Etiquette and Outdoor Entertainments

The refreshments for a picnic consist chiefly of cold dishes such as meats, boned turkey, game, patés, sandwiches, salads, cakes, jellies, pies, punch, lemonade, claret and champagne.

Modes and Manners for Sports, Hunt Breakfasts and Picnics

Now that the fashionable world is, so to speak, out of town, hunting, tennis and other outdoor sports are in order. According to manners, the etiquette, when taking part in hunting, shooting, fishing, etc..., is quickly learned by those interested in them. 

For instance, any man chosen to to master of the hounds would be one who had such experience in the hunting field that the duties attending his new position would be easily understood by him. It is customary in sections of the country where hounds meet for any of the residents interested in the sport to give a “hunt” or “meet” breakfast during the season to the master of the hounds and to all comers.  

This breakfast ought to be an informal affair, the food being much the same as would be offered at any ordinary morning entertainment. Tennis clubs and athletic associations, each and all, usually have clearly defined rules, which ought to be carefully read and followed by everybody desirous of connection with them. 

When one person gives a picnic, that one person, of course, provides everything, the mode of conveyance, the refreshments, entertainment, etc... Where several persons, however, join in issuing the invitations to a picnic, the labor and expense should be equally divided.  

The refreshments for a picnic consist chiefly of cold dishes such as meats, boned turkey, game, patés, sandwiches, salads, cakes, jellies, pies, punch, lemonade, claret and champagne. A picnic generally lasts from noon until twilight, and the best season of the year is when it is most pleasant to be out of doors.  

Dancing is the chief amusement after eating, and a wooden platform is erected for the purpose nowadays. Dancing on the green sounds poetical, but modern picnickers do not take to it kindly. —Red Bluff Daily News, 1892

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

Planning Guide for Picnics, Traveling Luncheons

If picnic luncheons are frequent in summer and the waitress assists the cook in putting them up, she can save much time and many mistakes of omission by writing out a list of all the things ordinarily needed for such occasions. – A rather fancy, Downton Abbey Picnic
– Image source, Pinterest

Choose a drawer or shelf on which to keep all the neat boxes which otherwise would be thrown away. With them put cords, small, wide-mouthed bottles, with suitable corks, a package of parafine paper and some light wrapping paper.

With these accessories at hand it is an easy matter to put up a few sandwiches, some olives or tiny pickles, and some wafers or cake.

If picnic luncheons are frequent in summer and the waitress assists the cook in putting them up, she can save much time and many mistakes of omission by writing out a list of all the things ordinarily needed for such occasions. 

This list she will keep in a safe place, and refer to it as soon as a picnic is mentioned to see what will have to be done the day before or early in the morning.

A list may be something like this:

Plates.                                Glasses.

Cups.                                  Knives.

Forks.                                  Doilies.

Teaspoons.                                Can opener.

Corkscrew.                              Coffeepot.

Glass jar for cream.                              Glass jar for salad.

Agate pail for water.             Matches.

Jelly glass or a bowl with tight cover for butter.      

 Box and paper for prunes, etc.

– From “The Expert Waitress” in Good Housekeeping Magazine, 1892

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

Victorian Picnic Etiquette

If a lady chooses to seat herself upon the ground, you are not at liberty to follow her example unless she invites you to be seated. She must not have occasion to think of the possibility of any impropriety on your part. You are her servant, protector, and guard of honor. You will of course give her your hand to assist her in rising.

      and Etiquette for Other Outdoor Excursions

Picnic excursions into the country are not occasions of ceremony, but call for the exercise of all one's real good nature and good breeding. On leaving the carriage, cars, or steamboat, gentlemen should of course relieve the ladies they attend of the shawls, baskets, etc., with which they may have provided themselves, and give them all necessary assistance in reaching the spot selected for the festivities. It is also their duty and their happiness to accompany them in their rambles, when it is the pleasure of the fair ones to require their attendance, but not to be obtrusive. They may sometimes wish to be alone.

If a lady chooses to seat herself upon the ground, you are not at liberty to follow her example unless she invites you to be seated. She must not have occasion to think of the possibility of any impropriety on your part. You are her servant, protector, and guard of honor. You will, of course, give her your hand to assist her in rising. 

When the sylvan repast is served, you will see that the ladies whose cavalier you have the honor to be, lack nothing. The ladies, social queens though they be, should not forget that every favor or act of courtesy and deference, by whoever shown, demands some acknowledgment on their part—a word, a bow, a smile, or at least a kind look.  – From 1887's "How to Behave"

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