt they have them today in Bulgaria, let alone back in the 20ies ---
**Author:** ![Weaver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Weaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/4 "2012-04-16T00:57:55Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > It is my understanding that sweet sixteen parties are an almost exclusively American thing. I really doubt they have them today in Bulgaria, let alone back in the 20ies They don’t even have then here in England, except for the occasional kid who wants to immitate Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/5 "2012-04-16T01:11:15Z")
> [@Weaver](#): > > They don’t even have then here in England, except for the occasional kid who wants to immitate Americans. I am from Greece and the first time I heard about sweet sixteen was through MTV. **Aeschines** , also note that the early 1900s was a very rough time period for Bulgaria and the Balkan region in general. A 16 year old girl wouldn’t have any party at all unless her parents were stinking rich. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/6 "2012-04-16T01:16:23Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I am from Greece and the first time I heard about sweet sixteen was through MTV. > > **Aeschines** , also note that the early 1900s was a very rough time period for Bulgaria and the Balkan region in general. A 16 year old girl wouldn’t have any party at all unless her parents were stinking rich. This is indeed about a girl who was pretty rich, at least until she became an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/7 "2012-04-16T01:17:42Z")
By the way, obviously the terms was not “sweet sixteen” per se. But would a girl’s 16th birthday be recognized in any way as significant? Would people have birthday parties for their children in the 1920s, etc. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/8 "2012-04-16T01:18:40Z")
Maybe you guys are taking the Sweet Sixteen thing too literally. The OP is probably interested in whatever “coming out” party or ritual or event would take place. As for S16 being uniquely American, the Latin American [Quinceañera](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincea%C3%B1era) is very similar. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/9 "2012-04-16T01:20:55Z")
Is the family Christian, even just nominally? If the girl were just a little younger it could be a [confirmation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation)party. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/10 "2012-04-16T01:26:02Z")
> [@xnylder](#): > > Is the family Christian, even just nominally? If the girl were just a little younger it could be a [confirmation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation)party. Interesting, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/11 "2012-04-16T01:45:10Z")
Bulgarian Christians are Eastern Orthodox, so Chrismation (confirmation) will occur at the time of baptism, not in the child’s teens. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/12 "2012-04-16T02:15:14Z")
I think part of the S16 significance in the USA is they are then old enough to drive… which is not the case in Bulgaria. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/13 "2012-04-16T02:34:32Z")
> [@Desert\_Nomad](#): > > I think part of the S16 significance in the USA is they are then old enough to drive… which is not the case in Bulgaria. Ah, but how old did one have to be to drive in Bulgaria in 1928?! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/14 "2012-04-16T05:35:58Z")
I think what you’re looking for is a “debutante ball” and they definitely had débutantes in that part of the world before the Great War, but how soon afterward they felt up to the formal presentation is not something I can answer. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/15 "2012-04-16T07:03:06Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Bulgarian Christians are Eastern Orthodox, so Chrismation (confirmation) will occur at the time of baptism, not in the child’s teens. Not all of them. Orthodox was the dominant Christian religion by far, but Roman Catholicism was the second-largest denomination. The Catholics were numerous and powerful enough to run several schools, colleges, and hospitals throughout the country. So if you want to make your fictional girl a Catholic one celebrating a confirmation it certainly wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility (again, provided you made her a bit younger). ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/16 "2012-04-16T08:03:31Z")
Oh, another possibility is Judaism; maybe she could be celebrating a Bat Mitzvah. I think Jews were about as numerous as Catholics at the time; according to Wikipedia the Jewish population in Bulgaria rose from 16,000 in 1920 to 48,565 in 1934, with over half of these living in Sofia. A few years before your story is set they had constructed [one of the largest synagogues in Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Synagogue) in the city centre (which I actually visited a few years ago). ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/17 "2012-04-16T20:25:52Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Oh, another possibility is Judaism; maybe she could be celebrating a Bat Mitzvah. I think Jews were about as numerous as Catholics at the time; according to Wikipedia the Jewish population in Bulgaria rose from 16,000 in 1920 to 48,565 in 1934, with over half of these living in Sofia. A few years before your story is set they had constructed [one of the largest synagogues in Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Synagogue) in the city centre (which I actually visited a few years ago). But isn’t the big-party-style Bat Mitzvah a fairly recent and progressive phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/18 "2012-04-17T14:11:34Z")
> [@caveman](#): > > But isn’t the big-party-style Bat Mitzvah a fairly recent and progressive phenomenon? Just the Bat Mitzvah ceremony itself is a fairly recent phenomenon; the first one in America was in 1922. [Wiki Link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_Bat_Mitzvah#Bat_mitzvah) ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-obscure-question-about-sweet-16-parties-in-sofia-bulgaria-in-the-1920s/618908/19 "2012-04-17T14:12:18Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > The Catholics were numerous and powerful enough to run several schools, colleges, and hospitals throughout the country. So if you want to make your fictional girl a Catholic one celebrating a confirmation it certainly wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility (again, provided you made her a bit younger). But Catholics don’t have confirmation at 14. They have split it into confirmation and first communion, and depending on region and historical time, it could be as early as age 8 and 11. Recently they started having it later, but reading pre-Vatican II manuals on how to teach children, they have the first ceremony in second grade. I also don’t think that confirmation for a catholic family is such a big deal as in protestant ones at age 14, where lots of gifts are given and the teen is a religious adult. If it’s not only a rich family, but from the upper class background, a debutante ball would be what the parents desired, but that’s rather different from sweet 16 today. As for being old enough to do… , in the 1920s people were either adult later than today (21 years instead of 18) or much earlier - esp. girls in the Balkans, and socially not legally.