The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-11-12
GOOD FORM OF TO-DAY.
How 1t Differs from That of the Past In
Various Important Respects.


Various Important Respects.
In a little book just published, en-
titled Good Form" the etiquette of
some few years ago is amusingly con-
trasted with that of to-day, when every
thing is more succinct and expeditions
than it used to be.
When the ladies of John Leech's time
went to dinner parties they were shown
into bedrooms and allowed some min
utes to adjust their ringlets. Now they
hand their cloak to a servant and walk
straight from their carriage or cab to
the presence Of their hostess. At we'd
dings in 1.-The '40s" each bridesmaid had
a groomsman to look after her and see
that she had what she liked at the
elaborate breakfast of the matri-
mOnial function of that day. Now
there is only 'best man,"
though how he comes by the
superlative adjective when he is sole
groomsman it is difficult to say.
Among other changes of custom is
that concerned with the bridesmaids
dresses, which used to be given by the
bride. And our authoress might have
added that it was no longer fashionable,
as it then was, for the bride to cry. All
weddings nowadays are dry-eyed.
Crying has "gone out" 1t was the
very height of the fashion in the year
1927. When Sir Edward Bulwer Lyt-
ton married Miss Rosina Wheeler an
eyewitness of the ceremony describes
both bride and bridegroom as being
overcome with sensibility; pale, tot
tering and fearful" No one totters to
the altar now. II would not be ''good
form" But the bride must not, on the
other hand romp up the aisle in the
exultation of her heart. The correct
pace is, perhaps, best described as re-
sembling that of policeman on his
beat. 1t is slow and stately.
Another marked change in social
customs is mentioned in connection
with the etiquette of ''small and early"
parties. No longer does a hostess ask
her guests to sing or play. This ordeal,
so dreaded by the girl of couple of
decades ago, is no longer to be feared.
81 hope you have brought some music,
Miss Smith," was frequently the pre-
Jude to distracting performance that
gave pleasure to no one, least Of all to
the player. And, strange to say, now
that music is always professional and
generally worth listening to, it is diff
cult to persuade people to remain silent
while it is going on; whereas, when
amateurs were singing, it would have
been considered a shocking piece OF
| rudeness for any one to have talked till
the lady had finished describing how
she wore a wreath of roses, or the gen.
tleman had finished dilating upon his
homeless, ragged and tanned condition.
| At the dinner table it was considered
the duty of the host and hostess to
urge their guest to eat. This custom
in our own day is entirely abandoned,
partly owing to the now universal style
of having all dishes handed 70 d.
The board no longer groans as once it
did, the weight of the viands being
transferred to that chapel of ease
the sideboard-where, in seclusion, a
hireling carves the joint and skillfully
dissects the bird whose anatomy used
to prove such an intricate problem to
the bothered amateur at the end Of the
table. Skill in carving is not now one
of the polite accomplishments where
with it is necessary to equip a youth
for his social caroer. Till now ETH
quette books have been only uninten-
tionally amusing, but the present
writer treats her subject with a sense
of humor that makes it easy reading.
London Daily News.