The Saturday Evening Post (“SEP”) magazine is now published on a bi-monthly basis. When it was first published in 1821, and from that point until 1969, it was a weekly magazine that became one of the most widely circulated magazines among America’s middle class. It was common to find the latest SEP issue on the coffee table of the average American home.

Present day issues include stories and its cover illustrations from the archives of the magazine. An archival piece in the March/April 2026 issue caused me to think what may have provoked the commentary when it was published.

It is an Editorial from January 14, 1905, titled Nimble Feet, or Nimble Minds?” The Editorial was related to a story, “Why Older Folks Left The Dance Floor,” printed under the heading, “Changing America.” The piece was an attempt to explain why, “at one time, any social gathering in America, other than a funeral, would involve dancing. But by 1905, dancing was left to the young. Older Americans found greater appeal in talking.”

The editorial declares that dancing for older folks had gone the way of other “pastimes that used to be eagerly pursued by people with poorly developed minds and meager supplies of mental food.” Even more interesting is the claim the drop-off in the ritual of dancing among older adults is because “they had little to think about and nothing to talk about.” It argued that the lack of topical conversation meant older adults had no options, “they danced – and drank.”

Sidebar: The SEP hired many talented illustrators to create its cover art. In addition to Norman Rockwell, the best know of them, another outstanding illustrator was J. C. Leyendecker, who created the Stork and the Baby illustrations for the New Year’s Cover of 1908.

The Editorial went on to point out “that railway, telegraph, and printing press have roused all but the most sluggish, even in the out-of-the-way corners, the older people talk or do other things which give employment to the brain; and only those near to the purely animal existence of childhood dance.”

After some thought, one can understand how the shift in dance styles may have changed the age bracket of those on the dance floor. Going from the “The Virginia Reel” of the 18th Century, to “The Quadrille” and “The Waltz” of the 19th Century, then the seismic shift to “The Charleston” in the 20th Century must have had a dramatic impact on the age of those willing to step onto the dance floor at social gatherings. (Also, World War I reduced the number of men on the dance floor for a time.)

Until reading the short archival piece in SEP, I have never given much thought to the evolution of dance in the United States. What little I have read leads me to believe it is an interesting part of U. S. History. I did not know “The Quadrille” was the seed that sprouted “The Square Dance?”

I must admit, dance does require a person to be in at least “good” physical condition. Today, however, certain dance styles require even more than average physical health and agility. Breakdancing and other modern dances are certainly not for an arthritic senior citizen with a knee, hip or shoulder joint replacement.