Ruth presented a seminar at the Richard Honquest Fine Furniture store, November 5, 1998. The subject of this seminar was The Origins of Modern American Etiquette. In addition to answering questions, she had also set a place setting similar to how a first class place setting would have looked on the ship Titanic.

Following are a list of the questions that Ruth had prepared to ask her audience.

1. The oldest recorded use of the handshake was in 2800 B.C. in Egypt. It signified the conferring of power from a god to an earthly ruler.

 

2. The custom of a gentleman tipping his hat had its origins in ancient Assyria when captives were required to strip naked to show subjugation to their conquerors.
3. The knife, which was first fashioned by Homo erectus 1.5 million years ago to kill his prey, also became the first eating utensil.
4. The practice of using the sharp end of the knife to clean the meat from between one�s teeth had been preached against for 300 years in etiquette books to no avail. Finally in the 1630�s, Duc de Richelieu, a cardinal and the chief minister to France�s Louis XIII put a stop to this practice.
5. The spoon was the second eating utensil to be devised by man and had its origins in ancient Egypt during the Paleolithic Age some twenty thousand years ago.
6. In the 11^th century in Tuscany where forks were introduced, everyone immediately took up the practice and gave up the former three-finger method of eating his food.
7. In the eighteenth century, the French nobility adopted the use of forks because they wee tired of eating their cake with their fingers.
8. Napkins or serviettes were introduced before 500 B.C. and were used not only to wipe one�s mouth, lips and fingers, but also to wipe one�s knife before cutting bread, to clean one�s spoon and to blow one�s nose.
9. The first doggie bag was used during the sixth-century B.C. in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome.
10. Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans all employed the use of finger bowls.
11. Etiquette is The Golden Rule and a few others is my motto, but the original maxim, "What you do not like when done to yourself, do not do to others" was written by Confucius, the 5^th Century B.C. philosopher.
12. In 1530 Erasmus of Rotterdam who was philosopher and educator wrote a book titled, On Civility in Children. When George Washington was 15 years old, he wrote Rules of Courtesy & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation. In 1922 Emily Post wrote Etiquette, The Blue Book of Social Usage. All three became best sellers.
13. The custom of a bride covering her head and face with a veil goes back to Biblical times. When Rebekah saw Isaac, her future husband coming across the fields, she covered her head with her scarf.
14. Brides started wearing white wedding dresses as early as the 16^th Century, but it wasn�t until Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 that the white wedding dress became mandatory for American brides.
15. Rice, wheat, wedding cake, stockings and even old shoes were thrown at the poor bride and groom after their wedding to symbolize a wish for them to have many children and for the couple to be prosperous.
16. The breaking of the glass during a Jewish wedding ceremony symbolizes the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
17. Banns, or public announcements, of a wedding began in 800 A.D. as a result of an order by Charlemagne, the Emperor of the Romans.
18. Old Shoes, tin cans and other things are often put on the back of the bridal car. This custom has its roots in pagan times.
19. The custom of the groom having a best man and his bride standing on his left side goes back to 200 A.D.
20. The practice of wearing a wedding ring on the ring finger began in ghe 3^rd Century B.C. in Greece.
21. A Jewish wedding that is held outside, under the stars is carrying out tradition.