Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1885 — The Etiquette of the Carriage. [ARTICLE]

The Etiquette of the Carriage.

Fashion is inexorable and omnipresent. Its devotees seem to be permitted scarcely a natural breath. “On foot or horseback” there is a rule for every moment of existence a la mode—this is an almost literal fact. The fashionable woman who starts out for her afternoon drive in the park conforms constantly To accepted customs in such exercise. Having taken her position and adjusted her toilet with great care, she tilts her patasol at the proper angle "and is driven off. This attitude of studied languor must not be disturbed. It is not good form to turn your head or look about you en route. A runaway dashing by your carriage would hardly justify a look behind. Stiffly stolid is the watchword of polite society on wheels, and the fashionable coachman ably aids and abets his mistress in preserving the correct demeanor. “When she has driven enough, a touch of her carriage bell signifies her desire to return, whereupon the statue on the box holds his whip straight up like a musket and wheels his horse about, leveling the lash again when they are headed homeward. When milady descends at her door, she must on no account lean forward in leaving the carriage. This signifies that she is “not to the manner born,” that sometimes plebeian streetcars or stages have served as her means of locomotion. The properly trained woman will retain her seat till one foot is above the carriage step, then, slightly rising, will sink her weight upon it and glide easily and gracefully to the curb. Truly, education is a great thing. —Neio York Graphic.