Editor’s Note: Thursdays are so achingly close to Fridays and thus the glorious weekend. To help pass the time on Thursday as you wait to get your TGIF on, we’ve started a new series: Throwback Thursdays. We’ll be digging up awesome vintage videos, articles, and advertisements that will give you a laugh, and maybe even a few tips on being a man.
It’s an age old question for men entering their dating years. How do I ask a girl out? What should we do on a date? What do I talk about with my date? Thankfully, we have 1950s instructional films to answer all these questions. What to Do on a Date follows our clueless friend Nick in his quest to land a date with Kay the Senior Class Babe. Lucky for Nick, he’s got his friend Jeff to take him by the hand and explain this whole dating thing to him. Watch and learn.
Man ‘o live! Was that ever hokey. Despite the endearing corniness of the film, there’s actually a few things we can learn from it:
Nick is a dope. Not knowing how to date is just one of Nick’s problems. He needs to knock it off the with slack jawed talking and the dopey slouching. Hopefully Kay will smack some manliness back into him.
Jeff is the man because he has a plan. Jeff always has a plan and women are attracted to that. He never has the back and forth, “What do you want to do” discussion with his gal. He just whips out his community center agenda with supreme confidence and says “We’re going square dancing, duchess. Put on this pioneer dress that I picked out for you.” Guess who’ll be getting a good night hug after the date? Jeff, that’s who.
Don’t be afraid to ask a woman out. We’ve covered this before. Asking a woman out is insanely simple. Pick up the phone. Dial her number. Ask. If she says no, apply the Brad Pitt Rule.
Dates don’t have to be expensive. You don’t have to spend a fortune on dates. Keep it simple. While the film provided some really corny date ideas (with the exception of weenie roasts. Weenie roasts are hella awesome), it did a good job in driving home the point that with a bit of planning, you can have a fun, enjoyable date without spending much money.
Find out what a woman enjoys before planning a date. You don’t want to plan a big square dancing extravaganza only to find out your date lives for the polka. Discover what your date’s likes and dislikes are before planning. Usually this is learned during conversation with a woman, so you’ll have to man up and actually talk to a girl. Of course, you can always peruse a potential date’s Facebook profile to get an idea of what she likes. If you see that one of her favorite bands is going to be in town, take her to the concert. But for the love of Pete, don’t memorize her entire Facebook profile and then recite it back to her during the date. You’ll just look desperate and creepy.
Finally, weenie roasts are awesome. Did I mention that weenie roasts are freaking awesome?! Don’t you forget it.
