Etiquette Tip to Latins

 

“The original smoking jacket was, in fact, a robe de chambre, or dressing gown. As international trade grew in the early 1600’s and tobacco became a part of men’s lives, smoking jackets became part of a gentlemanly wardrobe in an effort to protect his clothes. This was a tie when men’s wardrobes weren’t nearly the size that they tend to be today, so protecting one’s sartorial investments carried an even greater importance than it does now.
“At first, it was only appropriate for a man to be seen in a smoking jacket in front of his family, or perhaps in front of his personal butler (as you might imagine, only men of means would wear these).
By the 1800’s, the jacket began to morph from a robe style covering (complete with sash belt, like a modern bathrobe) to a shorter style resembling a dinner jacket. It was around this time that the tradition of retiring into one’s study for a smoke and a port became common. “The rising popularity of Turkish tobacco at the time is directly linked with this phenomenon.As dinner jackets continued to replace the tailcoat for dinner, the smoking jacket too gained popularity. Gentlemen began wearing versions that had different closures (not a sash) so that they could be worn to an actual dinner, not just afterwards. As the 1950’s approached, male celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Cary grant, and Fred Astaire all wore smoking jackets regularly with their black tie attire, and did so outside of the home.” - Bespoke Unit  – Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) in a stylish smoking jacket.
–Image source, Pinterest

Problem in Censorship

WASHINGTON, April 8 — The Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor is trying to figure how to tell Latin-American delegates to a conference early in May to bring “black tie” without runnning afoul of cable censors, the knowledge of social slang of the delegates or the Controller General.

Most of the delegates will come by airplane and have to be economical of baggage, so they have been asking Washington by cable: “Shall we bring frac, smoking or both?” This means “tails or dinner coats,” but if the bureau replies “smoking sufficient,” it feels that the censors will think it is code and stop the message. If it says “black tie” the Latins won't understand. And if it goes into detail, the Controller General might reject the bill as a needless extravagance.

No one has decided yet how the situation can be met. –The New York Times, 1942

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