Music Welcome to snoozecast, the podcast designed to help you fall asleep. Find us on snoozecast.com and connect with us on social at snoozecast. Ever dream about being able to play all of snoozecast's etiquette episodes as a playlist? Besides the primary snoozecast show, we also produce standalone versions of many of our series as their own separate podcasts for your binge-listening convenience. To find all our series options available this way, head to snoovescast.com slash series or search for snoozecast presents in your podcast listening app. And our premium subscribers get expanded access to completed series along with current ones, along with listening to everything ad-free. To learn more, go to snoozecast.com slash plus. This episode is brought to you by the Leisure Class. tonight will read an excerpt about bicycle etiquette from 20th century culture and deportment for the Lady and Gentlemen at Home and Abroad by Maud C. Cook, published in 1899. This episode originally aired in 2021.

Bicycles and horsebuggies were the two mainstays of private transportation just prior to the advent of the automobile. The grading of smooth roads in the late 1800s was stimulated by the widespread advertising production and use of bicycles along with horsebuggies.

By the turn of the century, when this book was written, cycling clubs flourished on both sides of

the Atlantic, and touring and racing became widely popular. Let's get cozy. Close your eyes. Relax your body into the softness of your bed.

Now, take a few deep breaths. Cycling, having taken such a mighty grasp upon the land, it has naturally followed that an etiquette of cycling should be established, and that it should be well established and rigidly regarded by society. There are the details of meeting, mounting, right of way, and various other points which are carefully observed and give the desired air a fashionable righteousness, without wedge, for many people, the pleasure of meeting in a social way on one's wheel would be but legendary. It is distinctly understood in the first place that cycling is the correct word. The up-to-date woman dares not speak of bicycling, nor of wheeling, a cyclist's guide. If in town, the early hours of the morning are chosen for a ride through the park. This is on the same principle that it is considered good form for a young woman to drive only in the morning. That is, when she herself is the whip. In the country, the roles, both as regards cycling and driving, are not as rigid. The maiden, however, who is a stickler for form, does all her cycling in the hours which come before noon, unless there be a special meet, a bicycle tee, for instance, or a spin by moonlight. Neither is it correct for a young woman to ride on a company. In the matter of chaperones, we are becoming almost as rigid as the French, who scarcely allow a young girl to cross the street to say nothing of shopping or calling, without being accompanied by an elder woman, her mother, relative, or a friend as a chaperone.

During the past few years, there has been a tendency in America toward a closer imitation of all French etiquette which has brought in its train a strict construction of the duties of a chaperone. unmarried woman whose cycles must be shaperoned by a married lady.

As everyone rides nowadays, this is an affair easily managed. Neither must the married woman ride alone. Failing a male escort, she is followed by a groom or a maid. A woman is very fortunate, if among her, men or women's servants, one knows how to ride a bicycle. Ladies occasionally go to the expense of having a servant trained in the art. A man's duty.

If one possesses such a commodity as a brother or a husband, he can always be made useful on a cycling excursion. Never is a man better able to show for what purpose he was made than upon such occasions. man's duty to to the woman who rides might be made the text for a long sermon, but long sermons are never popular. Therefore it may be better to state briefly that he must always be on the alert to assist his fair companion in every way in his power. He must be clever enough to repair any slight damage to her machine which may occur and root. He must assist her in mounting and dismounting. Pick her up if she has a tumble and make make himself generally useful and incidentally or nemental and agreeable. He rides at her left in order to give her the more guarded place, as the rule of the road in meeting other cyclers is the same as that for a carriage to turn to the right. In England, the reverse is the case. Assisting the lady, in mounting, the gentleman who was accompanying a lady holds her wheel. She stands on the left side of the machine and puts her right foot across the frame to the right pedal, which at the time must be up. Pushing the right pedal causes the machine to start, and then with the left foot in place, the rider starts ahead. slowly at first, in order to give her assistant time to mount his wheel, which he will do in the briefest time possible. When the end of the ride is reached, the man quickly dismounts and is at his companion's side to assist her. She, in the meantime, assisting herself as much as possible. This is done, that is, dismounting in the most approved style by writing slowly. And when the left pedal is on the rise, the weight of the body is thrown on it. The right foot is crossed over the frame of the machine, and within a sifting hand, the rider easily steps to the ground. In meeting a party of cyclists who are known to each other and desire to stop to chat, it is considered the proper thing for the men of the party to dismount while in conversation with the ladies. to the furnishings of the bicycle, to be really complete, it must be fitted out

with a clock and a bell, luggage carrier and a cyclometer, the latter being an absolute necessity

to the woman who cares for records. From 5 to 6 lessons, a her always considered necessary before one can master even the details of writing. On the road On the road the woman who wishes to ride a la mode has to know a number of little things that are overlooked by another woman, just as the smart-set have a code for riding and driving that is as inexorable as that they should not eat with their knives or put sugar on oysters. insists on on an upright position, with, of course, no attempt at racing pace. It also frowns upon constant ringing of the bell. That will do for the vulgar herd who delight in noise. well-informed wheel-woman keeps eye and ear alert and touches her bell rarely. She dresses daintily and inconspicuously, effaces herself in fact as much in this exercise as she does in all public places. Very Galant escorts use a tow rope when accompanying a lady on a wheeling spin. These are managed in various ways. One consists of an India rubber door spring, just strong enough to stretch a little with the strain and about six feet of shade cord. One end is attached to the ladies wheel at the lamp bracket or brake rod by a spring swivel and the other end is hooked to the escort's handlebar in such a way that he can set it free in a moment if necessary. When he has finished towing, he drops back to the lady's side, hanging the loose end of the cord over her shoulder to be ready for the next hill. A gentle pull, that is, for a strong rider, a great assistance to a weak one uphill or against a strong wind. For protection against dogs, every bicyclist in the land will rise up and call the inventor of the ammonia gun for dogs blessed. Nothing is more annoying to the rider than to have a dog barking at his pedals and scurrying across his pathway in such close proximity to the front wheel as to be a constant reminder of a possible header. The gun is calculated to make an annoying dog sneeze and sniff away all future ambitions to investigate the pace of the rider.

It is said to be a perfect instrument in every way.

The advantages enumerated for it are, positively will not leak.

Has no spring to press or caps to remove.

And will shoot from 5 to 12 times from 15 to 30 feet with one loading. A few don'ts for cyclers. Don't try to raise your hat to the passing bloomer until you become an expert in guiding your wheel. Don't buy a bicycle with down-curved handles. It is impossible to sit erect and hold that kind of a handle. Don't go out on a bicycle wearing a tail coat unless you enjoy making a ridiculous show of yourself. Don't travel without a jacket or loose wrap to be worn while resting. A summer cold is a stubborn thing. Don't allow a taste for a bit of color in your makeup to tempt you to wearing a red or other cap. Don't get off the old gag about that tired feeling every time you stop by the roadside for a little breathing spell. Don't absent yourself from church to go wheeling as you and your bicycle are welcome at most houses of worship. Don't leave your bicycle in the lower hallway of your flat house for the other tenants to fall over in the dark. Don't believe the farmer boy who says that it is two miles to the next town. It may be two, four, six, or twelve. Don't smile at the figure others cut as stride their wheels as it is not given you to see yourself as others see you. Don't close down a strange hill with a curve at its bottom. There is no telling what you will meet when it is too late. Don't ride ten miles at a scorching pace, then drink cold water and lie around on the grass unless you are tired of life. Don't try to carry your bike downstairs under your arm. Put it on your shoulder or you will come to distress. Don't laugh the watchful copper to scorn because your lamp is burning brightly. He can afford to wait his time to laugh. Women's bicycle rides. Women who ride bicycles should make it a law with themselves, never to ride after a feeling of weariness comes over them. a well-known physician. I just came from visiting a woman who tried to ride around the city last Sunday. It was the fourth time she had ever ridden a wheel out of doors. She got halfway around, came home in street cars and a carriage, and has been sick and bad ever since. She ought to be an example to all women who ride. For those who are beginning, especially, and in a measure for all women, there is a great danger in overdoing. Some women write centuries, it is true, but they are men in strength. No ordinary woman should start out before knowing how far she is going. Ordinarily though, they ride twice as far as they ought. They start out and ride away from home until they get tired. Then they have to ride back, getting more exhausted with every turn of the wheels. No ordinary woman who rides once or twice a week should go more than ten miles at a trip. few women have ever been injured on a bicycle who kept to this rule and limited their riding to nominal distances. Length of the ride. The limit of distance, which is designated by the feeling of weariness, is only a little more important than the limit of speed, which the female frame is capable of undergoing under healthy exercising rules. The heart is far more taxed than one realizes at the moment. Properly used, a wheel is certainly a promoter of health. It develops muscles that are seldom, if ever, otherwise used. It gains for women that ideal condition of the flesh, so prized by sculptors and artists, namely a firm solid tissue when the muscles are flexed, and a softness of an infant with muscular relaxation. It develops the entire torso and limbs. It renders one nerves, like steel, and is a splendid antidote for headaches. An exceedingly smart and yet thoroughly practical cycling costume is known as the London Dairy, and is made in grey green hop sack, a soft fabric which lends itself admirably to the full folds of the ample knicker-bockers, which form an important costume. The London Dairy coat is made with long and very full basks, which form a kind of skirt went on the machine, and which nevertheless do not interfere in the least with the rider's freedom of action. This coat is prickly braided with black and fastened with big black buttons. It is so arranged in front that it can be worn either with a shirt or over a double-prested vest of cloth or leather. Scurts are an abomination. A renowned lady-writer says, In the first place, let me condemn the skirt, not from prejudice, but from experience. Scarts, no matter how light, how trim, how heavy, are both a nuisance and a danger. A nuisance because they are always subject to entanglement in the wheel. Because they fly up with every breeze and motion. Because they have not the chic appearance of the properly made bloomer. And because, if they are weighted, like a riding habit, they make so much more to carry against the wind and breeze makes weight. They are a danger because, with the constant pumping of the petals, the knee is required to raise too great a weight. spares upon the body just below the back of the hips, giving back ache, often more serious troubles. I wouldn't wear a skirt. I had one torn off me by the wheel, but I rode with them long enough to give a just comparison of the merits of skirts versus bloomers. Riding suits should be a fine, light weight, navy blue or black material, made with bloomers, and the blouse with tailor-made jacket. I wear the sweater myself in preference, because it is not so apt to leave one subject to changes of temperature. The alpine hat of Tam Oshantur is fashionable for streetwear, with leggings to match the bloomers and jacket, and low shoes made broad on the ball of the foot. All bicycle shoes should be broad on the ball, because the pedaling is done with the ball, not with the undercurve, as so many think. Do skin gloves are best for ordinary riding. Bloomers should be made to fasten on the left side of the back, which leaves room for a pocket on the right side. Tinteth leggings should always match the hat and gloves. Tell the ladies to have their saddles built high and wide in the back, sloping away and downwards in front, and that if they pedal properly, there is no reason why bicycling should not be a healthful, moral, modest, and permanent form of exercise. For, market, she added, as a parting Sally, the wheel has come to stay. A pace indicator. a man who rides for health and pleasure, and not to race, or score centuries, says that his plan is never to go so fast that he must breathe through his mouth. As long as his nostrils can supply sufficient air, he knows that he is not over-exerting himself. As soon as he feels an inclination to breathe through his mouth, he slackens his pace. Don't dodge a bicycle. Before bicycling will ever become a success, a meeting must be called for the purpose of allowing the wheelman and the pedestrian to arrive at some understanding. I am in favor of a convention or something of that sort, said a prominent wheelman to a reporter? As it is now, a rider comes down the street and sees ahead of him at a crossing, a man or woman who is supposed to be endowed with reasonable intelligence. This person is in the act of crossing the street. He looks up, sees the rider coming, and stands still, right in the middle of the street. Of course, he is mentally calculating his chances for getting across safely. In the meantime, the rider is getting closer and closer and is in a study equally as profound as to what the person is going to do. The pedestrian takes a step forward, takes another glance up the street, stops, starts back, makes an effort to reach the pavement, stops again, starts forward, stops. Of course, by this time the cyclist is almost at a standstill and is also zigzagging from one side to the other, waiting and muttering. The pedestrian seems to give up all possibility of escape. Faces the rider, both arms extended, jumps from one foot to the other, and the two collide. The cyclist is thrown to the ground, his wheel twisted, and he gets the blame. And how easily all this can be avoided. Let the pedestrian, instead of performing all these trying evolutions, merely walk along as though there was nothing behind him. Keep his course, and the cyclist will know what to do. He will turn his wheel to one side and slide past with perfect ease and safety. On the crossings, let a man walk along as though there were not a bicycle in the state and the wheel men will judge his course accordingly. He has control of his will and is as anxious not to collide as to the other fellow. Club etiquette Club life in all large cities is becoming so important a factor of social life that notebook of etiquette would be complete without some notice of its varied features. The membership of the smaller clubs is chosen solely for the purpose of social enjoyment and they frequently blackball names that are brought up for membership simply from the standpoint of some member to whom the one proposed may not be personally agreeable. If an applicant is blackballed once, his friends should not persist in introducing his name again. In the larger clubs where the members are never all thrown together at any one time. No one should black

ball a name from a personal standpoint. If anyone, however, is aware of some blemish in the character of the candidate for admission, he has good grounds for objection. the rules. A new member of a club should at once acquaint himself with the rules and regulations that govern the organization and govern himself accordingly. The courtesy that obtains in the home is to be observed in the club rooms. Opinions of others should be respected and exciting discussions or disturbing topics of conversation are to be avoided there as they should be in the home circle.

Remember that everyone has the same right to his preconceived opinions as you have to yours. Treat all books, papers, and other club property with due care. Never take any article away from the clubhouse.

Never monopolize any one article to the exclusion of others. When there are certain rooms appointed for smoking, confine yourself to them when indulging in the weed.

In the reading room, observe the same respect for the readers that you would wish observed toward yourself, only another rendering of the golden rule, which is at the foundation of all good manners. there, converse very little, and that in a low tone of voice, do not look upon the servants of the club as your private property, and never send them on personal errands without first obtaining the consent of the manager. Never expect undue attention from the waiters. Do not take dogs into club rooms. They are liable to destroy furniture, and everyone may not appreciate them as much as you do. Morning dress is worn at the club. In the evening, a dress suit may be worn if desired, but morning costume is equally appropriate. Hats should be removed at luncheon or dinner. Gentlemen will refrain from much mentioning of the names of ladies while in the club rooms, or from indulging in scandal.

Serious ill-feeling is often aroused in this manner. Many men refuse to listen to anything of the kind and will retire if any such subject is brought up. Introduction of friends Sometimes, Some clubs have cards for introducing visitors as visiting card Columbia Club for 20 Madison Square, admit Mr. Blank, introduced by Mr. Blank. Club members are at liberty to introduce friends at their respective clubs, but care should be exercised in this respect since they must vouch for their friend's behavior and in many cases are held responsible for the debts they may contract. It is not at all necessary that such a guest should be formally presented to any of the officials, nor to many of the members, unless in the case of some guest whom the club would delight to honor. Reception at the club The guest of a club is expected to conform to all rules of the association while enjoying its hospitality, but he may also avail himself of all its privileges, with the exception that he is not permitted to introduce another stranger. A gentleman about to leave town, and who has been entertained at a club, leaves his card in a sealed envelope for the gentleman who introduced him. Lady's clubs are now coming to the front in such profusion as to make it necessary to give them some notice. The same general rules of etiquette apply to them as to a club of men. As a rule, women's clubs have some special feature, some object to call them into being. The most unusual form that the club activities assume is that of literary work of some kind, either as a gathering of literary women or simply a gathering of women for some particular form of literary study. They usually give club banquets and club lunchens, but rarely attain to the dignity of a cafe. Barring out, disputed questions. The temper of the meetings depends very largely on the kind of organization that holds them. Whether, for instance, it is a club of refined and educated women, and Political meetings and sectarian meetings are apt to be turbulent. This fact has been recognized by some women's clubs, and they will not permit the subjects to be discussed or introduced in any way at meetings. The various business women's and working girls' clubs are instituted for the sole purpose usually of furnishing good lunches at the new hour at reasonable rates and combine this feature with pleasant reception and lounging rooms and often with various literary and business courses of study. There is one lady's suburban club, the Alexandra, the most exclusive of London's women's clubs. It is also the most successful. No individual of the other sex above the age of 12 is admitted beyond the Dormat. Husbands, fathers, and brothers are all ruthlessly excluded from within its sacred precincts. It furnishes an admirable center for shopping operations, and for lunches, teas, etc. It possesses the advantages of bedrooms, led at the most reasonable rate, so that girls and young married women can spend a night or two in town without any trouble to shop-arones or maids. Women, friends, of course, may be admitted into the club and servants and traits people interviewed. It is named for the Princess of Wales and no one who has not been presented to the Queen is eligible to membership.

There is also a ladies suburban club in Chicago that partakes of the same features, save that it is not founded upon quite so aristocratic a basis.

And the suburban woman hardly appreciates its benefits. No more does she wander aimlessly up and down the streets while awaiting a home-bound train. She has a resting place of her own within easy reach of the shopping district. One where she can be made presentable for Matt and A. Or theater. Here, on one floor, She finds hairdressers, manicurists, a cafe, a woman ready to repair damaged garments, and should she miss the last train, comfortable sleeping rooms, where she can spend the night quietly. There the club shopper is ready to attend sales and do all manner of purchasing from ordering funeral flowers to selecting a good seat at the theater.

While the club nursery is responsible for all children left there, their membership hails for many states, Preciting at a woman's club.

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