Dining Room

The dining room was the essence of formality from its linen covered table to the silver and cut glass used for the multi-course dinners. Children under the age of ten did not normally join the family or guests for meals in the dining room; they first had to learn table manners and the art of conversation. Social graces were very evident in this room. If a gentleman smoked in front of a lady it was a serious infraction of etiquette, so the hostess at the end of a meal would retire with the ladies to the parlor so that the men might enjoy a good cigar and a bracing drink. The customs observed in the dining room exemplify the strict decorum of the Victorian era.