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Smoking
The above does not mean that a gentleman may never smoke in the presence of
ladies-especially in the presence of those who smoke themselves-but a gentleman
should not smoke under the following circumstances:
When walking on the street with a lady.
When lifting his hat or bowing.
In a room, an office, or an elevator, when a lady enters.
In any short conversation where he is standing near, or talking with a lady.
If he is seated himself for a conversation with a lady on a veranda, in an
hotel, in a private house, anywhere where “smoking is permitted,” he first asks,
“Do you mind if I smoke?” And if she replies, “Not at all” or “Do, by all
means,” it is then proper for him to do so. He should, however, take his cigar,
pipe, or cigarette, out of his mouth while he is speaking. One who is very
adroit can say a word or two without an unpleasant grimace, but one should not
talk with one's mouth either full of food or barricaded with tobacco.
In the country, a gentleman may walk with a lady and smoke at the same
time-especially a pipe or cigarette. Why a cigar is less admissible is hard to
determine, unless a pipe somehow belongs to the country. A gentleman in golf or
country clothes with a pipe in his mouth and a dog at his heels suggests a
picture fitting to the scene; while a cigar seems as out of place as a cutaway
coat. A pipe on the street in a city, on the other hand, is less appropriate
than a cigar in the country. In any event he will, of course, ask his
companion's permission to smoke.