Taxi Cab Etiquette

“Now there is just one thing more. The eternal question of the tip interjects itself. I have become a slave to the *tip habit, but I have regulated the system in my indulgence. I follow the old rule, and the only proper one, of giving the chauffeur not more than 10 per cent of the cost of hire for the time in which the machine has been in use. This is a custom that should be observed with iron clad firmness, and it will no doubt save many embarrassing situations.” from 1910  

 * The tip percentage has gone up in 107 years. In 2017, it is recommended that drivers should be tipped 15% to 20% of the fare.

Miss Rose Stahl Explains What Is Deemed Proper Way to Use Them...

Gives Views For Those Who Have Adopted Latest Model of Conveyance

Etiquette, of whatever kind, has existed since time began, and the development of ideas and the establishment of customs have brought about consequent changes in the rules that govern manners. In every department of conduct, some law is laid down that directs the proper way to do a thing. At the table a general code of etiquette prescribes the use of the salad fork, when the entree course is served; another set of rules gives the gentleman his cues for walking with a lady on the street and the personal decorum of a traveler upon a railroad train is fashioned after a long line of precedents that point to the right thing to do, under each and every circumstance. In the old days of the coach and four, etiquette played an important part in the coaching parties. 

When cities were built, and the hackney coach came into vogue, the code of manners was modified to suit the situation. The auto brought its set of rules and they obtain today, while all the world and the cartoonists speculate in thousands of ways of what will constitute bad manners and what will give evidence of correct breeding when the avenues of transit will fashion their crazy courses through the whirling eddies of the air. In so simple a proposition as the propcr conduct in the use of a taxicab on an afternoon in a big city, a recent discussion revealed a surprising ignorance among the ladies of a well known club as to what was right and what was wrong in entering or leaving the meter governed taxi. Miss Rose Stahl, the leading lady of James Forbes’ comedy, “The Chorus Lady,” who was elected to membership in the organization upon her return from her London engagement explained what she considered the ins and outs of the methods a lady should observe. 

“As we all know, America is not the home of the taxicab," said Miss Stahl in an interview yesterday. "It first saw the light of day in Paris and London and was immediately accepted by the ladies of those cities as quite the proper thing. But being a novelty, more or less, the ladies began to use it with no regard for the etiquette which should govern those who are wont to spend our afternoons calling upon friends or shopping in the downtown districts. I was agreeably surprised to note that my sisters in New York and the other large cities of the United States, where the taxicab has come to stay, know what to do and when to do it, when it comes to riding in the nervous little machines. 

Tips on Entering

"To my way of doing the thing the proper way, is to enter the cab with as little ostentation as possible. This gives ease and grace and creates the minimum amount of notice from the curious, who are bound to stand by and witness the performance. "Upon alighting, do not look about you up and down the street, to see if you are noticed. Step quickly to the center, read it and ascertain the amount of the fee you owe, pay it and be gone. Now there is just one thing more. The eternal question of the tip interjects itself. I have become a slave to the tip habit, but I have regulated the system in my indulgence. I follow the old rule, and the only proper one, of giving the chauffeur not more than 10 per cent of the cost of hire for the time in which the machine has been in use. This is a custom that should be observed with iron clad firmness, and it will no doubt save many embarrassing situations.”

 Confusion is Certain  

“It seems peculiar, doesn't it, that so trivial a thing as the entrance of a lady into a taxicab should foster such a confusion of ideas as seems to exist, but it’s certain.” Miss Stahl then rang up Franklin 123 for an Alco taxicab, and as she was leaving the hotel said: “Now if you will come along I will explain what I mean.”– San Francisco Call, 1910

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia