Comments on: Proprieties and Usages of Good Society — Lesson XI. Picnics, Excursions, Parties and Winter and Summer Outings

By: Anne (U.K)

Anne (U.K) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:38:50 +0000

It actually sounds more enlightened than today! ‘Specially, as noted by kevinf, the rules regarding Sundays. I particularly like, after the Sabbath service is over:

After that, let them run over the hills all they please, getting life and health with every breath of nature’s pure air which they breathe

Nice.

By: Mex Davis

Mex Davis — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:04:14 +0000

I read this yesterday and it was very interesting. Seems people were a little update in the old days but having said that some of those rules would be good today. The idea about not putting your arm around a young lady, well I remember the vast effort I would make to do that without looking so wierd. Now I found out it was not proper, sure could have saved me some trouble and some rejections. Nothing as painful as having your arm around a girl throughout a whole movie, muscles going dead, etc. Midnight serenades would I guess referr to rock concerts in our time.

By: Paradox

Paradox — Tue, 25 May 2010 08:43:26 +0000

“If you find yourself accidentally one of a party of such serenaders, show, by your conduct, that you do not approve of such proceedings.”

Accidentally? There’s never been any mistaking the evening’s agenda for acts of hooliganism I’ve ever been a part of.

Especially if there’s toilet paper

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:43:52 +0000

My grandchildren this weekend could have profited from learning these rules about the proper time “for some noise and a great deal of confusion, with some shouting and laughing.”

But, they rarely stopped at “some” when it came to noise, and I’m not sure if they were confused, or just confusing. : )

By: kevinf

kevinf — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:59:34 +0000

I wonder if the prohibition on touching only the hands while swimming would cause confusion on the part of a well trained and respectable young man serving as a lifeguard, if called upon for rescue!

Interesting to note that there were no prohibitions on outings extending over Sunday, and that boys and girls camped together, but obviously in separate tents. Apart from youth conferences, as near as I can tell all other overnight combined YM/YW activities are forbidden, and pretty much anything involving being away on Sunday.

Otherwise, while the language is really anachronistic, it’s not as restrictive as I would have thought. And my spell checker thinks chaperone is misspelled, which is weird.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:22:34 +0000

The adversary does most of his mischief under cover of darkness and night, while very little is ever accomplished by him under the full blaze of the sun or other brilliant light. While I won't disagree with the "most" used here, a determined couple won't let daylight stop them. Daintiness in eating nowhere shows to better advantage than in a rough-and-tumble picnic. And yet this is where I seem to eat the most [sigh]. As I read, much of this is such good advice in general that I easily forget it was directed at young women in particular. Then there are the portions on learning to swim.

By: Researcher

Researcher — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:15:30 +0000

Daintiness in eating nowhere shows to better advantage than in a rough-and-tumble picnic.

I’m thinking Scarlett O’Hara here.

By: Hunter

Hunter — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:53:08 +0000

This reader enjoys reading rules of social propriety, even knowing that they are not necessarily immutable laws. It’s just that there’s a certain enlightenment in reading historical expressions of principles of good living. Oh, and the frequent references to “the canyon” were cute — it suggests to me that the author was probably securely ensconced in the Wasatch Front.