Etiquette

Produced by Al Haines
LETTER WRITING, QUOTATIONS, &C.
1919
Copyright, 1892, By the Penn Publishing Company
Contents
THE OFFICE OF THE VISITING CARD. STYLE OF CARDS. THE ENGRAVING OF VISITING CARDS.— Cards for Men; Cards for Women; Cards for Young Women; After Marriage Cards. THE USE OF THE VISITING CARD.— Calling in Person; Card-leaving in Lieu of Personal Calls; Cases in which Personal Card-leaving is Required; Cards by Messenger or by Post; Card-leaving by Proxy. SOME FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF CARD USAGE.
As a rule, books of etiquette are written from the standpoint of the ultra-fashionable circle. They give large space to the details of behavior on occasions of extreme conventionality, and describe minutely the conduct proper on state occasions. But the majority in every town and village are people of moderate means and quiet habits of living, to whom the extreme formalities of the world of fashion will always remain something of an abstraction, and the knowledge of them is not of much practical use except to the few who are reflective enough to infer their own particular rule from any illustration of the general code.
Though it is interesting as a matter of information to know how a state dinner is conducted, still, as a matter of fact, the dinners usually given within this broad zone of the average are served without the assistance of butler, footman, or florist; innocent of wines and minus the more elaborate and expensive courses; and though served à la Russe the service is under the watchful supervision of the hostess herself and executed by the more or less skillful hand of a demure maid-servant. Yet, in all essential points, the laws of etiquette controlling the conduct of this simple dinner of the American democrat are the same as those observed in the ceremonious banquet of the ambitious aristocrat. The degree of formality varies; the quality of courtesy is unchanging.
Well-mannered people are those who are at all times thoughtfully observant of little proprieties Such people do not forget their manners when away from home. They eat at the hotel table as daintily and with as polite regard for the comfort of their nearest neighbor as though they were among critical acquaintances. They never elbow mercilessly through crowded theatre aisles, nor stand up in front of others to see the pictures of a panorama, nor allow their children to climb upon the car seats with muddy or rough-nailed shoes; nor do a score of other things that every day are to be observed in public places, the mortifying tell-tale marks of an habitual ill-manners.