Instructional Videos/Social Guidance Films

[donnie]

You did it, DIDN'T you?

I did. And it was delish.

Ok, I'll overlook it this time. But if you ever do it again, I don't want to know.

[Kitty]

You did it, DIDN'T you?

I did. And it was delish.

Ok, I'll overlook it this time. But if you ever do it again, I don't want to know.

Deal.

[donnie]

In the beginning, when the daughter comes bursting into the kitchen scolding her mother, my immediate thought is "Well, why don't you help her get dinner ready, rather than sit at the table and accost your poor mother? Clean your own room." and then the boy was all like "Mother! You didn't iron my pants!" These kids are at an age where they should be doing stuff like that for themselves if they care so much about them.

Yes, I was having the same thoughts. What a dysfunctional family! The boy’s in the worst shape. “Dinner late, tennis racket broken, no money for date, and no pants to wear…” (Well, the fourth problem makes the first and third ones moot.)

The father here sounds unrealistically like a professional radio announcer. I like the mother’s hairstyle. I don’t recall seeing one like that.

[donnie]

Another Dick York one!! How cool!
This is Shy Guy from 1947
I may be looking a little too far into this, but I think the dad is a single father with just one child, a son named Phil, played by Dick York.
I already knew that Dick York was the better Darrin, but I'm really starting to fall in love with him watching him in these videos. Wonder if he made any more?

My guess is yes, since he's in two of these Coronets. I'm always taken aback when I first hear him at how high his voice was in those days. I guess I'm still comparing him with Darren. Dick York was also a really nice person. I remember reading how he did a lot of work to benefit good causes, even later in his life when he was beset with physical disabilities.

[Kitty]

How Do You Do? (1946)
I like the girl in this. She's so serious about how to introduce people! That Bill guy is one of the goofiest characters I've ever seen in one of these.
I would have thought the 'correct' way to introduce a friend is to address the person you were sitting with first. After all, the boys came up to them, and I'd think it would be something like, "Hi, boys! Jane, this is Bill and Peter from volleyball class." I don't remember everyone's names, so I'm getting them wrong, but you get the picture.
Also, is that short-stack really the captain of the basketball team? He's shorter than the other boy's mother!

Notice the integrity of the magazine she is using as a reference. I'm talking about the structural intregrity. Magazines in those days were overly large in width/height, and usually pretty thin, so they'd bend and crumple easily. They were more like newspapers in book form. I'm glad that our magazines today are a little thicker and have a stiffer binding. It's a pain when you have those types of antique modern living magazines; it's much harder to keep them safe from crumbling because of the way they were made.

Actually, all these rules make me nervous. I hate being introduced to people. Honestly, I'd rather get to know people on my own. I'm more direct like that. I always thought that it was polite to stand when the person is standing and being introduced. It's also a relief to know that etiquette is that the woman is supposed to extend her hand first when being introduced. That doesn't stop everyone from extending hands first anyway.

I hate shaking hands, hate introductions, and to this narrator who says "It's fun to meet people." You are a liar. I guess the ending of their statement is "When you feel at ease", but I never feel comfortable meeting people for the first time. In fact, come to think about it, I hate initial hellos and hugs, too, even if it's family members. Not sure why, they always just make me feel awkward.
How many of these tips do you know?
https://youtu.be/7aTRzxs-9rc

[Kitty]

Are You Popular? (1947)

This is a nice little video with tips on why someone might be popular. I may be wrong, but I think most of the time these videos focus on how the girl should act, not so much on how the boy should act in this situation. Perhaps a longer video with the two different perspectives would have been a good idea.
A couple things I noted: The pay phone that Jerry used to call the girl at the last minute had an old type receiver, it was the old cone one, rather than the one we are used to today. Sorry, I don't know the technical terms for these things, but I think you get the picture.
The second thing I noticed was that it was sort of odd for the mother to invite Wally back for brownies after the date. After all, she'd just met the boy, and what if the daughter ended up not liking Wally after all? Now, to avoid being rude, she is sort of obligated to invite him into her house afterward. The narrator also says that maybe another couple would come home with them to have brownies and wouldn't that be nice? Honestly, I don't think it would be nice, if they were planning to be home as late as 11pm. Am I being old-lady like in that?
https://youtu.be/-tifJ5DH9jQ

[Kitty]

And the last one for today is Beginning to Date (1953)

This one is from the boy's perspective, which is nice, and it deals with a boy asking his first date out. He is significantly shorter than the girl he asks, but no one seems to notice or care.

https://youtu.be/sS_b8N6_Jwo

[donnie]

re How Do You Do? (1946)

I like the girl in this. She's so serious about how to introduce people!

Yes, she’s charming, if a little strange. I liked the way she put her hands over her eyes when imagining a previous situation. And did you notice her expressions here? And who is the mysterious narrator who seems to be in the same room with her offscreen—at the same time she’s talking directly to the viewer offscreen. Hmm..

I would have thought the 'correct' way to introduce a friend is to address the person you were sitting with first. After all, the boys came up to them, and I'd think it would be something like, "Hi, boys! Jane, this is Bill and Peter from volleyball class." I don't remember everyone's names, so I'm getting them wrong, but you get the picture.

Maybe that would be better, I’m not sure, because I’ve always been lousy at introductions. I usually do it halfway so that the people have to end up kind of introducing themselves.

Notice the integrity of the magazine she is using as a reference. I'm talking about the structural intregrity. Magazines in those days were overly large in width/height, and usually pretty thin, so they'd bend and crumple easily. They were more like newspapers in book form. I'm glad that our magazines today are a little thicker and have a stiffer binding. It's a pain when you have those types of antique modern living magazines; it's much harder to keep them safe from crumbling because of the way they were made.

Yes, I know what you’re talking about. The size does make them prone to damage once they get brittle round the edges.

Actually, all these rules make me nervous. I hate being introduced to people. Honestly, I'd rather get to know people on my own. I'm more direct like that. I always thought that it was polite to stand when the person is standing and being introduced. It's also a relief to know that etiquette is that the woman is supposed to extend her hand first when being introduced. That doesn't stop everyone from extending hands first anyway.

I hate shaking hands, hate introductions, and to this narrator who says "It's fun to meet people." You are a liar. I guess the ending of their statement is "When you feel at ease", but I never feel comfortable meeting people for the first time. In fact, come to think about it, I hate initial hellos and hugs, too, even if it's family members. Not sure why, they always just make me feel awkward.

I agree with almost all of that. I’m never comfortable being introduced or meeting people for the first time, either. I’ll go further and say I’m usually happier just one-on-one with a person than with a group in a social situation, in general—even when it's people I like. And all these rules make my head spin. I can see the logic behind them, but I wouldn’t be able to remember them.

I don’t mind shaking hands so much (or used not to before Covid). If I am going to shake hands with a man, I always like it if he has a firm handshake instead of a flabby one. But I think handshaking, like a lot of other social norms, probably needs to become obsolete in these pandemic times.

That was an interesting one—thanks for posting!

[donnie]

re: Are You Popular? (1947)

I liked this one.

Did you notice that in the beginning scene, Carolyn had all of 20 seconds to eat her lunch, yet her dishes look empty when she gets up from the table?

This is a nice little video with tips on why someone might be popular. I may be wrong, but I think most of the time these videos focus on how the girl should act, not so much on how the boy should act in this situation. Perhaps a longer video with the two different perspectives would have been a good idea.

Yes, it definitely is focused mainly on girls. Two perspectives would have been better. There was a little aimed at boys in the Goofus/Gallant treatment of the two ways Wally and Jerry asked for a date, but that was kind of thrown in on the side.

When Wally asked her out, he proposed going to a movie and then to go to “Teen Town”; I wonder what that would have been.

The pay phone that Jerry used to call the girl at the last minute had an old type receiver, it was the old cone one, rather than the one we are used to today. Sorry, I don't know the technical terms for these things, but I think you get the picture.

I guess the technical term is “earpiece” —? Or maybe “receiver,” I don’t know. At any rate, that does seem odd—I thought they had probably stopped using the old cone-shaped ones back in the ’30’s.

The narrator also says that maybe another couple would come home with them to have brownies and wouldn't that be nice? Honestly, I don't think it would be nice, if they were planning to be home as late as 11pm. Am I being old-lady like in that?

The way the mother’s dialogue was worded, it sounds like she’d just left them there for them to serve themselves and wouldn’t be required to act as hostess. Still, I don’t know as I’d like to have a bunch of teenagers hanging around at 11pm.

[Kitty]

Responses to responses:

re: Are You Popular? (1947)
Did you notice that in the beginning scene, Carolyn had all of 20 seconds to eat her lunch, yet her dishes look empty when she gets up from the table?

I missed that!

When Wally asked her out, he proposed going to a movie and then to go to “Teen Town”; I wonder what that would have been.

I think he said something about grabbing her skates. Maybe it's a roller rink?

re How Do You Do? (1946)

I like the girl in this. She's so serious about how to introduce people!

I liked the way she put her hands over her eyes when imagining a previous situation. And did you notice her expressions here? And who is the mysterious narrator who seems to be in the same room with her offscreen—at the same time she’s talking directly to the viewer offscreen. Hmm..

I did notice her expressions at that point. I wonder if it was a signal to someone, or maybe, looking deeper, she had a condition such as aspergers or something.

And here's a new one: The Outsider (1951)
This one actually made me tear up. I felt so sorry for the girl, and actually could kind of relate. I never was a throw myself on the bed cryer for this type of thing, but I've been in a similar situation. I'm old enough now that I don't care if people invite me places, but when I was a teen, my sister and I had the same friends. My sister would go out all the time with them, but they wouldn't specifically ask me, so I didn't go. One time one of the boys asked me why I never went out with the group. I told them I never knew when they were planning anything. They just assumed my sister was telling me about their plans, but she wasn't. Oh, well! Sisters!
When I was younger, but at working age, I was rarely invited to outings when work people would go out. It bothered me at the time a little bit, but I've gotten to the point now where I'm married and don't really want to go to bars or anything, anyway, so I don't care anymore. I guess it's a phase you go through where you feel like you need to party.
I thought it was kind of interesting that these people are from Mississippi or something. I mean, most of the time these videos have actors who all have Mid Atlantic accents, and it was curious to hear all these kids with twangy ones.
I felt a little bad for the chubby kid. That was a mean comment that the girl made when he asked what they were going to eat at the party. I mean, it was a legit question, and if one of the girls asked what kind of snacks they were going to plan on having, they wouldn't have made that comment.
I wonder why our shy girl felt the need to change her order to be the same as the other two? Fitting in certainly doesn't mean being the same as everyone.
By the way, she has the cutest hair cut I've seen in these old things! I have never noticed the really really short hair in this era.
I liked the end part where they had the questions on the screen. I hope it helped a few people make more friends.
https://youtu.be/C-GyRB36_Gs