21st birthday - keys

[waiglet]

Anyone know how the tradition of giving keys on the 21st birthday came about?

[Whickerman]

It used to be the age you were considered an adult, and was traditionally the age your were given the key to the front door (so you could come and go without permission). The traditional gift therefore is a key,but is now usually jewellery of a big plastic tacky thing!

[andy-hughes]

This tradition dates back to the times when children lived at home unil they married, and were very much under the control of their parents. The voting age was twenty-one, when 'adult status' was officially conferred, and as Whickerman advises, a front door key was issued for independent access to the family home. It goes with the song -

"Twenty-one today, twenty-one today, he's got the key of the door, never been twenty-one before ...."