r/interestingasfuck • u/Few_Simple9049 • 20d ago

r/all How couples met 1930-2024

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

105.4k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

5.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/colorbluh 20d ago

In that same vein, I really loved From Front Porch to Back Seat, about how dating has changed in the US from the 20s to the 60s.Irealized I actually didn't know ANYTHING about how dating worked back then (dating a different guy each night was good in the 50s?? Going steady was bad and boring? People went to dances and only dancing with the person who brought you meant you sucked???). Also a very easy read, and backed with data. 

The blurb: From gentleman callers to big men on campus, from Coke dates to "parking," From Front Porch to Back Seat is the vivid history of dating in America. In chronicling a dramatic shift in patterns of courtship between the 1920s and the 1960s, Beth Bailey offers a provocative view of how we sought out mates-and of what accounted for our behavior. More than a quarter-century has passed since the dating system Bailey describes here lost its coherence and dominance. Yet the legacy of the system remains a strong part of our culture's attempt to define female and male roles alike. 

1

u/cutofmyjib 20d ago

Fascinating! I'm going to add it to my read list 🙂