The following is an excerpt from “The Gentlemen’s Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness” by Cecil B. Hartley, published by Locke & Bubier in 1875. IT may seem a very simple thing to eat your meals, yet there is no occasion upon which the gentleman, and the low-bred, vulgar man are more strongly contrasted, than when at…

Table manners serve two purposes: to show our respect for others and to refrain from embarrassing ourselves. These principles will have you sitting down in comfort at your next formal dinner. Bon appétit! Arrive on Time The first rule of good culinary manners has nothing to do with food. Your hosts have gone through a…

Table Manners and Etiquette. IT is of the highest importance that all persons should conduct themselves with the strictest regard to good breeding, even in the privacy of their own homes, when at table, a neglect of such observances will render one stiff and awkward in society. There are so many little points to be observed,…

I grew up in a large household as one of seven children. Table manners were essential for my parents’ sanity, a way to keep us under control. (Once, I remember being in total panic when faced with a bunch of grapes on my plate. To this day, I’m teased mercilessly by my siblings as they…

The following is an excerpt from “Our Deportment,” a code of manners for refined society by John H. Young A.M., published in 1881. We offer it in hopes of promoting gentlemanly conduct among men—young and older—in today’s often unbalanced world. IT is of the highest importance that all persons should conduct themselves with the strictest…