Gilded Age Etiquette of Pronunciation

When one came in to money, one wished to sound educated. –“I suppose that an instructress in pronunciation must get her main clientage from ladies whose vocation at the washtub in early life prevented them from having that command of English orthoepy which seems desirable to them, now that their husbands have got rich.” 

Terms That Seem High

I notice in the newspapers the very interesting advertisement of a lady who “has carefully studied the best existing authorities” upon the subject of English pronunciation, “and is able to correct mispronounced words that are frequently heard in pulpit, lecture room, theater or in daily conversation.”

Her terms are $100 a month, which is not too high if she has mastered the subject. I suppose that an instructress in pronunciation must get her main clientage from ladies whose vocation at the washtub in early life prevented them from having that command of English orthoepy which seems desirable to them, now that their husbands have got rich. 

There must be plenty of such pupils to be had, but the task of instructing them must be a little difficult. Moreover, the subject of English pronunciation is so vast and difficult that it must be almost as hard to teach as to learn. -New York Truth, 1893

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