My dearest Readers,
One does not have to wander far back into history to be utterly astonished by the wisdom (or lack of...) pertaining to relationships between men and women. In past posts, I've explored little books similar to the one I will be exploring today, but this one takes the cake. Let us explore life back in the day when your grandmother and grandfather were 'hip and dating'. We'll break down the chapters together. Though mind you, there is so much good stuff in this book, so you'd best believe I'll be returning to this subject in April with a glorious Part 2, after the launch of my Scandal books series (because I have something special planned for January, February and March). So the book? THE ART OF DATING, Necking, Petting & Popularity: Wisdom from the 1940's.
Chapter One covers the age old question: SHOULD YOU DATE? Actually...this is the most promising part of the entire book, lol. Which doesn't say much about the book, does it? It simply states that dating should be encouraged to allow people to make better choices when it comes to lifelong partners. Fair enough and wise.
Let's move on to Chapter Two, shall we? Oh, yes, we shall. DATES TO AVOID. This is where we all realize that our generation isn't as screwed up as we think it is. Some of the dates to avoid? Girl-made dates. And I quote: "The girl taking the initiative and asking a young man...this method is not popular, and it is doubtful if it will ever be." (Hahahahahahaha....that's just us women having the last laugh. But wait! There's more!). "Stalking is justifiable and natural. Fellows like it and call it cute..." (This is before Fatal Attraction hit movie theatres...).
Other dates to avoid? Blind dates. Why? "You can soon lose your good name by going out with a person whose reputation is unknown to you." In other words, reputation first. Safety last. Heh. Stalkers are cute, after all, right? Of course, right. Another date to avoid? Pick ups. No, not pick up lines. Meaning, don't pick up hitchhikers, people on the street and strangers. And I quote: "Discriminating people will have more self-respect than to make chance acquaintances...the risk involved makes the chance too dangerous an experiment with which to trifle." (And yet stalking is okay....) And the last type of date to avoid? Mail order dates. That's what they called those Male seeking Female type ads in the paper. Makes it sound so...wild west-ish, don't it? Bottom line, according to the author: "It does not fulfill the true objective of dating." And what is the true objective of dating back in 1940? No, it's not to screw as many totally hot people as you can. *shame on you* It's "to fit young people for love and marriage." *Deep breath and sigh...so romantic*
Chapter Three: HOW TO GET A DATE. (Hey, you may learn something here)
1.) Study the technique of your successful rival (meaning the person scoring all the dates)
2.) Study yourself. Read the chapter "How to be Popular" (snort...that's my snort, by the way.)
3.)Make yourself available (and no, not in *that* way!) Make it possible for others to meet you.
4.)Take a select few into your confidence
5.)Be especially kind to your parents' guests (Because you *really* wanna date your dad's friends, lol...omgod...can you imagine?!)
6.) Respect others and yourself (hey...this is good advice for a young woman)
7.) Forget past dates (ah...it's hard not to compare, isn't it?)
8.) Exercise reserve (all the women today would be screwed if thrown back into the 40's)
Oh, yes. This is just the beginning of your 1940's lesson on dating. Of course...you'll have to wait until April for Part 2...but no worries! In January, February and March, I'll keep you all busy with giveaways and interesting tid bits of history to celebrate the launch of my back to back scandal series (yes, this is a sales pitch). That said, I will leave you to ponder this advice and warning from our little book: "The type of person who would neck with a stranger would go on to petting." Would you neck with a stranger? Hmmmmmm.....guess that makes me a total slut in 1940's standard.
Until next time,
Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle