You’re Judged by Poor Table Manners

“If she can’t even eat a hot dog properly she might crumble crackers in her soup.” – Do you think that one does not need good manners for eating something like a hot dog? Good manners are always required, regardless of what one is eating! In 1939, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor served hot dogs and beans to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England. The King was said to have enjoyed them them and even asked for “seconds!”

Hot dog etiquette is basically the same as sandwich etiquette:

• Eat it slowly, taking small bites, one at a time. 
• Eat from one end to the other, holding the hotdog sideways.
• Chew and swallow before taking another small bite. 
• Do not “over dress” your hot dog in the bun, so that dressings are falling into your lap or getting on to your face or clothing.
• Do not talk with your mouth full. 
• Use a napkin to dab your lips often.

   

People Judge You By Your Table Manners

Jim won’t be seen again with Bertha, that’s certain. It’s a safe bet that any girl who talks with her mouth full has other embarrassing manners, too. If she can't even eat a hot dog properly she might crumble crackers in her soup. Or prop her silverware against the edge of her plate, when she's done instead of laying it neatly across. Or grasp her water goblet around the top rather than by stem and lower part of bowl.

Too bad she ruined this promising relationship just by eating her hot dog incorrectly. Maybe you, too, are misjudged for small etiquette errors. Brush up with the help of an etiquette book which tells how to eat, what implements to use, what to say and do wherever you are at home parties, restaurants, clubs, dining-cars, and other public places. – From the S.A. Journal, 1936

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