new to this: "Trunk Party"??

Parent Cafe
41

<p>I’m going to Knox in Galesburg, Illinois and a lot of the Chicago kid’s had trunk parties. I have never heard of them at all nor did any of the other out of staters. It seemed to be a city thing though because the Chicago suburban kids told me they didn’t have them in their area. Some of these kid’s also had graduation parties. I really don’t see the point.</p>

<p>Here is the post I posted in my college’s group in July:</p>

<p>early_college: Okay, so I’m just wondering if “trunk parties” are an IL thing? Because people just have regular grad parties in like May here…haha</p>

<p>early_college: And I’ve never heard of them until you guys…</p>

<p>E: whats a trunk party? (E lives in Peoria)</p>

<p>A: my family has referred to my trunk/grad party as my ‘going away party’ which I feel may not even happen, womp. (A is from Chicago)</p>

<p>early college: Maybe it’s a Chicago thing? I heard it’s where people put like dorm stuff in you’re trunk?</p>

<p>early_college: I just had a family grad party haha…</p>

<p>E: I’ve never heard of it, so I’m saying its probably not a central Illinois thing.</p>

<p>J: I’m having one in August. It is a good way to get free ****. :)</p>

<p>early_college: When I heard about it, I was like what the heck is this haha…</p>

<p>A: Pretty much to the free stuff and trunk (though I’m not 100% sure why/how the trunk works beyond that) but you register and everything at certain stores like you would with a baby shower or wedding shower! (from Chicago)</p>

<p>C: I’ve had one friend do it, but it really isn’t very common in my area. (from Chicago suburbs)</p>

<p>L: I’d never heard of such a thing where I live. None of my friends had one :stuck_out_tongue: (Chicago suburbs)</p>

<p>N: Never heard of a trunk party until right now… (Chicago suburbs)</p>

<p>Out of the people from my college who did it (that I was aware of), one was Spanish and the rest were African American if that matters at all.</p>

42

<p>There’s a family in our area where the kid got into the Curtis Institute of Music. If you’re good enough to get in there it’s free. His family held a benefit concert to “pay his tuition.” Still wondering what they did with the money . . .</p>

43

<p>Big article about trunk parties in the Phila. Inquirer yesterday:</p>

<p>[Trunk</a> parties help college-bound students prepare for dorm life](<a href=“http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120824_Trunk_parties_help_college-bound_students_prepare_for_dorm_life.html]Trunk”>Trunk parties help college-bound students prepare for dorm life)</p>

44

<p>Very novel to me. Trunk parties around here are where a new designer shows off clothing at a house (like tupperware parties), but much higher price tags. You can place orders & have your size & perhaps other colors a short while after the party.</p>

<p>None of the HS grads we know had any of these “trunk parties,” nor “registered” anywhere that they shared with us. Went to 3 HS grad parties this year. Most kids around here tend to get cash because HI is pretty far from where many of them will be attending school & most of them have EXPENSIVE tuition!</p>

45

<p>They are not popular here. I did hear of one girl a few years ago who was commuting to a school in Baltimore and she registered to redecorate her room at home. We did not contribute to the redecorating, but DD was not really a friend.</p>

46

<p>I think these trunk party folk need to read
<a href=“On College Move-In Day, Resist the U-Haul - Shortcuts - The New York Times”>On College Move-In Day, Resist the U-Haul - Shortcuts - The New York Times;

47

<p>“there is a psychological component to all of this”</p>

<p>-- yes. It’s called lunacy ;)</p>

48

<p>My gf moved her DD to school last year with a Suburban Assault Vehicle (the massive Infinity SUV) and a Honda Civic, both packed. When everything didn’t fit in the SAV I made a not so subtle comment that if it didn’t all fit in the SAV it was not going to fit in the dorm. Stuff came home…lots of it. We used our mid-sized SUV as a gauge. If it didn’t all fit, plus three people, it was too much stuff. It all fit nicely, but was still way more then he needed.</p>

49

<p>I have never heard of it and have sent 4 children to college. </p>

<p>Sounds like going to a wedding & pinning money onto the bride for a “Dollar Dance”. (have heard of this custom, have never witnessed it) </p>

<p>In very poor taste, in my opinion!</p>

50

A trunk party comes from African-American origins. Back in the day, when African-Americans were first allowed to attend college, many were not told of what they had to bring because no one in their families had ever even set foot in a college. So they came with the bare minimum (clothes, tooth brush, blankets, notebooks, and pencils). Upon their arrival, they had nothing to survive on and often times had to come home. On the other hand, if the students couldn’t afford to live in the dorms, they stayed with a family member that lived close to the campus. And they often stayed there from one to all four years without visiting home because they didn’t have the money to come home. So it became tradition to help out college bound African-Americans by helping to alleviate some of the cost by buying them things that they would have in their dorms. It’s not to get gifts… It was used to help them transition from living at home to being in a dorm since African-American students had no idea what to bring because they were previously not even allowed to attend college, let alone get an education. Now it is a common trend among the black community (and others as well) that is also used as a farewell party before going off to college.

51

The graduations this summer we attended were "no boxed gifts please. (code for check or cash) Oh btw I haven’t received a single thank you note.

52

Very interesting … thanks for posting! I knew that trunk parties are most common among African-American families but this tidbit of history offers some helpful perspective on how they came about.