1920’s Train and Travel Etiquette

  

Nancy and Peter Knew That Good Manners Mark the Well Bred Person

Nancy and Peter were returning from their short stay in Florida. On the train Nancy watched folks and decided that many of them were good travelers but that a few needed some lessons in train and travel etiquette. For instance, there was the woman who came into the dining car without a hat. It is true that the train was her home for the time being, but it was a home in the sense that a hotel is a home—just temporarily, and as such it becomes a place in which a person maintains certain formalities. Then there was the woman who traveled with much jewelry and wore it all. The train is no place to shine like the morning star, nor is it the place where one’s dressiest clothes are worn. No longer do women feel correctly dressed for traveling only when they are in blue serge, but the well bred woman is still inconscpicuous in her clothes when she travels.   

Another little habit of many travellers which annoyed Nancy was the conversational one. Invariably her seat was close beside two people who felt compelled to tell each other the life history of themselves, their families even unto the uttermost relationship. Confidences which should never be given to one’s dearest friend seem to fall from the lips of some travellers into the ears of veriest strangers. Nancy and Peter were courteous in their greetings to folks on the train, they gave a friendly greeting, passed the time of day and then stopped. Books, magazines, papers were always close at hand and were used to stop many attempts at wearisome and long drawn out conversations. – “Nancy Page” for the San Pedro Pilot, 1929

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

Retro Travel Etiquette

When much luggage is necessary for a trip, part of it should be sent ahead by express or else shipped through in the baggage car.

When traveling by train one should take as little baggage as possible, for storage space is limited. The passenger who must have his numerous belongings piled on the platform, where they obstruct passage from car to car, is a nuisance. 

When much luggage is necessary for a trip, part of it should be sent ahead by express or else shipped through in the baggage car. On the ticket, a certain amount of pounds go free. In the latter case, however, it is important to know that baggage cannot be shipped on the passenger's ticket beyond the point of his descent, and there is often a wait while the freight car is unloaded and baggage sorted out. 

In a Pullman, large bags are usually placed on the platform by the porter, unless they fit under the seat. They should be locked, of course. A small bag may go to a seat, but not if it is likely to be in the way of a seat mate. At night such a bag should be small enough to fit in the hammock above the berth. In a roomette or compartment all hand baggage is stored by the porter in the allotted space. — Amy Vanderbilt, 1954

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

Etiquette and Railroad Dining Cars

Before, and even after plane travel in the 1950s, traveling by train encouraged a new concept of being “on time,” and new rules and etiquette for one's behavior in shared public spaces. 

The Dining Car steward on the FSP (Friendly Southern Pacific!) told me last weekend that contrary to accepted etiquette, it’s not only proper but good sense to leave your spoon in the coffee cup—if you are on a moving train.

Pullman created the first dining cars on 1870's – “Numberless cultivated Americans traveling in Europe never by any chance speak English or carry English books on railroad trains, as a protection against the other type of American who allows no one to travel in the same compartment and escape conversation. The only way to avoid unwelcome importunities is literally to take refuge in assuming another nationality.” — Emily Post

Even aboard today's diessel-powered streamliners, coffee is apt to slosh a bit. He says it won't, however, if the spoon is left in the cup and it works better if the spoon is turned backwards. But look out for those quick gestures, low over the table. And while on the subject of the FSP, I had the nicest smoothest, on-time ride last Friday. D J Russell, president of the FSP was aboard. –The Desert Sun, 1957

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