French Etiquette and Gloved Hands

French etiquette does not require gloves to be removed in shaking hands, but American etiquette does, and the French must bow to American custom… A Great War French Poilu greets an American Doughboy in this propaganda poster.
 – Image source, Pinterest

There is said to be a dreadful controversy raging in Paris over a statue in honor of American soldier who fought in the World War. The statue represents an American soldier, in the likeness of Alan Seeger, the poet, clasping hands with a French soldier. When the monument was exhibited in the Salon of French Artists, preparatory to being set up in the Place des États-Unis (United States Square), sticklers discovered to their horror that both soldiers wore gloves. 

So Major Mercadier, secretary of the committee, demanded at once that the sculptor remove the gloves. French etiquette, he admitted, does not require gloves to be removed in shaking hands, but American etiquette does, and the French must bow to American custom. It is awful, isn’t it? But there may be a fairly simple way out of the difficulty. Just have the sculptor affix a little brass plate to the statue, representing the doughboy as saying, “Excuse my glove!” – Stockton Independent, 1923

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