Courtship is one of the oldest of social customs, even antedating
in some countries such long-established usages as marriage, or
the wearing of white neckties with full evening dress. The
beginnings of the etiquette of courtship were apparently
connected in some way with the custom of “love” between the
sexes, and many of the old amatory forms still survive in the
modern courtship. It is generally agreed among students of the
history of etiquette that when “love” first began to become
popular among the better class of younger people they took to it
with such avidity that it was necessary to devise some sort of
rules for the conduct of formal or informal love-making. These
rules, together with various amendments, now constitute the
etiquette of courtship.
Suppose, for example, that you are a young gentleman named
Richard Roe desirous of entering upon a formal courtship with
some refined young girl of fashion. You are also, being a college
graduate, engaged in the bond business. One morning there comes
into your financial institution a young lady, named Dorothy Doe,
who at once attracts your attention by her genteel manners, as
exemplified by the fact that she calls the president of your
company “father.” So many young people seem to think it “smart”
to refer to their parents as “dad” or “my old man”; you are
certain, as soon as you hear her say “Hello, father” to your
employer, that she is undoubtedly a worthy object of courtship.