Eating is an extremely old custom and has been practiced by the
better classes of society almost without interruption from
earliest times. And “society,” like the potentate of the parable
whose touch transformed every object into gold, has embellished
and adorned the all-too-common habit of eating, until there has
been evolved throughout the ages that most charming and exquisite
product of human culture—the formal dinner party. The gentleman
of today who delightedly dons his dress suit and escorts into a
ten-course dinner some lady mountain climber or other celebrity,
is probably little aware of what he owes to his forefathers for
having so painstakingly devised for him such a pleasant method of
spending his time.
But “before one runs, one must learn to walk”—and the joys of the
dinner-party are not to be partaken of without a long preliminary
course of training, as many a young man has learned to his sorrow
when he discovered that his inelegant use of knife and fork was
causing humorous comment up and down the “board” and was drawing
upon himself the haughty glances of an outraged hostess. The
first requisite of success in dining out is the possession of a
complete set of correct table manners—and these, like anything
worth while, can be achieved only by patient study and daily
practise.