Twentieth Century Culture and Deportment Or the Lady and Gentleman at Home and Abroad; Containing Rules of Etiquette for All Occasions, Including Calls; Invitations; Parties; Weddings; Receptions; Dinners and Teas; Etiquette of the Street; Public Places, Etc., Etc. Forming a Complete Guide to Self-Culture; the Art of Dressing Well; Conversation; Courtship; Etiquette for Children; Letter-Writing; Artistic Home and Interior Decorations, Etc.

One clever hostess who gave a dinner, and who handles her brush unusually well, devised a book cover and leaflet combined that proved a great success. She had the covers made in...

A famous architect once wrote that he could furnish a plan for a house of a given size and cost without knowing whether the owner was a millionaire or a day laborer. But if he w...

Speak to the clerks and employés of the store with courtesy and kindness. Do not order them to show you anything. Request them to do so in a polite and ladylike or gentlemanly m...

From the points of your rosy toes to the curve of your soft throat you are a blushing model of the charming effects of the bath. When finished, slip over your head a soft little...

As Emerson says in his essay upon “Manners:” “Are there not women who inspire us with courtesy; who unloose our tongues, and we speak; who anoint our eyes, and we see? We say th...

Very gallant escorts use a towrope when accompanying a lady on a wheeling spin. These are managed in various ways; one consists of an India-rubber door-spring just strong enough...

Cease limping through life on high-heeled shoes. Cease lifting the shoulders, fidgeting the hands, painfully raising the eyebrows, and contorting the face into a meaningless smi...

Lack of closet room in a house is a fruitful theme for complaint in these days of contracted space. Architects there are who are willing to sacrifice every consideration, not ex...

For the winter months many hostesses have introduced a variety on the menu of the five o’clock tea table. Tea is a doubtful beverage in many hands, and is wholly abjured by many...

All artificial aids to beauty should be sparingly used, and have no place whatever upon the toilet table of the young girl. Powder and paint are so obvious to the eye, that thei...

If they should accidently tread upon the toes, or otherwise disturb a guest, teach them at once to apologize with an “Excuse me,” or, “I beg your pardon.” Do not permit them to...

Congratulations are offered the father and mother, and the baby, robed elaborately, then becomes the center of attraction for a few moments, until the host leads the way to the...

Affianced maiden, you have some departures to take and corners to turn. Your life has till now been frivolous, but has now become serious. You have no more need of toilet fineri...

First Calls of the season necessitate the leaving of cards. Let them be left quietly in the hall. This custom assists the lady of the house in revising her visiting list.

The request for a dance should be accompanied by a bow on the part of the gentlemen. At its close he should thank her for the pleasure, and she should return this courtesy with...

But, if we hope to gather about us men of mind and distinction, we must not expect to be amused only, we must be amusing, we must offer some tempting equivalent; something that...

Decline any dish passed that you do not wish with “Thank you, not any;” if by a waiter, “Not any,” is sufficient. Do not enter into any explanations as to your tastes, nor the w...

Equally difficult is it to believe in the absolute truthfulness of one who declares to you that the heat of a lovely June day is “simply awful” or “perfectly terrible,” from she...

In addition to the ordinary rules of etiquette, official society in Washington City is governed by a code of fixed laws. The social observances of the White House are prescribed...

Bachelors who live in apartments are giving “Dutch” parties on roofs, and in those cases the refreshments consist of beer and ale served from the wood, rye bread and cheese sand...

Bathing calls for a costume of some material that will not cling to the form when wet. Flannel is appropriate, and a heavy quantity of mohair also makes a successful dress, as i...

Any lady, by profound attention to, and a pleased interest in the subject under consideration, may promote the conversation most skillfully and delightfully. Knowledge of the su...

These are left unsealed, that the bearer may be permitted to read the contents. They are brief, so that if read in the presence of the person introduced, the slight embarrassmen...

Time was when during the two weeks, or longer, elapsing between the issuing of the invitations and the occurrence of the wedding, the bride-expectant was not to be seen in publi...

The woman of mezzo-tints, of soft half-tones of complexion, hair and eyes, loses all color and force when she clothes herself with deep, intense hues. Low, warm, unaggressive sh...

To a man who has become fascinated with some womanly ideal, we would say, if the acquaintanceship be very recent, and he, as yet, a stranger to her relatives, that he should fir...

The too common habit of exaggeration, on the part of so many schoolgirls and young ladies is also to be deplored, a quiet unobtrusiveness of speech always marking the true lady.

Watering-place introductions are frequently given for the convenience and pleasure of the time being. They are usually made by the eldest lady of either party and further recogn...

Tiny garden hats of yellow straw, filled with golden-rod, accompanied the name cards. The golden-rod in itself proved a veritable gold mine as a help to conversation. Discussion...

In sending out invitations for the various anniversaries that pleasantly diversify the years of a long wedded life, the simplest form will always be found in the best taste. The...

The omission of the prefix “Miss” from the daughter’s name is customary on an invitation but should never occur when the bride is a sister, cousin or niece of the people issuing...

Or, omitting the name, the simple address may be used. However, there need not be the slightest difficulty in addressing an unmarried lady, even should she be in her teens, as “...

Every dinner should begin with soup, to be followed by fish, and include some kind of game. To this order there is no repeal, since “soup is to the dinner,” says De la Regnier,...

Ladies may express regret at being out when a gentleman called; he also should regret the absence. If it should happen that a gentleman should call several times in succession a...

For this reason, those hostesses whose purses are of sufficient length, are driven to employ professional assistance upon these occasions. Another objection to amateur performer...

Produced by Chris Curnow, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The I...

Asking for invitations for one’s visiting friends, while permissible on some occasions, such as requesting the favor of bringing a gentleman to a ball where dancing men are alwa...

The possessors of large feet should be particularly careful to have their boots perfectly cleaned and very glossy. The feet look much smaller when this is the case than when the...