Sunday Shorts - Are You Popular (1947)

"No, girls who park in cars are not really popular, not even with the boys they park with."

Ah, for the good old days. When high school students needed classroom films to teach them the right way to be popular. The producer of today's short, Coronet Films, actually made a number of these films from 1941 all the way up to 1976. Some of the titles they produced were: Where Does Our Meat Come From?, Keeping Clean and Neat, How Quiet Helps at School, More Dates for Kay, Getting Ready Physically, How Billy Keeps Clean, What Makes a Good Party, and today's feature, Are You Popular?.

Apparently, in 1947, the number one rule for girls for being popular was "don't park at night with boys in cars". Why? Well, from what I can tell from watching this film, it's because when they get to talking about you at the lunch table and find out you're a slut who's parked with every guy on the dance committee, it'll lower their self esteem and they won't like you as much... at least not at school.

Nope, sleeping around is definitely not the way to be popular. Instead, apparently the really popular girls are well-dressed and well-spoken bisexuals (it does say you should be as interested in girls as boys) who understand when a guy suggests places you can go that he's telling you how much he can spend, and don't know the difference between a scarf and a pair of gloves. Oh, and they keep it short and sweet on the phone.

And let's face it, are things really any different today?

Ok, here ya go, kiddies. In ten minutes, you'll know how to tell if you're really popular or just a tramp:



Are You Popular? is available to watch or download here.
A number of the Coronet films are available on DVD from Amazon. This collection includes Are You Popular?: Classic Friends & Friendship Films DVD.



Until next time, Happy Treasure Hunting,
-Professor Damian