Of Manners and British Mashers

Since Victorian times, “mashers” were those who socially displayed no manners. Mashers could be male or female. And there were plenty of both. Female mashers tended to dress in masculine clothing. Male mashers dressed to the nines and were something akin to “lounge lizards” – they were smarmy and always on the make.

LONDON STREET ETIQUETTE

Home Office Aide Sets Forth the Methods of a Masher

London, Nov. 18 — It is neither insulting nor likely to cause a breach of the peace if a woman speaks on the street to an unknown man or a man speaks to a woman in a fashionable part of London, according to Sir Ernley Blackwell, legal assistant to the Under-Secretary of the Home Office. He gave evidence today at the first public sitting of the government committee to investigate the problem of street offenses. “In the West End of London,” he said, “A man merely takes off his hat to a girl and makes some passing remark. That is neither insulting nor threatening.” To this description of the methods of a London masher he added: “But the law extends in villages in the London area where the conduct may be very different.” –NYTimes, 1927