Love Mad Men? You’ll love this etiquette q & a! It’s amazing to see how things have changed- smoking was so normal there were dos and don’ts! Yikes.
I got my hands recently on an etiquette Q&A compilation from Amy Vanderbilt, columnist and etiquette authority from the 50s-70s. I will be sharing gems on the blog in the coming months. Here’s my favorite so far, not wedding related, but too good not to share.
Q: Recently, when four of us were dining out- two married couples- one of the husbands left the table for a few minutes. The remaining husband, left with his wife and the wife of the other, lit the cigarette first of his friend’s wife and then of his own. His wife felt that as her escort, he should have lit her cigarette first. Which is correct?
A: As one woman was left alone, the husband and wife remaining are, in effect, her host and hostess for the moment. Therefore it was correct for the remaining husband to light the guest’s cigarette first, then his wife’s.
There you have it folks, cigarettiquette.
Be well, and love well. And for goodness sakes. Don’t smoke!
-Dinah
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