The Lost Art of the Dinner Date

Everything you need to know you can learn from Frank Sinatra.

 

- Beejoli Shah

In The American Gentleman’s Guide to Politeness and Fashion from 1860, Henry Lunettes writes, “No rude familiarity should outrage the delicacy that veils femininity, no outward indifference or neglect betoken disregard of the sacred claims of the woman, whom, next to his mother, every man is bound in honor, to distinguish beyond all others, by courteous observance.” Which is all to say, there is a right and a wrong way to treat a woman. Of course, the world has evolved since then, but there’s something to be said about the universal principles of chivalry when it comes to dating, which are presently facing extinction. These days, a date is little more than a right-swipe into a wasteland of casual drinks at sticky-floored dive bars with paramours as memorable as the well whiskey—little romance, less decorum, and definitely no tablecloths (or, often, seats).