Bert Bacharach’s Book For Men
Bert Bacharach
1953
Isn’t this a hoot? Thanks to anonymous submitter! This book is clearly before my time, so I was trying to figure out the meaning of “stag lines” for every occasion. (I have heard of stag films.) I am thinking this is a 50’s version of pickup lines or anecdotes–maybe to impress women? I also thought that maybe the author was composer Burt Bacharach. Not so ALB music fans. According to WorldCat, our man BERT is an author of all things hip and cool for the 1950’s and not a composer. Anyone with insider info on this title please enlighten us to the real meaning of stag lines. Love the cover!!!
Mary
LOVE this one. Keep up the good work. You may have your complainers, but every time I see a new post, it’s like a fascinating archaeological dig.
Cheers,
Michael
“most campus dances had a system for ‘cutting in’ where men stood in *stag lines* at the edge of the floor and waited to cut in on dancing pairs by tapping the shoulder of the desired young woman”
This meaning seems to make a bit of sense. Passage comes from ‘Great depression and the middle class’ by Mary C. McComb
ISBN 9780415979702
preview on google books.
From an Amazon used copy description: Supplemented by black and white illustrations, the text is a humorous guide and manual for “”stag””, or single men. Topics include fashion, various social situations, and cooking.
I’ve got this one in my collection. It is a great one.. from the flap copy: “Bert Bacharach tells the stronger sex [ahem] how they can look their best, feel their best, act their best, be their best”. It also explains that ” The questions sent him by readers of his column, ‘Stag Lines’ have been a valuable guide in choosing the material for this book.”
Oh wait, upon further reading of the introduction it appears that Stag Lines the column had something to do with men’s clothing. But the book also goes into manners, marriage advice, etc. “Getting along in this civilized society.”
According to “Biographical dictionary of American newspaper columnists” By Sam G. Riley, Bert Bacharach wrote a syndicated column “Stag Lines”, a general column for men.
He was also, according to the same source, the authority on mens clothing in the 1950s.
Hm, this must be a mistake. This guide is infallible for me; broads think I’m the bee’s knees!
oh. my. god. need this one, too. thanks!!!
I wouldn’t throw out this book; it looks like a wonderful cultural icon, as well as something to laugh at and compare with life in the 21st century.
Author and newspaper columnist Bert Bacharach was the father of composer Burt Bacharach.
As late as the mid-70s, Bert Bacharach was still writing a creaky and inadvertently hilarious syndicated newspaper column on culture, food, and manners. My husband and I used to howl over some of the material Bacharach included–I can recall his frequent use of the term “boudoir cheesecake”. LOL
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stag+line
“stag line
–noun
the men at a social gathering who are not accompanied by a date or dancing partner.
Origin:
1915–20, Americanism”
Love your site!
It looks like the book is available for purchase here…
http://www.deuceofclubs.com/books/065burt.htm
Stag lines went along with wall flowers. It meant men standing around together looking over the women who were the wall flowers on the other side of the room. There’s a lot more that could be said about stag lines, but that pretty much sums it up
Just some info from Contemporary authors online
Bert Bacharach, father of songwriter Burt Bacharach, was a buyer of menswear for department stores during the 1920’s. When he was left jobless during the Depression, he established Buyers’ Outlook, a trade paper, and in 1933 began writing columns for Men’s Wear magazine and for the Daily News Record. Bacharach came to be regarded as an authority on men’s fashion during the 1930’s and served as a consultant to Macy’s and other stores. During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s he was fashion editor for Pic and Collier’s magazines and from 1960 to 1978 was the author of the syndicated column “Now See Here.”
There’s also an Atlantic City, NJ, connection with a Bacharach who was mayor of Atlantic City in the 20s (not sure of the relationship with Bert or Burt) and was killed in an automobile accident with a speeding train in Absecon, NJ, which resulted in the WPA building the train viaduct through that town.
A relative, Betty Bacharach, founded The Betty Bacharach Home in Longport, NJ, which provided long term care to children stricken with polio.
Stag line from answers.com
“At a dance hall, where the men outnumber the women, a stag line is the line of men waiting for women to finish dancing with their current partners so they can be in line to partner them in their next dance.”
I read Bert’s column in the Detroit Free Press when I was a kid; he was my daily read along with Bob Talbert and the funnies.