An interesting profession in 1905

One possible reason for lower standards of politeness is the lack of consequences for being rude. In most warrior cultures (samurai, mediaeval knights etc) people were extremely, even elaborately, polite, as the consequence of offending someone, even unintentionally, could be that they drew their sword and attempted to lop your head off! When most people lived in small villages, being rude to those around you had long-term consequences - you were interacting with the same small group of people for all of your life, so annoying them meant you would be less well-treated, no-one would do you a favour and so on. Nowadays it's possible to push people out of your way, let the door swing shut in their face etc in the knowledge that (in a big city, anyway) you'll never see them again.

I like the response one Frenchman (I think) gave to someone who claimed that polite forms of speech were 'just a bag of wind' - "So is a pneumatic tyre - but see how it smooths out the bumps along the road!"

Incidentally, the original reason for not putting your elbows on the table was fear of being press-ganged. Sailors, eating aboard ship, would use their elbows and forearms to prevent their plate sliding off the table when the ship rolled. Therefore, when the press-gang saw a man eating with his elbows on the table, they knew he was a seaman - and a good target for them!

If a person receives a gift or is given some nice service, they should acknowledge this, to the person giving this gift or service. It is courtesy to do this. This doesn't seem to be done today.

Yes, laudanum was pretty much an opium distillate mixed with a liquid (which could include alcohol)--of course, there were no health standards and no labeling requirements for 'medicine,' at least until the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906).

In "Tombstone," Wyatt Earp's wife (Maddie) is shown as a laudanum addict--which is employed to partially justify him having an affair with an actress (Josephine Marcus), after sending her (Maddie) by train to California... --C.K.

I have never heard that before although apparently the fear of being press ganged is why tankards were once made with glass bottoms. So the drinker could see if someone had slipped the king or queen's shilling into his ale! Funny how these quite irrational things like not having your elbows on the table or spooning your soup in a certain way are adopted by society and become so important that enjoying your meal takes second place.

CrimsonKidCK

In the movie "Bite The Bullet" (about a cross-country endurance race on horseback) one of the racers, a Mexican with a bad toothache, is seen buying a small tin of "heroin" tablets ("heroin" was originally a trademarked name) and gobbling them to ease his pain while riding. He finally went too far and overdosed on them (I don't think he died) but all that was legal (marijuana, cocaine, heroin, opium, codeine "cough syrup" and plenty of other stuff) until around 1934 (right after Prohibition was repealed, ironically) and the government started really cracking down on the competition to alcohol.

Both "The Shootist" and "Bite The Bullet" were set in the early 1900's. I think "Wyatt Earp" was somewhat earlier but that stuff and all manner of "patent medicines" with dubious ingredients were popular for years and a lot of legitimate doctors sold these products to supplement their incomes.

Back to the original subject, I'm quite sure spankings for children (and ever harsher physical punishments, even for younsters) were much more popular then. Whether they were "the good, old days" is subject to discussion, but as for me, I say "no". Don't forget at the time the average life span was less than fifty (for an adult white male). It was still less than 62 when Social Security was enacted in 1935...

A few of our modern customs of politeness have sprung from unlikely sources. Shaking hands was to prove you didn't have any weapons in your palms. Apparently the width of the table in British parliament was originally made that way because they worked out that it was wider than the length of the average sword, which discouraged people on both sides from simply stabbing their opponent across the table if they disagreed with the policy being proposed. Fortunately we've moved on, although they do still throw shoes at each other in Taiwan.

Kind of hard to be polite when you respectfully address an older woman as Ma'am and get your head taken off. Being polite, therefore, is a two way street. If one expects politeness; one should be polite back regardless of either individual's age or circumstances.

If good manners are considered to be something artificial which are forced upon us, then it is explained why young people behave so atrociously when they are in foreign countries. Danish adolescents wreck Check hotels and some tourists behave as if they are justified in offending the friendly waiters. Really happy people would not do these thing. Let us all start saying friendly and pleasant things to each other, Iit may start a trend.

I must be living in another country, well, I do live in another country, - because in my neck of the woods most children (and adults) will hold a door for another person, say "thank you" and "please" and do all those small polite things taught to them by their parents. There's no way a grandchild of mine would even think of asking for something without a polite "please" and a polite "thank you" after getting whatever she wanted.

The impolite behavior is left to the anonymous crowds at ballgames, stressed drivers on chaotic streets and of course politicians trying to get advantage.

Returning to the subject, doesn't matter in what era, I'd pay for this kind of job.

laudanum was a tincture of opium and alcohol but there was a swine infused with a large dose of cocaine. The wine received testimonials from super stars like Charles Lindbergh and the Pope in ads in Liberty Magazine.