Results: Polka Dots: Part 1 of 3

In Medieval Europe, the polka dot pattern represented disease and impurity. The lack of machines made it impossible to create perfectly round and uniformly spaced polka dots, making polka dot patterns unacceptable because they reminded people of the rashes caused by diseases like leprosy, smallpox, and bubonic plague that were rampant at the time. This negative connotation continued through the Renaissance. Did you know there had been a stigma attached to polka dots in the past?

Polka dots can be seen in Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic designs. In some non-Western cultures, polka dots have been symbols of magic or male virility. Are you surprised to know that polka dots have meaning?

Polka dots had various names around the world, but the contemporary term comes from the Czech peasant dance (now also a ballroom dance) characterized by 3 quick steps and a hop, as couples circle the dance floor. The only connection between the polka dance and the dots seems to be that they share a fun, cheerful nature. Have you ever danced a polka?

The term "polka dot", used to describe a pattern of dots of uniform size and arrangement, first appeared in print in 1857 in a Philadelphia-based women's lifestyle magazine called "Godey's Lady's Book". The magazine featured the works of writers like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Had you ever heard of "Godey's Lady's Book"?