According to data analyst Ian Webster, $1 in 1947 (when the original film of It's a Wonderful Life was in wide release) would be equivalent in purchasing power to about $10.76 in 2016.
Popularity was the biggest factor in dating success rather than personality. Male popularity was defined by material wealth and social qualities like fraternity membership, while female popularity was determined by how often they were invited on dates and the level of desirability of the men they were seen in public dating. Exacerbating the difficulty of this environment was the gender imbalance in the United States following World War II and the expectation of women to always wait for a male to initiate courtship. There was a further expectation to strive for "going steady", a relationship status suggesting the end of casual dating and a movement towards serious relations, often signified by symbols such as letterman jackets or class rings.
Jazz and swing were immensely popular in the 1940s. A particularly beloved dance was the jitterbug. According to Brittanica, its "[s]tep patterns varied widely and included such dances as the lindy hop (c. 1927, named for Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight), in which dancers usually did two slow “dig” steps (ball of the foot, then the heel) and two quicksteps (one foot back, one in place), and the jive, in which dancers took a step to each side and then executed two “shuffles” (side step, almost close other foot, side step). Jitterbug music—also called jive, or jump—is in 4/4 time with syncopated rhythm." Though the dance was typically performed in partnerships, steps could also be modified for solo exhibitions.