The Cultured Girl

“You’re all dressed and waiting for your date to pick you up (the ideal etiquette situation, for too often it’s your date who’s waiting for you). If you’ve got the waiting jitters, there are several cures you can try.

1. Practice typing or work on some knitting or needle point to keep nervous hands busy.

2. Read a book, but not such an interesting one that you’ll be reluctant to put it down. (Though I can’t imagine passing on a date because I was too engrossed in a book, there are plenty of dates that, in retrospect, I should have skipped in favor of such an activity.)

3. Watch a TV movie, but not such an exciting one that your date will want to stay home and watch it with you.
There are two things absolutely not to do: put on nailpolish; take your hairdo apart.” (Particularly not in that order.)
From Handbook of Dating and Other Etiquette,1970