Welcome to the eleventh issue of the Lists of Note newsletter. Each Sunday, a new (old) list.

The Anti-Flirt Club’s first ten members in Washington D.C., 1923. The club’s president, Alice Reighly, is fourth from the right. Photo: Library of Congress.

In the early 1920s, having been subjected to an unending stream of harassment from members of the opposite sex, a group of women in Washington, D. C. decided to form the Anti-Flirt Club, an organisation “composed of young women and girls who have been embarrassed by men in automobiles and on street corners”, its aim being to protect such ladies from any further discomfort. The club’s first meeting took place on 27th February 1923, during which it was decided that the first—and, it seems, only—Anti-Flirt Week would begin a week later, on 4th March. As with all good clubs, a list of rules was issued to its members. That list read as follows.

Don’t flirt: those who flirt in haste oft repent in leisure.
Don’t accept rides from flirting motorists—they don’t all invite you in to save you a walk.
Don’t use your eyes for ogling—they were made for worthier purposes.
Don’t go out with men you don’t know—they may be married, and you may be in for a hair-pulling match.
Don’t wink—a flutter of one eye may cause a tear in the other.
Don’t smile at flirtatious strangers—save them for people you know.
Don’t annex all the men you can get—by flirting with many you may lose out on the one.
Don’t fall for the slick, dandified cake eater—the unpolished gold of a real man is worth more than the gloss of a lounge lizard.
Don’t let elderly men with an eye to a flirtation pat you on the shoulder and take a fatherly interest in you. Those are usually the kind who want to forget they are fathers.
Don’t ignore the man you are sure of while you flirt with another. When you return to the first one you may find him gone.

The above list can also be found in the Lists of Note book. Grab a copy here.

Lists of Note

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