About Dance Cards
Dance cards become popular items at
balls and assemblies in the early 19th century. More formal balls in the
previous century had begun with minuets, danced one couple at a time, in
a rigidly prescribed order defined by the social rank of the dancers. The
first dance would be led off by the highest ranking couple. The man would
retire, and the lady would dance with the next highest ranking gentleman.
She would retire and he in turn would dance the next minuet with the next
approprate lady, and so on until everyone had their turn. The second half
of the evening was given over to more democratic country dances, done in
a longways formation. Even so, rank again became important in deciding
who lead off the set.
As the 19th century progressed, minuets
gave way entirely to country dances, and they in turn gave way to quadrilles
and ãroundä dances done with a single partner, like the waltz
or polka . Dance cards were a way for a lady to keep track of the gentleman
to whom she had promised dances in the course of the evening, and afterwards
served as momentos of the occasion. The apparent democratic equality of
American society in the early 19th century was belied by the strict rules
that governed behaviour in public places. These rules of deportment, as
well as the presence of masters of ceremony and floors managers assured
that young ladies would only have to dance with gentleman who were their
social equals. Even the four couples who comprised a quadrille were carefully
chosen to be of equal status.
Dance cards were generally made of
paper, although sometimes had elaborate covers of bone, ivory, silver or
wood, and were small enough to be readily portable. They could be a simple
card or a card folded in half, or contain several pages. They were generally
given only to ladies (gentlemen were evidently expected to remember to
whom they had promised dances). Often a small pencil was attached by a
cord to the card, the cord also allowing the card to be suspended from
a ladyâs wrist or belt.
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. Covers became especially
colorful and elaborate toward the end of the 19th century when the lithographic
process became popular.
The members of the dance committee and the floor managers for the evening
were usually listed somewhere inside or on the back cover. The floor managers
saw that order and decorum were kept during the evening. They had to screen
out undesirable elements, such as prostitutes who found masquerade balls
easy to infiltrate, and they had to keep an eye on alcohol consumption,
against which ãdryä proponents railed bitterly in the 19th
century. In addition they saw that quadrille sets were filled appropriately
and that no young lady went without a suitable partner.
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. Sometimes the
dances were listed generically; "waltz" "polka" "two-step" etc., and sometimes
the name of the musical selection was given; i.e., "The Washington Post
March" - Sousa. These lists provide us with valuable information
about the types of dances and the musical selections that were popular
in any period. Cards from dances held at dancing schools for instance,
often list dances that were more complex or more arcane than those listed
on cards for dances held by postal workers or engineers. Dance manuals
and "how-to" books often describe the dances that individual dance teachers
preferred, and thought that people with taste should be doing, but
the dance cards from actual events give us a clearer picture of what the
public was actually doing. Of course a dance form listed generically allowed
for personal interpretation. A piece marked "Fox Trot" in the late 1920's,
for example, might have been suitable for a Toddle, Black Bottom, Charleston
or Varsity Drag. The cards don't tell us about the possible personal variations
of dances that were considered "improper" or even "vulgar." Even so, a
further study of dance cards by period, geographical area and social class
will provide a wealth of information about the past dancing habits of Americans.
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