JACKSONVILLE, OR –Mind your manners! Join Historic Jacksonville, Inc. on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at the 1873 Cornelius C. Beekman House Museum when we kick off a 2022 season of “Victorian Days” tours with a lesson in “Victorian Etiquette.” This “mannerly” opening is the first in a series of monthly tours that allow guests to view different aspects of a late 19th Century lifestyle through the lens of Southern Oregon and the Beekmans, Jacksonville’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer family. The Beekman House Museum is located at 470 E. California Street in Jacksonville.
Our one-hour “Victorian Etiquette” tours explore 19th Century rules for social interaction as the Industrial Revolution created a new middle class with societal aspirations. Costumed docents will be focusing on class distinctions, appropriate dress, and specific etiquette concerns such as calling cards, posture and poise, fan flirting, flower language, and table setting and table manners. Tours begin every 20 minutes between 12 noon and 3 p.m. with tour size limited to eight people. Reservations are required. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.historicjacksonville.org/victorian-theme-tours/
For the Beekmans and the aspiring middle class, proper etiquette was essential to maintaining social standards. Thanks to more than 60 etiquette guides published during the 1870’s and 1880’s, Victorians could learn the rules of “polite society”—how to conduct themselves in all social situations. The 19th Century manners expressed in these books included many elaborate social rituals that seem quaint today, but most of the pages were devoted to common sense rules like “Don’t chew with your mouth open” or “Don’t interrupt people.” While the rules of etiquette have changed, many good manners are universal, and many rules of etiquette that were once based on moral principles continue to exist today.
Etiquette is the first in a series of Historic Jacksonville’s Victorian themed tours at the Beekman House on the third Saturday of each month. Special weekend tours will be offered in both September and October. Topics include Victorian Medical Practices, “Newfangled Inventions,” Travel in the Victorian Era, “The Fashionable Victorian,” and “Victorian Mourning Customs” or “How the Victorians honored their dearly departed.” A 2022 season schedule is attached.
Victorian Etiquette tours are $10 with on-line reservations required. Tickets are available at https://www.historicjacksonville.org/victorian-theme-tours/. Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is an all-volunteer organization. Proceeds from all tours benefit historic restoration projects. For additional information and other season offerings, contact info@historicjacksonville.org or 541-245-3650 or visit www.historicjacksonville.org.