Etiquette and “Food for Thought”

As a guest, don’t stick around longer than you should, no matter how entertaining you believe yourself to be. – The ideal tactic for guests who stay too long is that of painter Walter Sickert, who saw two guests to the door and told them, “Do come back when you've a little less time to spare.”  

Now here's some food for thought… In an essay on dinner party etiquette in a recent Esquire, writer John Berendt extrapolates the lessons in classic tales of classic dinners: 

• The ideal tactic for guests who stay too long is that of painter Walter Sickert, who saw two guests to the door and told them, “Do come back when you've a little less time to spare.”   

• At a London party in the 1920s, Mrs. Ronald Greville slipped her inebriated butler a note saying, “You are drunk. Leave the room at once!” He put the note on a silver tray and presented it to the guest of honor, British Foreign Secretary, Austen Chamberlain. 

• At a dinner party in the late 19th century, French playwright Victorian Sardou spilled a glass of wine. The woman sitting next to him spilled salt on the stain. Sardou threw some of the salt over his shoulder for luck. The salt went into the eye of a waiter who dropped a platter and the family dog pounced on the food. A bone lodged in the dog's throat, and when the son of the host attempted to pull it out, the dog bit him. His finger had to be amputated. – From Sentinel Wire Services, 1993

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