Comments on: Proprieties and Usages of Good Society — Lesson VI. Ball Room Etiquette

By: Ziff

Ziff — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:40:13 +0000

Thanks for posting this, Ardis. I just love the phrase “reprehensible to a degree.”

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:41:47 +0000

And, of course, the failure to make that “morning after” call, especially if there was a good-night kiss after the dance, is the explanation for all those mid-day promises to never fall in love again.

Which promises were kept until at least tomorrow.

(By the way, I missed the paragraph describing the etiquette for that good-night kiss. OK on a first date? What about a “last” date? What if it’s both a first and a last date?)

By: Mina

Mina — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:52:28 +0000

Your are probably right about “training,” Ardis. The -ing form sounds odd to my ears, but perhaps it was common parlance, then. I took a quick look in my clothing and costume dictionaries and didn’t find anything; since I’m likely not committing that fashion abomination, I won’t worry.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:20:20 +0000

This post and this one will give some insight into the official attitude toward "round dancing" (waltzes and other couples dances -- as opposed to group dances -- where there was close physical contact between dance partners) in 1897. Pick up a fresh hanky before you read the sad tale of round dancing in the second post. The original says "training," which I really do think is the adjective for a dress with a train, but "trailing" would certainly fit the context even if the dragging hem didn't count as a true train. Abominations all!

By: Stephen Taylor

Stephen Taylor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:32:00 +0000

And a round dance. Why so inclined to corrupt morals? Are we speaking of what might be called country dances?

Could “training dress” be a misprint for “trailing dress”?

By: Maurine

Maurine — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:08:04 +0000

I wondered about the training dresses, too. It seems a strange term. Where is Justin to give us his take on this?

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:44:04 +0000

Clark, a square dance is a kind of quadrille; so are the long lines of dancers with men in one line facing women in the other line that you might see on a BBC production of a Jane Austen novel. They are all very formalized dances where, say, the opposite lines bow to each other, then both lines step toward each other with every man circling around his partner, then they step apart; at some point the couple at the head of the line might make an arch with their arms, and each other couple will hold hands and walk under the arch, or whatever.

If we can judge by those BBC models, there was a lot of opportunity for a couple to flirt with and talk to each other. Since the instruments were usually softer than their modern equivalents, the dance music wouldn’t have interfered with talking, either.

By: Clark

Clark — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:54:38 +0000

A quadrille. Any idea what kind of dance that was? It was associated with a traumatic–yet ultimately spiritual experience–of one of my pioneer ancestors.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Perhaps the potential ill effects had more to do with the restrictive clothing worn to the ball. It might make breathing difficult even under mild exertion.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:43:52 +0000

The “morning after” visit must have morphed into the “morning after” phone call a little later in the century. Those turn-of-the-century balls must have been wilder than the ones they show on Masterpiece Theater if there was such widespread expectation that there might have been ill effects …