Summersdale

Synopsis

At a formal dinner you must never take a second helping or you will find yourself dining alone.

Some persons always stoop and look to be admiring their shoe laces; the correct way is to hold your head up and look the world in the face, with the body erect but not rigid. Strutting or pomposity must be carefully avoided; the locomotion of the body is to be performed entirely by the legs.

The Edwardian age (1901–1910), the last period of the English country house, was defined by its etiquette for those both upstairs and down. This ‘golden era’ of gentility had answers to everything, and within these pages doyenne of propriety and social mores Cornelia Dobbs imparts her knowledge of the delicate affairs of housekeeping and how to keep you and yours shipshape.

Discover the correct way to address tradesmen, how to produce a pomade against baldness, the best way to deal with gossip and how to get a perfect shine on your glassware among many other indispensable gems in this Edwardian guide to life.