Etiquette Minutiae of Gladstone’s Life

“His dinners are selected to his taste. He takes soup, fish (if it is to his fancy), but usually dines off one dish, which he selects and does not depart from. He is very fond of rice pudding and prunes and rice, and upon either of these, but more especially the former, he would, if the etiquette of the dinner table permitted it, make an entire meal.”– Public domain image of William Ewart Gladstone

Gladstone’s Life: The Great Statesman's Simple Habits. Plain Food, Plenty of Sleep

Mr. Gladstone is in the best of health, sleeps remarkably well, and, so far from having shown signs of decreasing vitality through an inability to maintain an appetite for food, the right honorable gentleman en joys his meals with the zest of a young man. When he rises he invariably takes a tepid bath, and every morning before breakfast while at Biarritz he attended church, and since his return to London has frequently taken a little walk in the grounds of Downing street. His first meal usually consists of a hard-boiled egg, a slice of tongue, with tea and toast. After breakfast he devotes him self to his correspondence, and for several hours is busy with his private secretary and receiving such political callers as may arrive. 

For luncheon Mr. Gladstone takes cold meat, milk pudding and cheese. He drinks a couple of glasses of light wine, and some times finishes with a glass of port. At 5 o'clock, if disengaged, he has afternoon tea. His dinners are selected to his taste. He takes soup, fish (if it is to his fancy), but usually dines off one dish, which he selects and does not depart from. He is very fond of rice pudding and prunes and rice, and upon either of these, but more especially the former, he would, if the etiquette of the dinner table permitted it, make an entire meal. 

He drinks claret, and to his cheese has a liberal glass of port wine. Half of this he takes with his cheese, and sips the remainder in conversation over dessert. When dining out Mr. Gladstone takes two or three glasses of champagne, concluding, as usual, with port. He does not drink coffee because it is seldom made to his liking, and being astringent keeps him awake. 

While at Biarritz a rule was made that Mr. Gladstone should be left alone at 10 o'clock every night. This rule is likely to be adhered to still, and the other evening, while the guest of a friend, he left at a quarter past ten and was in bed fifteen minutes later. Mr. Gladstone has, with very rare exceptions, always slept well and for some time was in the habit of remaining in bed until noon. This was when he felt fatigued or desired to think out some matter which specially engaged him. But at Biarritz he never lay in bed but once and that was two days before the time fixed for his departure, when he was attacked by a cold in the head and reverted to his old rule, kept his bed for twenty-four hours and thus regained his usual health. 

Since the right honorable gentleman returned to London he has risen early, and is as vigorous and hearty as his friends could wish. Mr. Gladstone lives very plainly, his regimen being guided by authority. but his appetite in London is good. On one occasion at Biarritz he was asked how he slept, to which he replied gayly, “Well, I have done my nine hours.”

His memory is as keen as ever, and at the Biarritz dinner-table, as when he dines at home or with friends in London, he was the life of the party. On one occasion when Mr. Tollemache was present there was a discussion about classics, and Mr. Gladstone quoted not single lines of Greek, but whole passages. On the voyage from Calais, the channel was very stormy, and Mr. Gladstone lay down, but did not suffer from seasickness. The reports of his ill health and lessened vitality have caused the Downing-street postbag to be unusually heavy, and a great deal of ill-afforded time has consequently been expended in refuting these idle inventions.– St. Jame's Gazette, 1893

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Merry Table Etiquette of 1894

 

Iced oysters or clams are to be eaten with lemon juice dropped over —never with salt and pepper. Never play with knife or fork or other table utensils; do not touch them at all, except when about to use them. Do not forget that cheerfulness “suggests good health, a clear conscience and a soul at peace with all human nature.”

Eat, Drink and Be Merry... 

And While Doing So at Table, Observe These Rules

• Children should be taught to drink as little as possible while eating. 
• “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” 
• No gentleman will ever place his arms upon the table either before, during, or after a meal. 
• Meats are to be cut with a single gliding movement of the knife, not by converting it into a saw. 
• Keep the elbows always close to the side, no matter how ample may be the room between the guests. 
• Never hurry the dinner. Let everything come along promptly on time, and move steadily thereafter. 
• Iced oysters or clams are to be eaten with lemon juice dropped over —never with salt and pepper. 
• Be punctual. To keep a dinner party waiting under any circumstances is the greatest social indecorum. 
• Take soup only from the side of the spoon—unless wearing a mustache. Never sip it with an audible sound. 
• Never play with knife or fork or other table utensils; do not touch them at all, except when about to use them. 
• He lives longest and most safely who at dinner, and elsewhere, turns down his glasses and “tastes not the cup.” 
• If an accident of any kind should occur during the dinner do not seem to notice it—unless help may be quietly given. 
• Do not forget that cheerfulness “suggests good health, a clear conscience and a soul at peace with all human nature.” — The Morning Union, December 27, 1894

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Politician Profits Off Terrapin’s Backs

With terrapin’s popularity on dining tables and on restaurant menus, the turtles became popular motifs, patented for everything from flatware to soup tureens in the gilded age.  

“Green turtle is the epicurean soup, par excellence.” - Eunice C. Corbett in Good Housekeeping Magazine, March 1894

“Send the terrapins to the table hot in a covered dish, and the sauce separately in a sauce tureen, to be used by those who like it, and omitted by those who prefer the genuine flavor of the terrapins when simply stewed with butter. This is now the usual mode of dressing terrapins in Maryland, Virginia, and many other parts of the South, and will be found superior to any other.” —From The Whitehouse Cookbook, 1887

United States Senator Dennis, of Maryland, has about twelve acres of land put down in a pond, that is fed by salt water. This pond makes the largest terrapin farm probably in the world, and is the source of a heavy income. In it, terrapins are raised for the market, and it is said that over 12,000 “count” have been sold from it in one year. It may be noted, for the benefit of the uninitiated, that a “count” is a terrapin over seven inches in length; and that “counts” sold by number—bringing from $10 to $14 a dozen, or about a $1 each. 

In market they retail for about $20 per dozen—and in the fashionable restaurants are served at $1.50 a plate —one terrapin filling about three plates. Smaller terrapins are sold at lower figures, but all bring good figures and are “diamond” backs in fact, as well as name. There are several terrapin ponds in Maryland, and they grow in importance as “terrapin stew, Maryland style,” is becoming more and more popular among high livers. The thriving city of Crisfield, in Maryland, ships terrapins by the thousands, along with its millions of oysters. — Napa County Reporter, 1884

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Frogs Divide England and France

“Now a terrapin, a turtle, a clam or an oyster is subject to all the same natural repulsion as a frog, and an oyster is particularly objectionable in appearance and slimy suggestiveness.” —  Eight “Delmonico” pattern oyster forks 

— Photo source, Etiquipedia private library  

 

Gilded Age Frog Legs...

Money Can Be Made by Raising Them —

If You Do Not Like a Frog Dinner There Are Plenty of Others That Do

Crispy frog legs are a delicacy in many countries ~ “... the bones of frogs’ legs may be eaten in part with the fingers when the legs... are so small as to defy all but the most expert trencherman.” Such small bones are held in the fingers by one end while the other end is placed directly in the mouth. The impression of gnawing the bone must be avoided. It is no shame, by the way, for a lady confronted with a squab or half a broiled chicken to ask assistance from the gentleman with her in dissecting it unless perhaps she’s at a formal dinner. This is better than running the risk of having the meat land in her lap or, on the other hand, going hungry, if she is really inept.- Amy Vanderbilt etiquette for eating small birds or frog’s legs

Did you ever eat a frog dinner? Never, you will say. Then you have missed something. “Nasty things! The idea!” may be the exclamation of a young housewife who would not shrink from a terrapin stew, a turtle steak, a clam fry or a half-dozen oysters raw on the half shell. Now a terrapin, a turtle, a clam or an oyster is subject to all the same natural repulsion as a frog, and an oyster is particularly objectionable in appearance and slimy suggestiveness. 

Frogs are supposed to divide England and France, gastronomically speaking, as sharply as the English Channel does geographically. One of the first things which sensible Americans did after the colonies had thrown off the yoke was to disembarrass themselves of all silly insular prejudices. They began eating frogs, French fashion. In many of the Eastern States, frogs are as common as chickens or chops in the windows of restaurants.

It takes quite a number of frogs to furnish a square meal, because only the hind legs are eaten. A frog dinner comes high. It is comparable in price only to reed birds on toast, or quail in the first of the season. Fried in batter a dozen frog’s legs would tempt any epicure. A very dainty spring chicken is the best suggestion, but the frog is tenderer than that. Yes, there is money in frogs if the work of raising them is set about in the right way.— San Francisco Call, 1893

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Etiquette and Dining Humor

“What we want in Virginia,” said he, “Is a high-toned restaurant like the Poodle-Dog in San Francisco, or Delmonico’s in New York; a place where a gentleman of taste and means could get a meal varying from five to twenty-five-dollars, with frog legs, truffles, terrapin stews, and some rare old Hock or Burgundy—a place where one could dine at his leisure and invite a friend with some degree of confidence.” 

Then and Now

About two weeks ago a bolder of much Sierra Nevada stock was finding fault with the gastronomical facilities of this mountain town. “What we want in Virginia,” said he, “Is a high-toned restaurant like the Poodle-Dog in San Francisco, or Delmonico's in New York; a place where a gentleman of taste and means could get a meal varying from five to twenty-five-dollars, with frog legs, truffles, terrapin stews, and some rare old Hock or Burgundy—a place where one could dine at his leisure and invite a friend with some degree of confidence.” This morning the same man was heard to ejaculate: “It’s about time we had some two-bit restaurants in this town, like the Miner’s Restaurant in San Francisco, or the What Cheer House, where a man could get a substantial meal without bankrupting himself.”—Virginia Chronicle, 1878

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The Allure of Victorian Dining

The table was covered with a white damask cloth that was large enough to fall 20 inches from the floor at both ends. The cloth was ironed and the crease was placed exactly in the middle, going the length of the table. The center of the table held a flower arrangement.

— Photo source, Pinterest

The Victorian Table

Formal dinner parties were an important part of the life of a well-to-do Victorian couple. The rules of etiquette and good taste dictated the dinner table’s look.

Collectors now find many pieces of silver, serving dishes and large, carved furniture that were all made for a Victorian feast.

The dining room had large furniture. There was often a sideboard with carvings of dead game birds, animals and symbols of the food to be served. The sideboard held large pieces of silver that were to be used during dinner. Examples of fine silver, crystal or china were also on display.

The table was in the center of the room under a large, decorative chandelier. Ground-glass globes were preferred because they made the lighting more flattering.

The long table was surrounded by matching carved chairs. The table was covered with a white damask cloth that was large enough to fall 20 inches from the floor at both ends. The cloth was ironed and the crease was placed exactly in the middle, going the length of the table. The center of the table held a flower arrangement.

Dinners often had 12 courses, so many dishes were used. Silverware, dishes and napkins were put in place for each course. Sometimes the place setting included an individual salt dish and spoon, plus a place card.

Large, ornate serving pieces such as tureens and platters were used, and serving pieces were made for every type of food, from asparagus to tomatoes.

Most of the utensils can still be used. Never wash gold-trimmed dishes or hollow-handled silverware in the dishwasher. The heat can cause damage to them. — By Ralph and Terry Kovel, the Times, 2000

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Victorian Fork Etiquette and Fashions

Eating olives with proper etiquette was a particular form of art—it was rumored that one imposter nobleman in France in the 1800s was recognized as a fraud by the way he ate his olives. The accused barbarian dared to eat his olives with a regular fork, instead of locating a proper olive fork—one which was designed with tiny, appropriately-sized tines.

Forks come in all shapes and sizes. Specialized designs for flatware exploded in number during the Victorian Era. In a panic to keep up with the latest serveware, aspiring couples accumulated a ridiculous number of pieces of cutlery. It was all a reflection of the culture at the time, which equated abstruse formal dining rules and etiquette with civilized society.

This was especially the case in America, where status wasn't as set in stone as in Europe. In the younger nation, social standing for the upwardly mobile was far more dependent on displays of wealth and class through, among other things, hosting and attending formal dinner parties. As formal dining evolved, so did the demand for increasingly nuanced (and perhaps absurd) silverware, resulting in giant horizontal tongs for asparagus, tiny yard-rake-like implements for spearing whole sardines, and a hybrid knife-fork for convenience in slicing and eating pie.

A late-Victorian variation on original pie forks.

The pie fork, unlike some other Victorian cutlery, can be praised for its usefulness. The left side of the fork features a thick, sharp-edged tine for slicing into pie or tarts, but blunt ends for using the fork to eat the pie as you would a normal fork. – Saveur Magazine, 2016

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Past Dining Etiquette, Foods and Customs of the British Royal Meals

What makes a dish fit for a Queen? If past royal delicacies are anything to go by then pretty much anything, including seagull, marigolds or peacock - with the skin and feathers put back on after cooking, of course.

Lavish banquets and feasts have always been part of royal celebrations and as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, schoolchildren in the UK were asked to create a special menu for Her Majesty. The winning school saw its recipes served to the Queen at a special reception.

But what was on the menu in times gone by and would serving a canape directly to the monarch have resulted in you losing your head?

There was a very well established etiquette. Victoria's famous line “we are not amused” was uttered when someone told her a joke at the dinner table, breaking strict rules.  Ironically, Queen Victoria had fairly poor dining manners by today's standards, but many of today's rules about manners were formalised in the "Victorian era" named for her reign.

Queen Victoria 1837-1901

There were big changes in service style through Queen Victoria's 63-year reign, says food historian Annie Gray. Towards the end food was served to guests at the table sequentially, known as “a la russe.” It's silver service as we now know it.

There were four to six courses, with seven to nine dishes in each. For big occasions dishes often included cod with oyster sauce, ballotines of duck in Cumberland sauce and roast lamb. There would be a dessert course, with dishes like chocolate profiteroles. A buffet of hot and cold meats was also kept on a sideboard during the meal, just in case you got hungry between courses.

What was unusual about Victoria was the speed with which she ate. Usually a banquet would last for hours, but she could put away seven courses in 30 minutes, says Gray.

The Victorian Era is regarded as one of gentility and graceful manners, though Queen Victoria herself was known to have very poor table manners.  A speedy-eater, Queen Victoria could eat seven courses in 30 minutes, while a number of dinner guests of hers were left hungry.  Royal protocol was that Queen Victoria was served each course first.  Her numerous guests were then served as well.  Protocol dictated that after Queen Victoria finished eating each course, all guests' plates were to be cleared for the next course.  As Victoria didn't wait for guests to be served before eating, her guests were barely served before their plates were taken.  Many guests of Queen Victoria's considered invites to dine at the palace, onerous honors; Dining, yet not really dining at all with the Queen.

"For many people eating with her was purgatory. Everyone was served after the Queen and when she had finished all the plates were cleared for the next course. If you were the last person served often you wouldn't get a chance to eat anything before your plate was taken. She also insisted on all the windows being open whatever the time of year because she got hot."

Like all monarchs Victoria had a master chef, but on big occasions help was bought in. For her Diamond Jubilee banquet 24 chefs were brought over from Paris to help, according to the Royal Collection.

There was a very well established etiquette. Victoria's famous line “we are not amused” was uttered when someone told her a joke at the dinner table, breaking strict rules, says Gray. Many of today's rules about manners were formalised in the Victorian era.

Top table: For the most important guests, with the most favoured at the Queen's direct right.

Other guests: Seated in order of importance, highest ranking closest to top table.

Food: At start of Victoria's reign food would be placed on table and guests would serve themselves.
 
Flowers: After self-service went out of fashion and dishes were not left on table, elaborate flower displays were used as decoration.
 
Drinks: Fine wine and Madeira would be served, but Victoria often had whiskey with her meal.
 
Minor guests: Furthest away from the Queen and served last, they often hadn't even eaten by the time plates were cleared for the next course.
 
Public gallery: On big occasions members of the public were allowed to watch the banquet from viewing galleries.

By Charles II's reign, a dessert course had developed. Charles loved fruit and was one of the first people in the country to eat a pineapple.  This painting depicts Charles II being presented with a pineapple, a rare and exotic fruit for the time period.

Charles II 1660-1685

For Charles II dining was extremely important, it was one of the things that defined him as a king.

At a banquet he would sit at a top table, under a canopy. The table would be raised so he could be seen by everyone and to show his status. Only a very select group of people could sit with him, a maximum of just six.

The King would always be served on bended knee. He had three "officers" to attend to him - a carver, a server and a cup bearer. Cleanliness was extremely important and Charles would have someone whose sole job was to dab his mouth during the meal.

“At that time dining was one of the things that absolutely defined royalty,” says English Heritage's Dr Anna Keay. "Even when Charles was in exile and living in poverty in Germany, he followed the royal form of dining and was served on bended knee."

At state banquets no table decorations were needed as elaborate dishes did the job. They included a 2ft-high, silver salt cellar, made in the shape of a castle and encrusted with jewels. Often there were also silver fountains on the table flowing with wine or water.

There were not courses as we know them, more stages of service. Each could involve hundreds of plates. At one banquet in 1671, guests were served 145 dishes alone during the first course, says Kathryn Jones, curator at the Royal Collection and author of For the Royal Table: Dining at the Palace.

By his reign a dessert course had developed. Charles loved fruit and was one of the first people in the country to eat a pineapple.

Charles II

Seating: Only people who could sit with the King were his own family, royalty from another country and high-ranking officials.

Table: Fine linen, gold and silver plates and crystal glasses. No decoration due to amount of food and ornate serving dishes. 

Dishes:  First recorded mention of ice cream is on a banquet menu for Charles II. Root vegetables were considered common. 

Customs: Dinner would start at about 3pm. It was someone's job to design exactly how food would be laid out in front of the King.

"We have a lot of mistaken ideas about how the Tudors ate. They didn't gnaw chicken greedily and throw bones on the floor, and there were no dogs fighting over scraps under trestle tables.  In a well-conducted house, the dogs - except for little spaniels - were exiled to kennels. Table manners were strict and refined.  Knowing how to cut your bread and what to do with your napkin was an infallible social signal that separated a gentleman from an oik, and every young noble learned to serve at table and to carve." Writer, Hilary Mantel

Henry VIII 1509-1547

Food in the Tudor era was very exciting, say historians. Big feasts could include venison, swan, peacock, heron, porpoise and seagull.

"Sometimes the skin of a peacock would be carefully removed along with the feathers," says Peter Hammond, author of Life In A Medieval Town. "Once cooked they were replaced, as if it were still alive. They did this to show wealth."

While a lot of meat was served, there were also vegetables. Whatever could be grown was served, including cabbage, peas and lettuce. Flowers were also eaten, such as marigolds. They were used in salads and as a garnish.

There was a top table and the highest ranking and most highly favoured guests would sit on the right of King Henry VIII. Everything was about hierarchy, even the way you walked into the room. Gold and silver dishes were also displayed on sideboards to show wealth.

Food was served in stages called "removes". These consisted or up to 20 dishes. They were not all served together, individual dishes would be served in procession. Only the King's table was offered all the dishes.

It's a misconception that banquets were raucous and messy. "The way banquets are portrayed in many films is ridiculous," says Hammond. "They were extremely civilised, with a very firm code of etiquette."

Dining with Henry VIII ~ If you were wealthy, your cakes would be decorated with marzipan, and after dinner there would be nuts, thin and delicate wafers, and sweets made with aniseed and ginger to help digestion.

Henry and his guests would have eaten with a knife and fingers, as forks hadn't been introduced. This would have been very delicately done and again involved very complicated rules about what could be touched with fingers. 

Henry VIII

Seating: Top table including King and the most important guests, the most favoured to the King's direct right.

Table: Fine linen tablecloths, laid with gold and silver plates, dishes and crystal glasses. No forks.

Dishes:  Sweet dishes were served throughout the meal, not at end. Fruit and nuts were eaten at the end.

Customs:  Definitely no bone throwing or feeding dogs from the table. That would have been the height of bad manners.

A medieval banquet

Edward IV 1461-1470 and 1471-1483

Royal banquets got a lot more elaborate under Edward IV and the whole notion of behaviour more complex, says Chris Woolgar, professor of history and archival studies at Southampton University. Courtesy books were produced to explain the etiquette.
 
Edward would have "servants of honour" to tend to his needs at banquets. These were people senior in rank. Often their tasks were menial, but it was still considered a great honour.

A very important servant was the carver, who would cut the King's meat at the top table. Guests would have their meat carved in the kitchen and brought up to them.

One of the "servants of honour" would test the King's food using a "unicorn's horn", basically a fossil shell. In an elaborate performance they would use the "horn" to touch the food, then deem it safe.
 
Elaborate silver salt cellars would be on the table. Often shaped like a ship, they would be encrusted with jewels. Fine wines were served for the higher ranking guests and ale for others.
 
In between the stages of services there would be dramatic performances, usually with a political message. Some were more entertaining, like someone jumping out of a cake, says Prof Woolgar.

Edward IV

Seating : A top table seating the King and important guests, most favoured to the King's right.

Table : Fine linen tablecloth, with gold, silver and silver-gilt plates and cups. No glass or forks.

Dishes : The finest meats and fish. Sweet dishes were served with meat and fish, not separately.

Customs: The King and guests would sit for a banquet from 11am and it could last for up to four hours.

William the Conqueror traveled with a very large household .  If they stayed a long time, it could nearly bankrupt the lord who was their host.

William the Conqueror 1066-1087

During William the Conqueror's reign a trestle table was used and it would only be set up after the King was seated. It would then be laid with a linen table cloth and the finest gold and silver. Lower ranking guests would have eaten out of a trencher, this was a piece of stale bread cut into a square shape and used as a plate. At the end of the meal, having soaked up all the juices from the food, they were frequently given as alms to the poor.

The top table would seat high-ranking guests, with a cleric seated directly to the right of William. Sometimes it was his almoner, an official who gave out alms to the poor on the King's behalf.

All of the King's food would be cooked separately from everyone else. He would often give out food from his plate to guests, this was considered a great honour and a sign of favour.

There were several stages of service, with many dishes. Food would get more elaborate as each dish was served. Only the top table would have roast meat, those of junior ranks would be served boiled meat.

Banquets in Norman times were very dignified affairs, with strict etiquette rules. Noise and mess were not acceptable, neither was burping.

William the Conqueror

Seating: King would sit at a top table with senior guests, including important religious figures 

Table: Elaborately embroidered linen, gold and silver plates and cups. No glass or forks 

Dishes: The finest meat, including venison and game birds, and fish, including turbot, were served

Customs: Would sit from 11am. The King would often give out alms to the poor from the banquet . –Originally printed January 2012, By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine

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