January 24, 2015

Skating Figure 8s à la 1948



I'm going to a winter ice skating party in Bryant Park, behind New York Library, on Sunday afternoon. Thought I would bone up on skating etiquette in one of my favorite books, Miss Behavior -- Popularity, Poise and Personality for the Teen-Age Girl (By Bernice Bryant; illustrated by Jean Baker; copyright 1948.)  (Other books by Bryant include Future Perfect: A Guide to Personality and Popularity for the Junior Miss.)

Here's the dish in the skating "chapter":

SKATE
     Skate well and you'll have the men falling for you. Don't skate well and you'll be falling at their feet. They'll have to pick you up then.
     Go to the pond, rink or down to the old mill stream and cut a neat figure eight. Someone is bound to ask you how you did it. And there's nothing wrong in answering a civil question. And there's nothing wrong in answering another and and another. There you are! It's as easy as falling on the ice.
     Of course, you're not going to talk to just anybody. But there's nothing wrong in talking to a boy you know goes to your school, church, club or even one who lives in the same town you do. If possible, try to wangle an introduciton somehow before the game of questions and answers begins.


Is this book a precursor to "Prom Salon"? (See below.)



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