Gilded Age British Boors in America

“… some Englishmen firmly believe that a dress coat and a silk hat are unnecessary impediments to the transatlantic tourist, and consequently scandalize their hosts by appearing at dinner parties in shooting coats, and on Fifth Avenue in knickerbockers.” Is the cartoonish fashion sense shown on “Egbert Floud” in the film, “Ruggles of Red Gap,” the image some Brits had of Americans? The film was set in 1908.
– Image from the 1935 comedy hit, “Ruggles of Red Gap.” 

An Englishman Who Sees Much to Condemn in His Own Countrymen

Americans are sometimes heard to complain of the manners of a certain class of young Englishmen who ought to know better. They are accused of accepting American hospitality and of neglecting the conventionality of dress and etiquette which are customary in good European society. The American naturally resents the idea of an Englishman doing in America what he would not do at home, and very justly considers such action a want of proper respect toward his entertainers. 

It is hardly likely that any man, calling himself gentleman, would deliberately wish to insult his host. It would be difficult to find a term too strong to characterize the atrocious nature of such an offense against good manners and gentlemanly breeding; the explanation is probably to be found in the gross ignorance in regard to all things connected with America, which is sometimes to be met with in England, even among the so-called educated classes.

The ordinary Englishman’s idea about America are often hazy, and sometimes mythical. I hope the generation is now defunct which was under the firm conviction that all Americans were uncivil; but there are, I fear, some still to be found who when they speak of America, picture to themselves a country in the early stages of civilization. This is not to be wondered at when we consider how meager is the information imparted at English schools or colleges in regard to the history, geography, politics or progress of this great country. 

The result of this is that some Englishmen firmly believe that a dress coat and a silk hat are unnecessary impediments to the transatlantic tourist, and consequently scandalize their hosts by appearing at dinner parties in shooting coats, and on Fifth Avenue in knickerbockers. It is also difficult for them to realize that a black coat is de rigueur, not only at New York, but in more than a score of other cities of the Union, and that Americans are even more particular than Englishmen with regard to the little conventionalities of society. The former are, perhaps, a little conservative upon some of these points; but this should make an Englishman only the more careful not to be guilty of any act which could be construed into want of respect for either the country or his hosts.

The kindness, the hospitality, the courtesy which a traveler meets within the states will make him anxious to do all he can to show his hosts that he is sensible of the trouble they have taken to make his stay in the country agreeable. There is a general disposition among all classes of Americans to be civil to Englishmen. On the street, in the cars, in the hotels the traveler will often be astonished at the amount of trouble which the unknown American will voluntarily undertake in order to assist him, or to render his journey or sojourn in a place more agreeable. It is much to be feared that Englishmen do not always as readily put themselves out for Americans when they visit Great Britain. – By Lord Brabazon, in Time. 1886

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia