Gilded Age Social Etiquette

After a lady is married her acquaintances should soon call upon her.

Calls Which Courtesy Demands Should Be Made Promptly

“First calls should always be promptly returned; that is, within seven days,” says a New York woman of society and fashion, in a useful little treatise on manners. “If a first call is immediately followed by an invitation to some entertainment, the call should be returned at once and not delayed until after the entertainment. After the entertainment a second call should be made.

“The recipient of any special hospitality, such as a dinner, luncheon, breakfast, dance, etc..., should call thereafter as soon as possible. After having been invited to visit in a country house, a call should be made upon those extending the invitation immediately after their return to the town residence. After a lady is married her acquaintances should soon call upon her.” – Riverside Enterprise, 28 February 1891

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

Gilded Age Vaudeville

There is just enough of a touch of Bohemianism in it to make it a sort of lark to go, and, of course, this season it has been a pleasant novelty. But New-York Women are not Bohemians very much, after all, and, with all their alleged extravagances of conduct, there is in the best and most of them a strain of the old Puritan stock that is sure to assert itself.
 –Public domain image from Wikipedia

“Is the Vaudeville really liked by women? Now that is a question. I haven't heard a woman say she didn't like it; I've heard lots of them explain their going, though, on the ground that it is better if their husbands and brothers want the diversions of a variety show after the theatre that they should go along.

“Yes, I think the women like it, if it is kept where it is now. There is just enough of a touch of Bohemianism in it to make it a sort of lark to go, and, of course, this season it has been a pleasant novelty. But New-York Women are not Bohemians very much, after all, and, with all their alleged extravagances of conduct, there is in the best and most of them a strain of the old Puritan stock that is sure to assert itself. 

It crops out in the Sunday night card parties– there is plenty of card playing Sunday nights in many houses in New-York where, perhaps, it is least suspected– but the women don't like it; some of them won't have it. But, yes, concludingly, “I think we like the vaudeville.”– New York Times, 1893

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