Edwardian Telephone Etiquette

                    

Early Bell Telephone literature explained how "courteous and considerate co-operation is essential at the telephone..." —The instrument is not to be used as a means of paying a social visit to a man in his office without the bother of going there in person. 

Etiquette When Telephoning 

BOOKS of etiquette should be expanded to contain a chapter on the courtesies of using a telephone. To begin with, the instrument is not to be used as a means of paying a social visit to a man in his office without the bother of going there in person.

There is no possible objection to calling a friend down town during the day, when there is a question to be asked or a bit of informatlon that should be conveyed. But the woman at the other end of the line must bear in mind that a man in the office is having endless demands upon his time and that he must meet them. Also, that business is absorbing at the moment, and however much pleased he may be at being remembered, his mind is not then in social trend.

So to respond to a continued conversation about the uptown side of life he must switch his mental equilibrium, and the less he is obliged to do this when pressed for time, the more popular his acquaintances will be with him. When occasion arises that a man is to be telephoned to, the message should be as brief as is consistent with perfect courtesy, without brusqueness, and then the woman should end the talk.

Must Pay Hostess for Out-of-Town Calls

To use the instrument of another person as though it were one's own is a mistake frequently made through thoughtlessness. It is not good form to make a practice of asking permission to do so when paying a call. Some women have the habit of asking to use the phone quite as they would were the house a public station, and this is an abuse of good nature. The idea that an offer to pay regular toll rates for the message makes it right is a mistake. It is sometimes a great inconvenience to a hostess to allow an outsider to use the phone. For Instance, it may not be situated in a place where she cares to take a stranger, and it is not well to use one's hostess as a "convenience."

In cities where public phones are in every block there is rarely justification for using the phone of a friend unless one is visiting in the same house. But if it is employed it should be regarded as a courtesy and nothing said about paying for the message, except where it is without the regular radius and is known to be an extra charge. Then the person who has talked should offer to pay and a hostess should accept the tariff.

No Long Conversations on Phone

Tradespeople in the country complain that it is almost impossible to get their customers on the telephone in time to get out orders as back in the day as they are wished. Because country residents have a comfortable way of sitting down before the instrument soon after breakfast and paying social visits with their neighbors.

Of course there ls always a question or answer at the beginning which made the call necessary, and with that, they begin a long conversation. The consequence is that those who need to get the phone for business pertaining to the household are entirely prevented, and the butcher, who has the best desire to get out meat in time for luncheon, does not have the opportunity to ask for his order much before the moment it should be delivered.

If one must hold lengthy conversations over the wire, by all means let them be in the afternoon or evening, when they will not interfere with business. To tell personal affairs over the telephone is unwise. Though the person talking may not see any one else, everything she says is audible to at least one other besides the one whom she is addressing, and sometimes more than "central" hears. Much gossip in the country comes out in this way and it is a fact to be regretted. — Rosanna Schuyler, 1909

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

Phone Etiquette for School Girls

When this 1909 etiquette advice was given, no one had dreamt of the telephone evolving eventually into something like the iPhone.

Social Amenities for the School Girl

TELEPHONES have so important a place in the social life of to-day, that there is quite as much etiquette in regard to them as there is to other matters. Take the word itself, for instance. We began by calling it "telephone" as a matter of course, and always in speaking of using it referred to it as "telephoning." But this soon became corrupted by the lazy and slipshod into "phone" and "phoning," which pleased the ears of many and were widely adopted, until among certain classes, they are firmly established as the accepted parlance when referring to, or to the use of, the most indispensable invention of the age. 

But the language of the polite world does not admit of abbreviations of any sort. In good society, any form of slovenliness is abhorrent, and to speak in a slipshod way indicates an untidyness  of speech, as distasteful and as little to be tolerated as untidyness of person or of dress. And, consequently, well bred people from one end of the country to the other say "telephone" and look askance at the persons who shorten it. 

When you are calling up your friends, to greet them with "Hello!" is as bad form as it is to say "phone" or "phoning." "Hello" belongs strictly to the business world and has no place in the social, either at the telephone or at any other place. You should say "Good morning" by way of greeting at the telephone, just as you would at home or in your friend's home, or the street, or wherever you encounter one another. 

If another member of the family than the one to whom you especially wish to talk answers the telephone, do not be so discourteous as to ignore her by asking at once for the other, but exchange a few remarks with her first and then let her know that you wish to talk with another. 

It is not etiquette for girls to telephone to men at their places of business or at their clubs, nor should they call them up at their homes unless for a particular reason, as giving them an informal invitation. So much inviting of an unceremonious character is done by means of the telephone nowadays, that it is quite proper for girls to take this method of reaching young men, always provided they do not try to get them at their places of business. 

There is a great convenience in giving invitations over the telephone, for it means that they are accepted or declined at the moment and one can plan accordingly. But the verbal invitations extended must be followed by a note —that is, when the invitation is accepted. Of course, if it is declined the matter is ended. But when you ask your friend to anything over the telephone and he or she acccpts, the correct thing is to write a note at once corroborating. 

If your mother has allowed you to ask a young man to dinner, for instance, you write that your mother and you are so glad to know that he can dine with you on such a night and at such a time, mentioning the date and hour. The note should be brief, to the point, of one sentence covering the matter, and what the object is, as no doubt you see to fix beyond any possibility of mistake, the day and time in the other's mind. 

So many errors of time and place have occurred through the giving and taking of telephone invitations, to the utter confusion of hostess and guest, that fertile Madame Grundy, ever alert to keep well oiled the wheels of social life, has invented this manner of meeting the situation, so now it is obligatory that you follow your telephone invitation by a note. 

Many women have stated hours for being "get-at-able" at the telephone and give the time out to all their friends, the popular hours being between nine and ten, or ten and eleven, in the morning. If you know that such a person has such an hour, you must never, except in dire necessity, call her at any other time.

Women usually have their maids answer | their telephones and bring them the name of the person calling before they personally respond. Girls who have their own maids do this also and, indeed, in the homes of all fashionable persons, a servant is delegated for the purpose of taking the responsibility of the telephone quite as much as another has the care of the front door. 

It is not etiquette for the person called to the telephone to end the conversation. If a friend calls you, you must remain until she says good-bye. It is not proper for you to say it any more than you would if she were making a call in your house. 

Some people never seem to know how to break off a telephone conversation, and they are just the same people who never seem to know how to go, even after they get started, from a room. But, being well-mannered, you would never think of pushing them out, and neither can you push them off the telephone, which is precisely what you would do if you said good-bye first. 

When you call them up, that is another matter. The tables are turned. The initiative lies with you, and you end the conversation as it pleases you. — Los Angeles Herald, 1909

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