By 1959 Dick Clark was a nationally popular disc jockey and host of television’s American Bandstand. Always seen in a suit and tie, Clark, with his clean-cut good looks, projected a more wholesome vision of rock ’n’ roll than did many of his contemporaries, such as Alan Freed. Clark’s advice book for teenagers includes instruction on manners, makeup, and getting along with parents and other teens, as well as advice on romantic relationships.
We’ve mentioned before that it is very important to build a wide circle of friends, both fellows and girls. There are two reasons for this, but one is basic to dating. That is, the more fellows or girls you meet, the better the possibility that one or two might consider you what we called “date bait.” The other reason, and it’s a long shot, is that having a wide circle of friends, you meet more different types of people and learn how to adjust to them. This pays off after the teen years are past and you are either at work or away at school. But in order to get yourself into this teenage world of dating, let’s just say you’ll grow very lonely if you lock yourself away from eligible fellows or girls.
You’ve joined the staff of the school paper, or you are a member of a crowd of fellows that seem to attract a liberal following of the fair sex to your athletic contests. Or, on the distaff [female] side, you’ve a fine collection of girl friends—they’re especially fine if they have at least one or two brothers of dating age. If you haven’t quite reached that stage of teenage paradise yet, there are such events as community dances, or mixed school or church activities, that bring manly blips on your radarscope. In other words, you’ve gotten out of your shell and into the teenage swim. Don’t be shy. You know that all the other fellows and girls your own age feel the same way you do. Remember, no self-pity. Braces on your teeth can’t dim the glow of a sparkling personality, and neither can a shortage of new dresses or suits be an alibi for what is really a lack of effort on your part. Your fellow teenagers are eager to find sincere friends, and if you can prove that you are one then you definitely classify as “date bait.” There is a phrase that I heard from General Carlos P. Romulo, the Philippines’ famed patriot and Ambassador to the United States, and I think it applies here. “A stranger,” the General said, “is a friend that I haven’t met.” It’s a wonderful application of the Golden Rule, and it’s one sentence that can carry a teenager through a lot of embarrassing uncertainty.
Accepting your fellow teenagers as friends, known or unknown, is another step toward that all-important phone call or whispered conference in the hall at school. You know the one I mean. It may begin, “Uh, Margie . . . uh, this Saturday night . . . uh, well, some of us were . . .” And a date is born.
Source: Dick Clark, Your Happiest Years (New York: Random House, 1959), 100–101.