10 Dating Tips From The Past That Are Just So So Terrible

By | November 24, 2015

Thankfully, these dating etiquettes are no longer the norm. We have come such a long way.

Never Wear Earrings

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Photo: Flickr/Nationaal Archief

"I once knew a man who said that for him two kinds of women exist—'those who are civilized and those who wore earrings.'" The San Francisco Call; Sunday, September 22, 1912

Apparently, in 1912, nothing was more vulgar than a woman wearing a pair of earrings. People at the time will probably have a heart attack seeing people of today with more than a few piercing in their ears.

 
Ladies, Don't Eat The Cheese

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Photo: museumblog.winterthur.org

"Ladies seldom take cheese at a dinner party." Etiquette, Health and Beauty, Frances Stevens and Frances M. Smith, 1889

Today, it's not a good dinner party unless you can stuff your face with at least three types of cheese.

 
Dare Not To Be Funny

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Photo: fromthebygone.wordpress.com

"Do not allow yourself in the habit of joking with your companions.—This tends to cultivate severe sarcasm, which is a bad habit of the tongue." How to Be a Lady, Containing Useful Hints on the Formation of Character, Harvey Newcomb, 1850

Allegedly, people in the Victorian era hated humor. LOL!

 
Ladies Beware, He Might Be A Werewolf

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Photo: retrospace.org

"No wise girl would accept a man who proposed by moonlight or just after a meal. The dear things aren't themselves then." The Spinster Book, by Myrtle Reed, 1901

So, no proposals after over a romantic candlelight dinner?

 
Spelling And Grammar Is Sexy

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Photo: Flickr/National Media Museum

"To spell badly is disgraceful in a lady or gentleman, and it looks as if they had quitted reading as soon as they quitted school." The Ladies’ Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners; or, Miss Leslie’s Behaviour Book, a Guide and Manual for Ladies, by Eliza Leslie, 1864

Alright, we still think the same today. At least, I'd like to believe, most of us do.

You Will Hate Your Spouse

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Photo: Etsy

"Two people, strongly attached, have, nevertheless, an unfortunate faculty for annoying and irritating each other." Making Friends and Keeping Them, by Katherine E. Conway, 1899

No matter what, the assumption was that you'll end up hating your spouse. This explains all the divorces...

 
Men's Fashion Is Important

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Photo: victorianfancydress.com/

"But few things betray greater imbecility of mind than a servile imitation of the extravagances of any fashionable monster. A man possessed of the delicate and proper feelings of a gentleman would deem himself degraded by copying another, even to the curling of a whisker, or the tie of a cravat; as, by so doing, he could only show the world of how little importance he felt himself, and the very poor opinion he entertained of his own taste." Hints on Etiquette and the Usages of Society; with a Glance at Bad Habits, by Charles Wm. Day; 1843

A man with great style never goes out of style.

 
Lady's Choice

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

"The rule is that an escort must wait as patiently as possible until the young woman expresses a desire to start homeward. The man must not be the first to make such a suggestion. On the other hand, he must not show irritation or displeasure if the young woman suggests their departing before he really wishes to go. The woman's will is the man's law in such matters." Etiquette and Manners, by Miss Alice Stuart; 1921

Thankfully, this is no longer the norm.

 
If It Fits, Don't Always Sit

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Photo: nbwomensfashionarchives.wordpress.com

"It is not polite for a lady to speak too quick or too loud. When seated, she ought neither to cross her legs, nor take a vulgar attitude. She should occupy her chair entirely, and appear neither too restless, nor yet too immovable." Chesterfield’s Art of Letter-Writing Simplified…To Which is Appended the Complete Rules of Etiquette, and the Usages of Society, 1857

Apparently, sitting in a chair as a woman in 1857 was a seriously complicated ordeal.

 
No One Likes A Crybaby

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Photo: Telegraph

"Don't flush your tear ducts daily. If there is one unbearable boredom it is to dwell with a chronic weeper." Don'ts for Girls, A Manual of Mistakes, Minna Thomas Antrim, 1902

According to this piece of advice, if you're "chronic weeper" you'll be chronically single.

H/T AllDay