[theqoo] A CUSTOM FROM THE 90S THAT DISAPPEARED AND LIKELY WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN

The “Ham-selling” tradition involves a “hamjin-bearer” (usually a friend of the groom) wearing a mask made from a dried squid
and carrying a “ham” (wedding gift chest) filled with wedding gifts to the bride’s home.

He is typically accompanied by a group of people carrying traditional blue-and-red silk lanterns, all loudly calling out, “Buy the ‘ham’!”

The bride’s family then comes out to welcome the hamjin-bearer inside;

the ritual concludes after a gourd is smashed at the main gate and they enter the house (usually followed by the bride’s family serving food and drinks).

The reason why it disappeared: 

1. Shouting “Ham-sa-se-yo” (Buy the wedding chest!) at the top of one’s lungs, a tradition that became a nuisance with the rise of apartment living.

2. Refusing to move forward (with the wedding) with every step until receiving an envelope of money, a practice that often gets taken to extremes.

3. Friends of the bride usually step in to negotiate, but the “Ham-bearer” and his group would frequently cross the line during this process (often behaving like patrons at a hostess bar).

4. After the ‘ham’ was delivered, the groom’s friends would often strike the groom and har**s the bride under the guise of celebration or an initiation ritual; this led to incidents where the groom was beaten to d**th or the bride called off the wedding due to extreme s****l humiliation.

(The standard practice involved simply striking the soles of the feet a few times, based on the belief that it was good for virility.)

1. I’m a 89’er and I’ve heard stories of this when I was younger

2. They did it right making it disappear

3. To the 90s kids, go ask your parents how their weddings went 

4. I’m a 98’er, and I’ve seen this ritual on dramas

5. Looks like it’s hard for Hannams even nowadays to not cross the line 

6. I’ve never seen something like that 

7. I’m a 90s kid and I’ve seen it ㅋㅋ

8. Someone did this in my apartment complex, I’m a 90s kid 

9. I always thought they only did that in dramas and sitcoms ㅋㅋ

10. This is honestly so barbaric