This is an installment in a multi-part series.

Throughout the University of Iowa’s history, dances have found their home in recreational life. Though now seen as Greek Life formals and fraternity house parties, back when the university was still new, dances were much more common and treated with prestige. Student Life Archivist for University Archives Matrice Young sifts through a box filled with artifacts from when dances were present. These were known as dance cards. 

The Daily Iowan: What were dance cards?

Young: Dance cards in general were social cards that were mostly used by women at dances, but everyone got them. They were mainly used by the students to keep track of who they danced with. That’s why inside the cards there are pages with lines, numbers, and people’s names on them. They were more of a social etiquette thing. They started in high society, then started trickling down, but continued as class etiquette. They started fading out a bit around or after World War II.

What can be found inside one of these cards?

According to the University of Arizona’s collection, if a name written inside the card has double x’s, it usually means the person who danced with the owner was also their date to the dance.

Some of the dance cards came with menus on the inside if food was being served. 

But they also tell you where it’s at, what the date is, and sometimes what dances are actually going to be there. Other times, people might’ve just written in what songs were played that night. 

Some of the cards in the back tell you if someone is playing live that night. The chaperones, the bands, the committee that put the dance together, a lot of decent information can be taken out of this. Some cards came with a pencil to write the names in. 

That’s where you get the phrase “pencil it in.” A few cards come in different types of materials, too. 

What other organizations used these besides Greek Life?

They were basically for anyone. You have the military balls, some that are senior prom, there are a couple of homecoming ones, and holiday parties, but they were mainly used by sororities. 

Is there a particular reason as to why dance cards faded out?

I think it was mostly a change in social etiquette — they didn’t really need to do this anymore after a while. 

It didn’t matter who you were dancing with as much. 

Were there any particular cards from a dance the university might have put on?

I’m getting the vibe that this one might be “Dad’s Day.” And this other one looks like another sponsored by the University: “April Falles: Sponsored by Students of The Graphic Arts.” 

Why were there so many dances put on in the 1920s?

I assume it was just to give the students something to do and also keep them out of trouble. In maybe the 1920s or ‘30s, we had a nightclub that the university sponsored here at the IMU. 

The club was called “The Silver Shadow,” and it was a dry nightclub.They created it to keep kids from getting in car accidents on their way to bars in Cedar Rapids.

 It stayed open and lasted a couple of years but faded out sometime around World War II. 

The university was trying to keep the students safe but also let them have fun.