Hat Etiquette for Swedish Men of 1897

Hats, from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century, were an essential part of men’s wardrobes from all walks of life. Hats could range from the very practical, as in protection from the elements…  to the more decorative, worn for dress and showing off one’s sartorial style.

Etiquette in Sweden

In Sweden if you address the poorest person on the street you must lift your hat. The same courtesy is insisted upon if you pass a lady on the stairway. To enter a reading room or a bank with one's hat on is regarded as impolite. — Chico Record, 1897

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

Victorian Swedish Christmas Etiquette

Carl Viking’s illustration of a Christmas Table

The Christmas Table 

“I have drawn the Christmas table according to my grandmother's directions. The head of the family had the biggest share of bread, which was piled up at the extreme left of the table. On the top of the pile was a little bird made from wheat and flour, with a grain of corn in its beak. next to the father's pile of bread was the mothers, then the children's, and, last of all, the servants. 

The vessels on the table are:

1. a pewter tankard 
2. a pewter dish for cream cheese  
3. beer bowl  
4. oak beer can 
5. aquavit decanter of green glass  
6. silver tumblers  (#6 and #7)
7. corresponding to the modern schnapps glasses
8. china dish for lye-cured fish 
9. a pewter porridge bowl. 

“But there was also a large pewter dish with a pig's head on it, as well as several other vessels. On the table too, we see a three-branched candle, a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and two other candles. 

“Note: On the Christmas table stood a wooden can of the best beer, which no one was allowed to drink. It was called ‘Angel beer’ and was intended for the Christmas Angel.” —From “Christmas in Sweden 100 Years Ago” by Tre Tryckare, 1964

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

Scandinavian Etiquette Formalities

At the end of the Danish dinner party, the hostess will stand in the doorway and shake hands with every guest while he murmurs, “Thank you for the food”... Royal Copenhagen dinnerware– Photo source, Pinterest

Some feel that etiquette in Scandinavia is a thing to be dreaded, especially in Sweden. Even the former should address a person by his full diplomatic, political, professional or commercial title. Thus, one meets Mr. the Assistant to the Bank Manager Wirseen or Mr. the Former Manufacturer of Blood Sausage Olson. 

Denmark is far less formal, both in speech and attire, but at the end of the dinner party, the hostess will stand in the doorway and shake hands with every guest while he murmurs, “Thank you for the food,” to which she answers, “I hope it will become you well.” – Lompoc Review, 1930

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

19th C. Swedish Social Etiquette

“Skål bror!” —  Or “Cheers brother!”

All through Sweden, social intercourse is encumbered with much ceremonious etiquette, particularly among the landed gentry. The three Scandinavian tongues employ the two personal pronouns “thou” and “you” the first familiarly, the second when speaking to a mere acquaintance. But a well-bred Swedish gentleman, addressing a stranger, will always, with old-fashioned courtesy, substitute the equivalent for, “Monsieur” regardless of harrowing repetitions, and where a title is demanded, even under the difficulties of rapid speech, it is never for a moment omitted. As such politesse, however, in the end becomes both monotonous and wearisome, they have a practical way of cutting the Gordian knot. When a casual acquaintanceship has ripened into genial sympathy or mutual respect your Swedish friend at once proposes a “brotherhood.” This is a distinct social ordeal, the initiation to which demands a special rite.

The man who has requested the honor of becoming your brother provides you with a glass of wine filled to the brim, he himself holding another; both rise, each linking the right arm of each, looking one another boldly in the eve and pronouncing the words “Skal bror,” the beakers are emptied. Hence you are expected to use the pronoun “thou,” and you take your stand on the footing of relationship. Among the reminiscences of this visit to Vermland is an evening when I acquired no less than six new and stalwart brothers. On the subject of ancient politesse, I should mention, by the way, that there is a well-known Swedish gentleman who always gives precedence to his own son, because “He has one ancestor more than his father.” – Cornhill Magazine, 1887

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