When I am at reenactments, my shoe comes untied about a
thousand times. Each and every time, my significant other, Andy, always ties it
for me. It is a life saver because in a corset and with all of that fabric, I
can't reach my feet and would look silly and perhaps show more than I wished if
I attempted to tie it myself.
People laugh at us but it was actually very
proper for a gentleman to tie a lady's shoe. It was also his duty to help her
on with her shawl and any other assistance she might have needed-- ladies'
clothing was very frivolous as many of us have realized as we try to adapt to it. It
is very sad for us if we drop anything on the ground.
Behavior in the
Street.
"-When you meet a gentleman with whom you are acquainted, you
bow, raising your hat slightly, with your left hand, which leaves your hand at
liberty to shake hands if you stop. If the gentleman is ungloved, you must take
off yours, not otherwise.
-Meeting a lady, the rule is that she should make the
first salute, or at least, indicate by her manner, that she recognises you.
Your bow must be lower, and your hat carried further from your head; but you
never offer to shake hands; that is her privilege.
-The right, being the post of honor, is given to superiors and
ladies, except in the street, when they take the wall, as farthest from danger
from passing carriages, in walking with or meeting them.
-In walking with a lady you are not bound to recognise
gentlemen with whom she is not acquainted, nor have they in such a case, any
right to salute, much less to speak to you.
-Should her shoe become unlaced, or her dress in any manner
disordered, fail not to apprise her of it respectfully, and offer your
assistance. A gentleman may hook a dress, or lace a shoe, with perfect
propriety, and should be able to do so gracefully.
-Whether with a lady or gentleman, a street talk should be a
short one; and in either case, when you have passed the customary compliments,
if you wish to continue the conversation you must say, “Permit me to accompany
you."
-Don't sing, hum, whistle, or talk to yourself in walking.
Endeavor, besides being well-dressed, to have a calm, good natural countenance.
A scowl always begets wrinkles. It is best not to smoke at all in public, but
none but a ruffian will inflict upon society the odor of a bad cigar, or that
of any kind, on ladies.
-Ladies are not
allowed upon ordinary occasions to take the arm of any one but a relative, or
an accepted lover, in the street, and in the day time; in the evening—in the
fields, or in a crowd, wherever she may need protection, she should not refuse
it. She should pass her hand over the gentleman's arm, merely, but should not
walk at arm's length apart, as country girls sometimes do. In walking with a
gentleman, the step of the lady must be lengthened, and his shortened, to
prevent the hobbling appearance of not keeping step. Of course, the
conversation of a stranger, beyond asking a necessary question, must be
considered as a gross insult, and repelled with proper spirit."
From the Ladies' Indispensable Assistant, (1850) Pg.
123
