From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America - Softcover

Bailey, Beth L. L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801839351 ISBN 13: 9780801839351

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989

Synopsis

Title: From Front Porch to Back Seat( Courtship in Twentieth-Century America) <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: BethL.Bailey <>Publisher: JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress

About this title

Review

"Whether or not we've come a long way since then, this engaging study of courtship shows that at least half the fun is in reading about getting there."

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

"As entertaining as it is informative. Bailey documents sources from Margaret Mead to advertising's hokey hype in her comprehensive analysis of the rituals of American amore, exploring the themes of 'control, competition, consumption, the sexual economy, etiquette and gender.'."

(Booklist)

"A fascinating study of an important part of our recent past."

(The Nation)

From the Back Cover

'One day, the 1920s story goes, a young man asked a city girl if he might call on her. We know nothing else about the man or the girl--only that, when he arrived, she had her hat on. Not much of a story to us, but any American born before 1910 would have gotten the punch line. 'She had her hat on': those five words were rich in meaning to early twentieth-century Americans. The hat signaled that she expected to leave the house. He came on a 'call, ' expecting to be received in her family's parlor, to talk, to meet her mother, perhaps to have some refreshments or to listen to her play the piano. She expected a 'date, ' to be taken 'out' somewhere and entertained. He ended up spending four weeks' savings fulfilling her expectations.'--from From Front Porch to Back Seat

About this edition

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0801839351
• ISBN 13: 9780801839351
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208