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.

by Maud C. Cooke

Writing the Superscription.

A very long complimentary conclusion should be punctuated like a sentence, as: I am, dear madam, with the most profound esteem, Yours truly, James Talbot.

The superscription on the envelope is to be punctuated according to the above given rules. An interrogation point (?) should be used at the end of all questions. It is in truth, as the small boy said, “A little crooked thing that asks questions.” The exclamation point (!) expressing astonishment, the dash and parenthesis, need only be employed by those thoroughly understanding their use. Quotation marks (“ ”) should always be placed at the beginning and end of words quoted from another; slang, or any fashionable “fad” if written, should be quoted.

As for capitals, one should begin every sentence, all names of persons and places, all appellations of the Deity, the first word of every line of poetry, and show themselves in the pronoun “I,” and the exclamation “O.”

Sealing wax is to be used, or not, as inclination directs, but neatness and skill are necessary in its use, or an unsightly blotch will result, than which the self-sealing envelope is far preferable. A heavy cream-white envelope sealed with a large, perfect seal of rich red, or bronze-brown wax with a clear monogram or initial stamped thereon, is always pleasing to the eye. To very slightly oil the seal will prevent it adhering to the wax and thereby spoiling the impression. In a foreign correspondence, the self-sealing envelopes are better since in tropical countries the great heat often melts the wax, and it is always liable, during transportation in the holds of vessels, to become cracked and loosened from the paper by the weight of other goods, and close packing in the hold.

Final remarks are scarcely necessary, but it might be suggested that it is rather fashionable to write one’s full name, as more elegant than initials. A lady never signs herself simply by initials. Mary Creighton Cutter should so write her name, or, at least, Mary C. Cutter. Never M. C. Cutter. A gentleman is privileged to do this in business or formal letters, but in any others, instead of L. B. Bancroft he is Lucius Bright Bancroft or Lucius B. Bancroft.