Etiquette, Snobbery and Bohemia

Finding oneself among those free-spirit bohemians evidently happens by accident– The word bohemian has two meanings: one is a person from Bohemia, a historical region in central Europe, and the other is ‘a person who is living an unconventional and artistic life.” The story of Puccini’s popular opera “La Boheme,” is set in 1830’s Paris and shows the “Bohemian lifestyle” of a poor seamstress and her artist friends.

What is Bohemia, you ask? Is it the kingdom where God's charity take precedence to etiquette? No. That's what it ought to be. Is it a kingdom in which people enjoy that which they think they ought to like? No. That’s what it might be, but the results might be disastrous.

It is a kingdom where bottles are more plenteous than baths, curaçao more common than corsets, borrowing more fashionable than paying back; hours, wages, doctrines and meals irregular? Yes, my children; that's about what it is.

Few persons travel straight, with serious intent, to Bohemia. They get there by accident. They take the train to Long Branch or Newport, and it breaks down. When they look to see what station they have stopped at they see no name. But they do see an absence of carriages and liveries, and are there by accident. They take the train aire.

There is also a dearth of children, and a few irrelevant little things only have one name apiece. However, the ladies make up for this by having three each. It is also noticeable that the ladies work harder than the gentlemen in this settlement, and that the latter do not encourage the bootblacks or savings banks.

Then one day the traveler who has halted by accident at this strange settlement, having gained the above impressions, says over the spaghetti (of course, all Bohemian rites are observed over the spaghetti): “By the bye– excuse my ignorance – but where am I?” And the inhabitant questioned answers, smiling strangely: ‘You’re in Bohemia. Isn't it jolly? Say, could you accommodate me with five dollars?’

Then the traveler knows it is Bohemia. Understand me, I am not disparaging this section any more than I should disparage that region called society if anyone in that class needed my advice.

Society is no more entertaining or generous than Bohemia– at least so I am told by Bohemians who have been invited to dinners in Society– when Society gets hard up for amusement and derives a little by watching to see if Bohemia can pick out an oyster fork, or say, “Thank you sir.”– Outlook, 1908

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