If you find the dating world of today tricky to navigate, spare a thought for single women living in the 1950s.

An article unearthed in a 1950s edition of Woman's Own shares a dizzying array of dos and don'ts for women going on a dinner date.

The piece, titled "How To Eat In A Restaurant", was published in October 1950 and imparts a series of baffling and alarmingly sexist tips that reflect the conservative, manners-wary etiquette of the time.

To begin with, women are gravely warned "never ask the waiter for anything yourself."

In a column titled "His Job To Order", the article instructs: "When eating out with a man, whether your father, brother or boy friend, the man always does the ordering."

Quite why opening your mouth to order a glass of Pinot would be such a faux pas is not clear, but it's not the only confusing edict on the list.

Eating fruit is apparently another potential minefield, with the likes of apple and bananas likely to "cause some embarrassment."

Panicking over how to eat your cherry? "Cherries should be put in the mouth whole with the stones carefully placed on a spoon." Other large fruit such as plums "should be dissected in the dish and the stones placed at the side." Phew, that's that one sorted then.

How to eat in a restaurant: dating tips from the 1950s