Dance Card

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I like dead technologies that begin with "D". Dance card dance card dance card.

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In its most basic form, the dance card is a palm-sized booklet distributed to women attending a ballroom dance. Roughly the size of a woman's palm, the dance card is printed with a list of the evening's dances on the left side of the booklet; the right side of the booklet was typically printed with lines or space for gentlemen to "sign up" or "pencil in" their names, so to declared their engagement for a specific dance with an available woman.

The dance card was primarily a late 18th- and 19th century media, implemented at balls in both Europe and America. Ballroom dancing spiked in popularity in the U.S. during the mid-19th century, roused by increasing interest in gendered etiquette and division of male and female domestic space, as well as its application as a recreational and diversionary activity during the Civil War. Use of the dance card faded in the 20th century as dance became less gender regimented and no longer relied on the highly etiquette-based practices of traditional Victorian balls.

Dance Card