Arthur Murray's Popularity Book: Vintage Advice and Wisdom from The Greatest Generation - Softcover

Murray, Arthur

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908402768 ISBN 13: 9781908402769

Publisher: Old House, 2014

Synopsis

First published in 1944, The Popularity Book is a vintage guidebook full of wise and wonderful advice on living well, building poise and maintaining fulfilling relationships. Drawn from books, testimonials and magazines from the World War II era, this book shows the forthright common sense and romanticism of the “Greatest Generation”, a generation inspired by debonair role models such as  Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. As relevant today as it was in the 1940s, The Popularity Book offers counsel on being an unforgettably great date, devising a game-plan for making a man propose marriage, and pointers how to be charming. Compiled and originally published by Arthur Murray, who famously said he could teach anyone who could walk how to dance, it also features his iconic step-by-step footprint instructions on how to Samba, Fox Trot and Rumba divinely!

About this title

About the Author

Arthur Murray (1895-1991) was a world famous dance instructor in the 1920s to his death in 1991. His pupils included Eleanor Roosevelt, the Duke of Windsor, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Barbara Hutton, Elizabeth Arden, Manuel L. Quezon, and Jack Dempsey. He owned a successful chain of dance studios that are now franchised and still popular across the country.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From the chapter "How to Date":

"Faux pas about ordering are almost always made by the girl…A young man will ask you what you want to eat and you should tell him, not the waiter. In fact you should have no conversation at all with the waiter (and never, never kid with him!).
 
Girls often wonder, too, if it is proper for them to applaud after a dance. It’s best to leave this invitation for an encore to your partner.
 
While dancing, it is best to leave your handbag at the table.

From the chapter "How to Behave at a Dance":

"In making introductions a younger woman is always introduced to an older one...Men are always presented to women, and the woman's name is always spoken first—"Mrs. Smith, may I present Mr. Black? A simple acknowledgement is best—"How to do you, Mrs. Smith?"  A woman acknowledges an introduction to a man by repeating his name."

Edition details

• Publisher: Old House
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908402768
• ISBN 13: 9781908402769
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128