Dance With Me

Alumni, Arches

Take a waltz down memory lane with these historic dance cards.

The idea seems quaint now, but in the early 20th century, going to a campus dance often meant picking up a “dance card” at the door. The small booklets gave the students—usually the women—a way of keeping track of the night’s dances and dance partners. The idea was to not dance with the same person all night long; instead, proper etiquette called for mingling. A Vogue article, reprinted in The Trail in 1952, explained: “That was the point of a dance: to be a sort of melting-pot, a big cocktail shaker in which young people and good music were whirled around together to make a gay evening.”

Dance cards often came with a pencil, along with a decorative cover and a cord or ribbon that would allow the woman to wear the card on her wrist. Popular in Europe in the 1800s, dance cards became common on U.S. college campuses in the early to mid 1900s. Their use began to fade after World War II, but they live on today in expressions like “Pencil me in” and “My dance card is full.” Puget Sound’s Archives & Special Collections owns a collection of dance cards spanning the 1920s through the 1940s. On this and the pages that follow, we spotlight a few of our favorites.

Junior Prom

The March 1949 Junior Prom, organized by the senior class, carried the theme “An Evening in Paris.” Co-chairs were Janice Ludwig North ’49, P’80 and Robert Oquist ’49.

Sigma Mu Chi Marine Dance

“All Aboard” was the theme for this Sigma Mu Chi dance in 1932. The card is especially unusual because it includes a photo on the cover.

Kappa Sigma Theta Spring Formal Dinner-Dance

Some dance cards were professionally produced, like this one, printed by Brochon Engraving in Chicago. It was for the Kappa Sigma Theta Spring Formal on April 25, 1941—dinner was at Lakewood Terrace and the dance was at the Tacoma Country Club. The card lists Janet Robbins Worthen ’41 as committee chair for the dance.

1938 Homecoming Dance

Homecoming Weekend in November 1938 included an all-college dance, held at the Fellowship Hall of the Masonic Temple Building in Tacoma. It was a semiformal affair, with music provided by Center Case and His Orchestra. The dance chair was Ruth E. Jensen Jueling ’40.

Sigma Zeta Epsilon/Kappa Sigma Theta pledge dance

Handmade, yet with a fancy interior, this dance card served as the guide for the Dec. 8, 1934, Sigma Zeta Epsilon/Kappa Sigma Theta pledge dance at the Masonic Temple Building in Tacoma.

Mix it Up

Women (and, occasionally, men) used the dance card to fill in the names of the partners they planned to dance with. A typical night included 10 to 14 dances, and etiquette required that participants change partners after every dance.

Degrees of Decoration

The quality of dance cards ranged from handmade to professionally printed. The cords allowed the woman to hang the card off her wrist, and the tassels added a fancy touch, as the dance cards were also intended to be keepsakes.

Beta Pledge Dance

The “Snowflake Frolic,” held Dec. 5, 1942, at the Roof Garden of the Masonic Temple in town, featured a glitter-studded dance card and 14 dances evoking winter themes.

Beta Bambi Ball

The Walt Disney animated movie Bambi had just been released in 1942, so it was only natural for the Beta dance in Kittredge Hall the following February to echo a theme of woodland creatures. Dances included “Bambi Bounce,” “Thumper Thstomp,” “Stag Struggle,” “Quail Quiver,” “Squirrel Squirm,” and “Raccoon Rodeo.”

Peppermint Prom

Alpha Beta Upsilon called its fall 1941 pledge dance the “Peppermint Prom.” It took place Oct. 25, 1941, at the Puyallup Elks’ Temple, with Helen Pat Beem Gouldner ’45 as chair.