Dean of Women: 'Love-Making Rooms Not Needed in Homes'

1921

"Courting Parlors" Not Needed Says Wisconsin University Dean

Room Fitted for Love-Making Would Drive Away Average Young People; Old Time Courting Out of Date

By MERLE SHAW

"The establishing of courting parlors in homes, where the young people can make love under mother's supervision, may be necessary in England, but not in Wisconsin," declared Mrs. M. H. Mendenhall, assistant dean of women at the University of Wisconsin. Most American homes are of such an informal nature that the old time courting days are decidedly out-of-date anyway."

Mrs. Mendenhall believes that in the larger cities where many homes are crowded and disorderly and where lovers are rushed out into the street to do their courting, such rooms might be necessary. Much of the public courting that goes on in parks, theaters, and trolleys in the large cities is, however, due to the foreign population.

"The time has not yet come in Wisconsin when a so-called 'courting parlor' is needed in the average substantial home," said Mrs. Mendenhall. "Besides," she added with a twinkle in her eye, "a room fitted out for love-making purposes is more liable to drive out the young people rather than serve a means to keep them at home."

—The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, May 2, 1921, page 3.