THE MANNERS OF THE EDWARDIAN ERA

Edward VII's reign was brief but it was a decade marked by peace and prosperity at the height of the British Empire. The Edwardian period was indeed a "Gilded Age" in England.

Social relationships were strictly defined, and interactions among and between the classes were governed by a series of complex and rigid rules --- what we call "manners". The Etiquette of the Edwardian Era was second nature to the people who lived during this period, but to us this is interesting behaviour in a unique time of English history. 

Edwardian's never shook hands. Women never removed their gloves in public. Men removed their hats in the presence of a superior, but not for a member of the lower classes. An Edwardian hostess carefully predetermined every aspect of a dinner party --- not only the menu and seating arrangements, but even topics of conversation during the meal. Edwardian Etiquette reigned in every corner of daily life.