The Kangaroo Walk Explained

The “kangaroo walk” this mode of pedestrianism has already been dubbed by the women who do not admire and adopt it. The sliding and yet plunging manner in which the strides are taken gives to this name a decided character of suitability. But the new walk, however striking and fashionable it may be, will not do for all occasions.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE KANGAROO WALK?

It is queer enough upon the boulevards, but how would it be in a ballroom? And how about wedding processions and figures in the cotillion? Besides, while bearable and in some sort of keeping with heavy, man-tailored, short skirts, stiff-necked dressings, and wide-brimmed felt hats, it could not be considered at all in connection with the trailing gowns, beautifully sweetly feminine hats and bonnets to prevail during the coming season. What then? 

The "woman who walks" is very much in evidence in Los Angeles. But she does not walk at all as have done her predecessors of other pedestrian seasons. A new walk has made its appearance, and now up Spring Street it is rampant, it is by no means unknown upon Main Street. The new walk is as startling as it is unique and — peculiar. 

The walk and carriage of the fashionable woman has been really a thing of beauty for some years past. The most commendable style of walking of late years has been based upon Delsarte principles — head well up, chest out, abdomen held well back, back quite deeply indented. The Delsarte teachers and devotees were responsible for its introduction into America and the" polite world. Once introduced, the Delsarte carriage — being the proper and hygienic pose of the human body into the bargain—became almost universal.    

That it was a healthful and becoming mode of locomotion cannot be doubted. Now comes the new form of pedestrianism. It owes nothing to Delsarte or the physical culture principles. It seems to be based rather upon a desire to see to what lengths the old statement that walking, for human beings is really a series of forward tumbles with accompanying and subsequent recoveries, can be carried without resulting in dire disaster. 

The body and limbs are all held stiffly, the head — the chin particularly — is poked forward in a decidedly ungraceful and unbecoming manner, the back is bent stiffly from the waist, and the arms hang loosely and lifeless. With each forward step— and each step is a long, quick, hurrying stride—the arms swing stiffly out and back again, as though hung on pivots at the shoulders. The eyes are usually directed toward the ground or straight ahead, and the whole appearance is that of a Dutch doll unexepctedly endowed with the power of motion and in a great hurry to get back to the dollshop and exhibit

A clever and merry woman says that she believes the new walk is the direct result of the vain and fruitless efforts which women for so long made to correct and coerce the natural and innate wickedness and depravity of the short walking skirts which have become so indispensable to woman. These skirts, as every woman knows, will "sag" at the back and "hike" up in the front, no matter how good the tailor who fashioned them, how careful, graceful and stylish the wearer, and how expensive the materials from which they were constructed. 

The witty woman who claims to have invented this reason for the new walk, says that it was undoubtedly evolved by some poor feminine who had been driven to desperation and despair, almost to lunacy, by the altogether abominable conduct of a succession of these skirts. Bankrupt, despairing, at her wit's end, she decided to tip forward as she walked, thus bringing the edge of the skirt she was wearing into something like a right line. 

While this explanation of this new walk is not vouched for, it is the only one which has yet appeared, and it certainly bears with it an atmosphere of that "sweet reasonableness" which is conspicuous by its absence from the new walk itself. 

The "kangaroo walk" this mode of pedestrianism has already been dubbed by the women who do not admire and adopt it. The sliding and yet plunging manner in which the strides are taken gives to this name a decided character of suitability. But the new walk, however striking and fashionable it may be, will not do for all occasions. 

It is queer enough upon the boulevards, but how would it be in a ballroom? And how about wedding processions and figures in the cotillion? Besides, while bearable and in some sort of keeping with heavy, man-tailored, short skirts, stiff-necked dressings, and wide-brimmed felt hats, it could not be considered at all in connection with the trailing gowns, beautifully sweetly feminine hats and bonnets to prevail during the coming season. What then? 

Some provision must be made for the girls and women who cannot or will not adopt this style of carriage and locomotion, so still an advantage may be noticed in swelldom at present. The walk, or carriage has been termed, not inaptly the "religious walk." because it goes so well with the gentle, demure and sweetly serious appearance and expression which the fashionable woman cultivates upon certain occasions. 

It "looks lovely," to be appropriately feminine, when entering or leaving church, and it is "just too beautiful for anything" in the case of a wedding procession. The girl who can "do" the "religious walk" charmingly is sure of a certain amount of belledom wherever she may be. And for entering a crowded drawing-room or clubroom, for promenading at the opera, or between dances at a ball, there is nothing like it. 

The Delsarte devotee usually carried something in her hands when she went a-walking. Whatever it was, umbrella, golf stick, pocketbook, roll of music, it was so held as to accentuate the long, slender, straight, and slightly forward-tipping line of the figure. The girl with the kangaroo method of locomotion generally discards umbrellas and "small traps" of every kind. Her hands are usually clinched in decidedly enough. 

The Delsarte girl loved to wear her hat straight on her head, a la the sailor hat so beloved of the dear, impossible Gibson girl. The kangaroo maiden pulls her soft felt almost down to her eyebrows or pushes the round golf cap which replaces it almost back to her crown. The girl with the "religious walk" has taken points from both of them. She has, in fact, seized upon many of their distinguishing chnricteristics and transmuted them to uses of her own—with a difference. The mouth of the Delsarte girl was a delicious thing of sweet curves, modified by a slight degree of determination.- Los Angeles Herald, 1901

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

Gilded Age Grace and Carriage

 

Look up, not down!... “To begin with, borrow from the creed of the King's daughters and “lookup.” If your throat is pretty and you want to make capital of it, throw your chin in the air as Ada Behan and Ella Wheeler Wilcox do. Don't think anything about your shoulders, for so sure as you do you will have them mannishly square. Make your chest lead all the time, whether seated or standing, and then look to your sides to see that there are no creases in your waist. So poised your shoulders will take a round, graceful, womanly cure, the stomach will go in, and, as the dress reformers put it, you will have a natural bustle and a carriage that will enhance any style of dress.” 

What women want is not better clothes, loose dresses, and sham corsets, but better positions. They want sittings. If some teacher of Delsarte, calisthenics, or physical culture would undertake to instruct a class in correctness of posture, incalculable good would certainly result. Women sit on their hips, their feet, and their spinal column; they throw their chests in, their shoulders forward, their abdomen out, and destroy forever the nice lines of the figure, besides rendering shapeless whatever gown or bodice they may be dressed in. 

These distorted women are unfortunately too prevalent. They force themselves on the critic in the church and theater, on the streets and trains, and in a car one looks in vain for a single upright, easily-poised traveler. Given a woman who knows how to hold herself, it must be a most miserable outfit that will not be improved. There is a tacit understanding among tailors that when the man has the shape, the coat is bound to fit, but in the world of modes one is told that this woman can carry a certain style or that another can not. 

Carriage is all a matter of habit. The worst can be remedied by practice, but before beginning, it is well to have an ideal. The galleries and art shops, books, magazines, and the stage abound in models, and besides, there are descriptive pictures that the most simple-minded can understand. To begin with, borrow from the creed of the King's daughters and “lookup.” If your throat is pretty and you want to make capital of it, throw your chin in the air as Ada Behan and Ella Wheeler Wilcox do. Don't think anything about your shoulders, for so sure as you do you will have them mannishly square. Make your chest lead all the time, whether seated or standing, and then look to your sides to see that there are no creases in your waist. So poised your shoulders will take a round, graceful, womanly cure, the stomach will go in, and, as the dress reformers put it, you will have a natural bustle and a carriage that will enhance any style of dress. 

Indeed, if the truth were only known a queenly carriage is worth half the toilet and is in itself beauty. Heretofore the bustle interfered with posture, but now that no such implement of torture is worn, and as reeds and straps are gradually losing their hold, there is absolutely no excuse for the women who lounge, sit on their feet, and otherwise offend taste. The best schooling for a good walk is a close observation of the people you meet walking in the street and drawing-room. 

Trollope, who was one of the closest observers of human nature, in describing the grace of one of his heroines, spoke of her walk as being “a lie stride from the hips.” He was right in this. A free swing of the leg from the hip, results in an easy, graceful walk. Swing the legs out firmly, keeping the knee steady, don’t stride, but, on the other hand, don't make the mistake of taking too short a step. Place the foot firmly on the ground, keep the body free from any motion, let the shoulders be thrown well back, and hold the head erect.- New York Times, 1888

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

Chanoyu Etiquette – Japanese Tea

They were all society people, but they found that Japanese etiquette differed very materially from their own social functions. They studied the slips of paper given them until they knew that the bits of cake given them were to be eaten first, and the bowl of tea to be taken in the right hand and placed on the left palm and so held, no matter how warm the tea, until the first guest had sipped his tea in three gulps and a half when the rest of the company were at liberty to drink the steaming beverage, each bowl being drained in succession. The guests, meanwhile, watching each other with great interest to know what would be expected of them when their turn came. 

San Francisco, California – Do you know what a “chanoyu” is? Well, it is simply a Japanese ceremonial tea. The dainty little Geisha, Mme. Yucca and some members of the company, which, by-the-way, is the only real Japanese troupe ever in this country, who performed recently at the California theater, gave a chanoyu in the Maple room of the Palace Hotel that was a decidedly novel and interesting affair. The decorations were in keeping with the event, all Japanese, of course, with Japanese lanterns and richly embroidered screens which formed a back-ground to the tea-drinking room. The affair was invitational, and to each guest was presented little slips of paper describing etiquette of a Japanese ceremonial tea. 

They were all society people, but they found that Japanese etiquette differed very materially from their own social functions. They studied the slips of paper given them until they knew that the bits of cake given them were to be eaten first, and the bowl of tea to be taken in the right hand and placed on the left palm and so held, no matter how warm the tea, until the first guest had sipped his tea in three gulps and a half when the rest of the company were at liberty to drink the steaming beverage, each bowl being drained in succession. The guests, meanwhile, watching each other with great interest to know what would be expected of them when their turn came. 

Mme. Yucca brewed the tea with her own tiny hands on a raised dais, using a special blend, costing a fabulous sum per pound, and a tiny maid, Miss Otsuru by name, passed the refreshments, making a graceful and profound bow to each guest. One of the features of the evening was a geisha dance by Mme. Butterfly, 300 years old, the dance, not the dancer, bearing the ancient record. It was full of life and grace, combining all of the best movements of the Delsarte system. – Polly Larkin, 1899

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

Sociability and Etiquette

They can live in the same town for years and not speak to each other. Why? Perhaps because they have never gone through the formality of an introduction. Is this not carrying etiquette too far? Is this not an instance where culture defeats itself? Is this not a case where civilisation is worse than barbarism ? What good purpose can it serve for two peoplo who know each other’s names and occupation to pass each other on the street and pretend by their far away looks that they are strangers? 

Are human beings as sociable as they should be? Is there not room for more real friendliness among all classes? I do not mean the sociability that exhausts itself in making fashionable calls. That is sociability gone to seed. I mean the sociability that constrains us to speak kind words and do helpful services for any man or woman who lives in town with us. I mean the sociability that prompts us to be agreeable in whatever company of neighbors we find ourselves. A horse will answer to the whinny of another horse, though they are entire strangers to each other. The birds answer the twitter of other birds and the sheep respond to the bleating of other sheep that come to join them on the mountain side.

With human beings however it is different. They can live in the same town for years and not speak to each other. Why? Perhaps because they have never gone through the formality of an introduction. Is this not carrying etiquette too far? Is this not an instance where culture defeats itself? Is this not a case where civilisation is worse than barbarism ? What good purpose can it serve for two peopleAl C who know each other’s names and occupation to pass each other on the street and pretend by their far away looks that they are strangers? 

How much ice is imported into social life when we rub against each other in homes or churches or halls and yet never speak? If there must be “sets” in society, why do they not keep apart ? Surely it would be better to keep apart than to come together and yet not mingle. Moral culture and “physical culture” as our new teachers delight to call the “Delsarte work” we all need. Christ was a mystery. Delsarte was a genius. If we are not careful, however, we will learn both systems so imperfectly that we will become formal. Formality in itself is ice-cream, without the cream. 

The cream and the eggs are spoiled and even if the ice tastes of salt, I would rather have a neighbor shake hands with me in an awkward fashion and exhibit his true friendship, than have the most exquisite bow from a rich person if he meant to give me nothing but the bow. Let him keep that for those who are willing to toady to him! Christ is not to blame for those who allow their morality to make them “stand-offish.” Delsarte ia not to blame for those who allow tbeir “physical culture” to make them formal. Both grace of form and expression are right enough in their place but they are absurd where there is no grace of heart. 

If an elegant person has no true kindness, his elegance only serves to show that he is a skeleton. When the skeleton shakes hands with you it is beautifully done, but a shiver runs down your bones. You feel yourself in the company of death. When it shows himself out, you feel glad. Etiquette is all right. Education whether it is physical or moral is all right too. The fault is in ourselves if they make us artificial. The truly educated person will know when to lay aside the strict roles of etiquette and act the true man, especially with his neighbor. 

The man whose education is all on the outside will continue to be formal, odd, stiff, starchy. His very formality will declare the defect in his education. If you cannot possibly thaw him out, let him drift on and by and by he may find the north pole. Better the friendship of those who, if they lack the form, have the substance or beautiful things in their hearts, and whose sweetness and love will remind us that somewhat of Eden still lingers on the earth. – Rev. J. George Gibson, 1893

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