The Good Old Days

Tit-bits and excerpts from Collier's Cyclopedia of Commercial and Social Information and Treasury of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge On Art, Science, Pastimes, Belles-Lettres, and Many Other Subjects of Interest in the American Home Circle, compiled by Nugent Robinson, 1882, New York, Peter Fenelon Collier, Publisher, revised to 1891

Interest and Usury
"Interest is a moderate profit for the use of money. In the different States the rate of interest is established by statute. In New York State six per cent is the legal rate of interest. Any excess over this, whether received directly or indirectly, will render the contract void, and is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both. An excess of interest above the legal rate may be recovered by an action at law, if brought in one year from the time of payment.
Corporations cannot set up the defence of usury."

Marriage and Divorce
"Marriage may be entered into by any two persons, with the following exceptions: Idiots, lunatics, persons of unsound mind, persons related by blood or affinity within certain degrees prohibited by law, infants under the age of consent, which is in New York State 14 for males and 12 for females, and all persons already married and not legally divorced."

Naturalization Laws of the United States

Conditions for Citizenship: "If it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court to which the alien has applied that he has resided continuously within the United States for at least five years, and within the State or Territory where such court is at the time held one year at least; and that during that time "he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same," he will be admitted to citizenship."

an exception..

Chinese: "The naturalization of Chinamen is expressly prohibited by Section 14, Chapter 126, Laws of 1882."

1882 Principal of the Public Debt: $1,926,688,678.03

1891 Population of the Earth: 1,487,900,000
1891 Population of North America: 89,250,000
(from the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society)

Phrenology: "Feelings. Genus I.-Propensities. the propensities are common to man and the lower animals; they neither perceive nor reason, but only feel.
No.I- Amativeness.-This organ is situated immediately over the nape of the neck, and fills up the space between the ears behind, or rather between the mastoid processes, or projecting bones behind the ears. It generally forms a projection in that part, and gives a thickness to the neck when it is large, and a spareness when small."

A few English Proverbs:

A good layer-up is a good layer-out.
A pin a day is a groat a year.
Children and chickens must always be picking.
Children suck the mother when they are young, and the father when they are old.
Every herring must hang by its own head.
He that runs in the night stumbles.
It's merry in the hall when beards wag all.
The blind man's wife needs no painting.

Some Scots Proverbs:
He has licked the butter off my bread.
Ne'er marry a widow unless her first man was hanged.
Little folk are soon angry.
Keep your breath to cool your own porridge.
They speak o' my drinking, but ne'er think o' my drouth.

from Etiquette For Ladies:
"Remember in conversation that a voice "gentle and low" is, above all other extraneous acquirements, "an excellent thing in woman." There is a certain distinct but subdued tone of voice which is peculiar to only well-bred persons. A loud voice is both disagreeable and vulgar. It is better to err by the use of too low rather than too loud a tone.
Remember that all "slang" is vulgar."

"Very young ladies are never so suitably attired as in white. Ladies who dance should wear dresses of light and diaphanous materials, such as tulle, gauze, crape, net, etc., over colored silk slips. Silk dresses are not suitable for dancing. A married lady who dances only a few quadrilles may wear a décolleté silk dress with propriety."

"Perfumes should be used only in the evening, and then in moderation. Let your perfumes be of the most delicate and recherché kind. Nothing is more vulgar than a coarse, ordinary scent; and of all coarse, ordinary scents, the most objectionable are musk and patchouli."

from Golden Rules of Etiquette:

"Do not use the tablecloth to wipe your mouth."

"Never watch the dishes as they are uncovered, or cry out when you perceive something dainty."

"Guests may use the servants as if they were their own, but always within reason."