Dance cards became trendy items at balls in the early 19th century. They were a way for a lady to keep track of the gentlemen she had promised dances to during the evening.
Masters of ceremony and floors managers guaranteed that young ladies would only have to dance with gentlemen who were their social equals. Today, that is called “Cover Charge and Over-Priced Drinks". The floor managers saw that order and decorum were kept during the evening. Today, these guys are called “Bouncers”. They had to screen out undesirable elements, such as prostitutes who found masquerade balls easy to infiltrate - Today, those are called “Hoochie Mamas”, they had to keep an eye on alcohol consumption - Today, that is called “Last Call”, and saw that no young lady went without a suitable partner - Today, that is called a “Wing Gal”.
Dance cards were generally given only to ladies. Gentlemen were supposed to remember to whom they had promised dances. Yeah, that wouldn’t work today… The front cover of the dance card told the occasion for the event, the location, the date, sometimes the price of the ticket, and often the name of the band that would be playing that evening. Today, we get event invitations on Facebook.
The interior of the dance card usually contained a list of the evening's dances, with spaces provided for the names of the gentlemen to whom the lady had promised them. Today, ladies dance with their gal pals and diss guys who try to dance with them. Sometimes the dances were listed generically; "waltz" "polka" "two-step" etc., these lists provide us with valuable information about the types of dances and the musical selections that were popular in any period. Today, we get our groove on to The Pussycat Dolls and Lady Gaga.
And a scene from Meet Me In St. Louis to show you how it's done, well, or not done:
Gotta love Judy!
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