Wise up!

Tap dancer Bunny Briggs once was feeling really good during his act. He noticed a man sitting by a woman, and he told the man, “Why don’t you put your arm around the lady? Enjoy yourself. You’re sittin’ there with your hands folded.” Mr. Briggs started dancing to “I’ll Be Loving You, Always,” then he said, “Dim the lights.” At this point, all the men in the audience put their arms around the women they were with. Seeing this, Mr. Briggs said, “This is the first and last time I’ll ask for this. I don’t want no applause. Just stay like that.” He then danced a little more, and went off to complete silence, because all the men and women in the audience were hugging and kissing. This, says Mr. Briggs, was the greatest compliment he ever received as a dancer.• Charles Lederer became a famous screenwriter in Hollywood, but in early life he seldom worked. Instead, he slept until noon and spent a lot of time in swimming pools. This was something that his girlfriend didn’t like, so she took him out to eat at the Colony Restaurant, where she encouraged him to stop loafing and to find work, etc., etc. Mr. Lederer listened to everything that his girlfriend had to say to him, then he stood up, took off his pants, and handed them to her, saying, “Here, you wear them.” Then he walked out of the restaurant.

• Ruth th St. Denis was accustomed to improvise on stage, and frequently did not memorize the steps of her dances. During her duet with husband Ted Shawn in “Josephine and Hippolyte,” they smiled at each other and talked together throughout the dance. The audience thought they were making love talk at each other; instead, she was saying things such as “Teddy, what do I do next?” Mr. Shawn was saying things such as, “Ruthie, take six steps stage right, turn, look, hold out your arm and I’ll come back to tell you what’s after that.”

• Irving Berlin carried on a romance with Ellin Mackay, who was the daughter of the President of the Postal Telegraph. Unfortunately, Mr. Mackay did not appreciate Mr.

Berlin’s attentions to his daughter, so he approached Mr. Berlin with an offer — he would give Mr. Berlin $1 million not to interfere with Miss Mackay’s future. Mr. Berlin, a very successful songwriter, made a counteroffer — he would give Mr. Mackay $2 million not to interfere with Miss Mackay’s future. Eventually, Mr.

Berlin and Miss Mackay were married.

• Howard Hughes was interested in Ingrid Bergman. After learning that she would be flying to Los Angeles on a certain date, Mr. Hughes immediately bought all the tickets to Los Angeles for that day, making it impossible for her to get a ticket, then he offered to fly her there in his private plane. He even arranged the flight schedule so he could give her an aerial tour of the Grand Canyon at dawn. Nevertheless, Ms. Bergman remained romantically uninterested in him.

• Dating today is much different from dating in the good old days. Anita Curry, born 1902, remembered dating at Danville, Kentucky’s Centre College in the 1920s. The boys would make dates for Saturday. At 7:30 p.m. the boys would go into the girls’ dormitory, which was the only place they were allowed to go to for a date. Until 9 p.m., the couples would find a place to sit and talk — preferably behind some ferns, so they could kiss occasionally.

• In Nebraska was a Quaker girl with high spirits who enjoyed saying things to shock her parents. Once, the girl, who was named Hulda, was discussing a recent elopement that had upset the Quaker neighborhood. Hulda said, very loudly to be sure her mother overheard her, “If my parents wouldn’t let me marry the man I wanted, I’d elope, too.” Her mother’s voice came from the next room: “Thee needn’t, Hulda — thee may have him.”

• Apparently, the Orange Bowl Marathon in Miami, Fla., is a very romantic race to run. In 1980, Ken Gomberg and Debra Faillace were running together when Mr. Gomberg proposed to her at the 25-mile mark. In 1981, Bob Godwin and Ann Conlin were running together when Mr. Godwin proposed to her at the 18-mile mark. Both couples ended up crossing the finish line while holding hands.

• When Giulio Gatti-Casazza (who was later the director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York) was courting soprano Frances Alda, he sent her love letters in Italian. Because her Italian was weak, Ms. Alda would go to her scores of Italian operas, pick out a love aria, then copy a few of its lines and send them as a letter back to Mr. Gatti-Casazza.

• Gail Parent writes comedy, which has occasionally led to problems. While she was in college, a suitor gave her one perfect rose. She ruined what could have been a tender romantic moment by asking, “Where are the other eleven?” • “Of course I believe that gay people should have the right to marry and have the same benefits accruing to straight married people, but for myself, I prefer living in sin.” — lesbian comedian Kate Clinton.

Wikipedia: Wise Up! is an album by American indie rock group The Hard Lessons, self-released by the group in 2006.