Etiquette has been tersely defined as “the art of doing the proper thing in the proper way.” An acquaintance with the rules of etiquette is of the greatest service to all who are brought into contact with Society, and in these days few, if any, are wholly outside of the world of social usage and convention.
In this little Manual, it is not intended to lay down, in the fullest sense, rules for the guidance of the reader in all stations of social life, but rather to furnish hints that may prove useful in dealing with those social events that are of most frequent occurrence. The etiquette of the parlor, the assembly chamber, the street, the social function, is something all should know, since to be ignorant concerning such matters is to class one’s self as uninformed on many things that go to make up the sum total of everyday life, and to know and practice which adds greatly to the pleasure of living. The well-bred man or woman is always welcomed, whereas the person who has no acquaintance with even the most ordinary social rules is quite differently regarded by the majority of people.
Nor is there any reason why an acquaintance with social usages should longer be confined, as in the past, to certain classes. The farmer’s boy, the intelligent mechanic and the humblest clerk or artisan, in these days of widely-diffused knowledge, may familiarize themselves with the customs and observances of polite society to an extent that will go far toward placing them on a level with those who would otherwise be regarded as their superiors. Refined manners are the boundary line between the ignorant and the cultured, and it is within the power of all to aspire to belong to that class of men and women whose presence is always agreeable, and who combine, in rare degree, that charm of manners and morals which is always allied with true nobility of character.
CONTENTS.
| How to Behave. Part I. | |
| PAGE | |
| Anniversaries, Wedding | [53] |
| A Young Girl’s Social Life, | [70] |
| Address, Polite Terms of | [68] |
| Birthdays and Christenings, | [57] |
| Breakfast Parties, | [37] |
| Bowing and Salutation, | [16] |
| Behavior in Church, | [66] |
| Blushing, | [82] |
| Christenings and Birthdays, | [57] |
| Correspondence, Etiquette of | [64] |
| Church Weddings, | [48] |
| Cards (see Invitations), | [46] |
| Calls and Calling Cards, | [18] |
| Church, Behavior in | [66] |
| Conversation, Art of | [89] |
| Dinner Table, How to Set the | [34] |
| Dress, Men’s | [23] |
| Début, Young Lady’s | [27] |
| Dinner Parties, | [30] |
| Diners, Notes for | [36] |
| Dancing, | [42] |
| Dozing in Public, | [78] |
| Enjoy the Present Hour, | [84] |
| Faulty Social Training, | [69] |
| Feet, Causes of Deformed, | [80] |
| Gifts (see Wedding Gifts), | [51] |
| “High Teas,” | [40] |
| Home Weddings, | [51] |
| Hands, Beautifying the | [79] |
| Hands, Management of the | [77] |
| Hint, A Useful | [92] |
| Home Maxims, | [87] |
| Innocent and Sinful Pleasures, | [73] |
| Introductions, | [15] |
| Invitations, | [46] |
| Kettle-Drums, | [39] |
| Luncheons, | [37], [39] |
| Ladies’ Cards, | [21] |
| Make Home Attractive, | [84] |
| Men’s Dress, | [23] |
| Mock Modesty, | [88] |
| Monopolizing Talkers, | [90] |
| Mourning Etiquette, | [59] |
| Notes about Weddings, | [54] |
| Notes for Diners, | [36] |
| New Year’s Calls, | [55] |
| Private Weddings, | [51] |
| Posing for Effect, | [78] |
| Points on Being Well Dressed, | [91] |
| Servants, Treatment of | [77] |
| Sitting, Awkwardness in | [81] |
| Small Talk, when Timely | [89] |
| Stray Hints, | [84] |
| Style of Cards, | [19] |
| Sunny Temper, A | [85] |
| Superior Hostess, The | [92] |
| Suppers, | [37] |
| Tactful Hostesses, | [70] |
| Teas, | [37] |
| Teeth, Care of the | [81] |
| True Politeness, | [87] |
| Various Points on Deportment, | [68] |
| Value of Female Society to Man, | [86] |
| Weddings and Wedding Etiquette, | [46] |
| Wedding Breakfasts, | [50] |
| Wedding Gifts, | [51] |
| Wedding Anniversaries, | [53] |
| Wine Question, The | [35] |
| Winking in Public, | [78] |
| Young Lady’s Début, | [27] |
| Youth, Enjoy Your | [91] |
| How To Amuse. Part II. | |
| All-around Story Game, | [103] |
| Anagrams, | [270] |
| Ant and Cricket, | [132] |
| Answers to Conundrums, | [262] |
| Art Exhibition, | [213] |
| A Trip to Paris, | [291] |
| Balancing a Pencil, | [104] |
| Beast, Bird or Fish? | [123] |
| Bouquet, | [102] |
| Bean Bags, | [114] |
| Boston, | [119] |
| Blind-Man’s Buff, | [115] |
| Children, Amusing the | [141] |
| Clumps, | [131] |
| Crambo, | [96] |
| Cross Questions, | [98] |
| Charades, | [283] |
| Counting Apple-seeds, | [129] |
| Consequences, | [122] |
| Conjuring Tricks with Coins, | [220] |
| Conundrums and Riddles, | [249] |
| Dancing Egg, | [93] |
| Divided Pear, | [101] |
| Doesn’t Like Peas, | [293] |
| Driving a Needle through a Cent, | [107] |
| French Rhymes, | [99] |
| Five Straw Puzzle, | [99] |
| Force of the Breath, | [111] |
| Funny Outlines, | [296] |
| Games of Arithmetic, | [143] |
| Going to Jerusalem, | [114] |
| Going Shopping, | [126] |
| Guessing Characters, | [133] |
| Guessing Eyes and Noses, | [123] |
| Globe, Rotation of the | [138] |
| Hanging Without a Cord, | [139] |
| Horse, | [121] |
| How, When and Where? | [106] |
| Hunting the Ring, | [112] |
| Hit or Miss, | [126] |
| I Love My Love, | [107] |
| Lighting the Candle, | [130] |
| Living Pictures, | [155] |
| Location, Game of | [131] |
| Logogriphs, | [272] |
| Magic Candle Extinguisher, | [134] |
| Magic Figures, | [110] |
| Mary’s Little Lamb, | [295] |
| Mirror, The Broken, | [135] |
| My Grandfather’s Trunk, | [106] |
| Magic Music, | [113] |
| Mesmerizing, | [122] |
| Miscellaneous Tricks, | [233] |
| Needles and Pins Made to Float, | [124] |
| Old Family Coach, | [94] |
| Optical Illusions, | [173] |
| Pictured Quotations, | [97] |
| Pin, a Wonderful, | [137] |
| Proverbs, | [108] |
| Problem in Gymnastics, | [130] |
| “Punch and Judy,” | [201] |
| Quotations, | [95] |
| Queer Candlestick, | [116] |
| Rebusses, | [268] |
| Rooster, | [121] |
| Rhymes, | [98] |
| Redeeming Forfeits, | [131] |
| Scorpion, | [140] |
| Shadows on the Wall, | [125], [137] |
| Spin the Plate, | [129] |
| Shadow Buff, | [113] |
| Spinning a Cent upon a Needle Point, | [128] |
| Sleight of Hand, | [179] |
| Three Matches, | [126] |
| Truth, | [123] |
| Throwing the Handkerchief, | [115] |
| The Tailless Donkey, | [119] |
| Tongue Twisters, | [103] |
| Tossing the Rings, | [109] |
| Water, Through the | [139] |
| What D’ye Buy, | [289] |
| “What, Sir! Me, Sir?” | [121] |
| Where is Your Letter Going? | [100] |
| What is Your Age? | [120] |
| Weighing a Letter with a Broomstick, | [117] |
| Wax-Works Gallery, | [162] |
| Word-making, | [293] |
| Young Folks’ Concert, | [295] |
| Zoetrope, a Parlor | [135] |