Here are a few rules for attending a formal dance. I’ve written most everything in the traditional “man asks a woman to dance” because it was clearer, but it can be transposed for any couple of any stripe. The man is merely the one who asks the other to dance, the girl the one who…
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Semantics: Handkerchief Flirtations
We’re back with another reading from The Modern Art of Making Love by James S. Wilson, (1900). Here we learn how to flirt with the object of our affection using a handkerchief. Drawing across the lips – Desirous of an acquaintance. Drawing across the eyes – I am sorry. Taking it by the center –…
Read MoreSemantics: The Clandestine Language of Postage Stamps
“Secret languages” are one of the most wonderful sources of unintended humor when one reads Victorian etiquette books. Living in repressive times, lads and ladies on the make were forced to use all sorts of hidden methods to woo and win love. You’ve probably have heard of the language of flowers. I’ll give that a glance at…
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