Life was hard before the Internet. But thankfully, Coronet Instructional Films were there to be the Wikihow and Lifehacker of a long gone era. For this week’s Friday Download, we found a portal into pre-Internet, post-war America with instructional videos for teens from the forties. Preserved by the Internet Archive, these Coronet Instructional videos are going to teach you how to groom, navigate the complicated world of dating, and avoid that nasty cold. Go ahead and lifehack your social life with these 60 year old tips.

Find out when to bring your date flowers (prom),what makes every outfit better (posture), and what fellas like (when a girl dresses up, but only on special occasions). As for avoiding a cold? Go ahead and wear a snowsuit out. There’s only more to learn – mostly what post-WWII conformity looks like. Thanks to the Internet Archive and the magic of FDL, you can travel through time (without the pesky consequences) and enjoy the strangeness that is Dating: Do’s and Dont’s,How to Be Well Groomed and Joan Avoids a Cold for free.

Friday Download:
How-to videos from the 1940s

Click the link to download the torrent
Dating: Do’s and Don’ts / 1949
How to Be Well Groomed / 1949
Joan Avoids a Cold / 1947