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A Look at the Amazing Anti-Flirt Club and Their “Anti-Flirt Week” from 1923

Take a look back in time to 1923 and the Anti-Flirt Club. Learn about the club, their "Anti-Flirt Week", and their 10 commandments. Bizarre and amazing!
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Looking at this photo, I had to do a little digging on the Anti-Flirt Club. This is amazing.

February 27, 1923. "Miss Alice Reighly, 1409 Harvard Street, president of Anti-Flirt Club, which has just been organized in Washington, D.C., and will launch an 'Anti-Flirt Week' beginning March 4. The club is composed of young women and girls who have been embarrassed by men in automobiles and on street corners." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. (Shorpy)
February 27, 1923. “Miss Alice Reighly, 1409 Harvard Street, president of Anti-Flirt Club, which has just been organized in Washington, D.C., and will launch an ‘Anti-Flirt Week’ beginning March 4. The club is composed of young women and girls who have been embarrassed by men in automobiles and on street corners.” National Photo Company Collection glass negative. (Shorpy)

Well, it turns out that there is a Wikipedia page dedicated to this and the basic description of the club is below.

The Anti-Flirt Club was an American club active in Washington, D.C., during the early 1920s. The purpose of the club was to protect young women and girls who received unwelcome attention from men in automobiles and on street corners. The Anti-Flirt Club launched an “Anti-Flirt” week, which began on March 4, 1923.

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I guess there was an epidemic of inappropriate cat calls during the early days of Prohibition.

The Washington Star reported on the “Anti-Flirt” week.

Add to the list of weeks, pro and anti this, that and the other thing Anti-Flirt Week, which a group of Washington women has launched. All preparations have been made for the campaign, including a list of 10 commandments necessary to make the week a success. The trouble, as suggested so far, is that the organizers are trying not only to abolish the masher but to stop women themselves from flirting.

Fight Club’s rules are much easier to remember, but here are the rules for the Anti-Flirt Club (why not share these with your friends on Facebook).

  1. Don’t flirt: those who flirt in haste oft repent in leisure.
  2. Don’t accept rides from flirting motorists—they don’t invite you in to save you a walk.
  3. Don’t use your eyes for ogling—they were made for worthier purposes.
  4. Don’t go out with men you don’t know—they may be married, and you may be in for a hair-pulling match.
  5. Don’t wink—a flutter of one eye may cause a tear in the other.
  6. Don’t smile at flirtatious strangers—save them for people you know.
  7. Don’t annex all the men you can get—by flirting with many, you may lose out on the one.
  8. Don’t fall for the slick, dandified cake eater—the unpolished gold of a real man is worth more than the gloss of a lounge lizard.
  9. Don’t let elderly men with an eye to a flirtation pat you on the shoulder and take a fatherly interest in you. Those are usually the kind who want to forget they are fathers.
  10. Don’t ignore the man you are sure of while you flirt with another. When you return to the first one you may find him gone.

How bizarre is this? I think someone should revive this club. Especially at Front Page or any bar in Clarendon on a Thursday night.

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Ghosts of DC stories.