Curiosities from the archives

The Dance Card

As with VHS tapes and autograph books, dance cards are a thing of the past.  A practice from another era and mores. The dance card was standard issue at dances, armed with small pencil, gentlemen could book a dance with the lady in question.

The Heritage Archive has two such cards, one from the Ex-students’ dance of 1920 and one for the following year.  Both events held at the Paddington Town Hall. The magazine describes the hall decorated with draped red and white art muslin, the College flag and supper tables dressed with red carnations and maidenhair.

The 1921 Dance card, belonging to Winifred Walker, student from 1919, may hold a hidden treasure. Names against, the One Step, the Waltz and the Fox Trot, have been entered with signatures by a number of gentlemen.  A signature against the 17. Fox Trot – K. Slessor. Could this be the Australian poet and war correspondent.

We find that Kenneth Slessor’s sister Maud, was a foundation student at Pymble.  He is purported to be in Sydney at this time working as a Cadet reporter for the Sydney Sun. So perhaps we can assume that it is him. Described as a dapper young man, an initial comparison of his signature and writing from papers in the National Library do appear similar.

Winfred’s last dance of the evening was with Kenneth.  The final dance number 18. The One Step, she has crossed through the gentleman’s name and added the comment ‘did not wait’. Perhaps off to catch the special trams to connect with the special trains and transport running late into the evening to travel home to Wahroonga.

Maud Slessor went onto study Architecture at Sydney University, before travelling to China in 1922 where her father was working. Kenneth married in 1922. Thanks to Dr Sarah Loch at the College for spotting the significance of the signature.