Historic Treasure of the Week - October 13, 1991
By Deborah Curtis Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - October 13, 1991
By Deborah Curtis Drummy
Vigo County Historical Society
Advice books nothing new
Rules govern precise details of Victorian tea etiquette
While history books generally provide readers with a chronological overview of a culture’s significant political and social events and movements, they usually provide only the sketchiest glimpses into the daily lives of ordinary people. For such information, researchers must seek out other sources.
Diaries and advice books, which were abundant in 19th century America, are two such resources. Advice books provided detailed information about how people were expected to manage their daily activities. Diaries offered a view of how well individuals lives up to the guidelines.
In researching this week’s historical treasure, for example, the advice books’ chapters on tea inform us of the proper method for composing an invitation to a tea party. It advised that guests be invited to "drink tea, not take tea," the latter form being considered vulgar.
We might also learn what these young Victorian girls may have been taught about proper tea time manners. At the tea table, proper guests were never to pour their tea into a saucer. If they wished to be served more tea, they were to place their spoon in the saucer, if they’d had enough, they were to leave the spoon in the cup.
It generally was advised to leave the table if a sneeze or cough was felt coming on.
While a few of the rules seem a bit frivolous by today’s standards, most still actually are part of modern American etiquette (keeping elbows off the table, etc.) Today, however, middle-class activities tend to be so relaxed, rarely formal, that strict adherence to standardized rules is not always followed.
And who knows what Grandma would be up to? She probably would be baking biscuits.
A hundred years ago--which is about when this photograph was taken--the American middle and upper-classes were quite concerned with "proper behavior." While the upper classes basically inherited their rules of etiquette through family tradition, the middle class sought to train themselves through the aforementioned advice manuals.
After brewing the tea, the hostess then served herself and the guests. Rules about the brewing of the tea, the service, the sorts of refreshments served, and such were fairly rigid.
Advice books aside, this photograph of a small tea party is also informative on its own, as it clearly shows styles of dress and hair fashions.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.