Advice to Genteel Ladies of 1853

“On no consideration let any lady be persuaded to take two glasses of champagne. It is more than the head of an American female can bear. And she may rest assured, (though unconscious of it herself) all present will find her cheeks flushing, her eyes twinkling, her tongue unusually voluble, her talk loud and silly, and her laugh incessant.” — Above, two champagne coupé glasses with champagne stirrers. Champagne stirrers were popular with Victorian and Edwardian ladies who wished to pop the bubbles in their champagne, so as to reduce the chances of belching or burping when drinking the bubble-filled beverage. By the Roaring Twenties, they were so popular with flappers, they were hooked to long chains and worn as necklaces on nights out to speakeasies. 
—Photo source, Etiquipedia Photo private library.

• Ladies no longer eat salt fish at a public table. The odor of it is now considered extremely ungenteel. 
• The fashion of wearing black silk mittens at breakfast is now obsolete. 
• It is an affectation of ultra fashion to eat pie with a fork and has a very awkward and inconvenient look. 
• Most American ladies beyond the age of 35 look better in caps than without them, even if their hair shows no signs of middle age. 
• Ladies mustn't cross their knees or read with a gentleman off the same book or newspaper. 
• At a hotel or boarding house, a lady may "take wine" once with a gentleman, if she knows him, but the next time he asks she should refuse. 
• On no consideration let any lady be persuaded to take two glasses of champagne. It is more than the head of an American female can bear. And she may rest assured, (though unconscious of it herself) all present will find her cheeks flushing, her eyes twinkling, her tongue unusually voluble, her talk loud and silly, and her laugh incessant.— From Miss Leslie's “The Behaviour Book: A Manual For Ladies,” 1853 Edition

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