If he gets on a street car and the car gives a lurch just as he is about to be seated and throws him against another passenger, he lifts his hat and says “Excuse me!” or “I beg your pardon!” He must not say “Pardon me!” He must not take a seat if there are ladies standing.  But if he is sitting and ladies enter, should they be young, he may with perfect propriety keep his seat.  If a very old woman, or a young one carrying a baby, enters the car, a gentleman rises at once, lifts his hat slightly, and says:  “Please take my seat.”  He lifts his hat again when she thanks him.

If the car is very crowded when he wishes to leave it and a lady is directly in his way, he asks:  “May I get through, please?” As she makes room for him to pass, he lifts his hat and says:  “Thank you!”

If he is in the company of a lady in a street car, he lifts his hat to another gentleman who offers her a seat, picks up something she has dropped, or shows her any civility.

He lifts his hat if he asks anyone a question, and always, if, when walking on the street with either a lady or a gentleman, his companion bows to another person.  In other words, a gentleman lifts his hat whenever he says “Excuse me,” “Thank you,” or speaks to a stranger, or is spoken to by a lady, or by an older gentleman.  And no gentleman ever keeps a pipe, cigar or cigarette in his mouth when he lifts his hat, takes it off, or bows.

=The bow of ceremony=

The standing bow, made by a gentleman when he rises at a dinner to say a few words, in response to applause, or across a drawing-room at a formal dinner when he bows to a lady or an elderly gentleman, is usually the outcome of the bow taught little boys at dancing school.  The instinct of clicking heels together and making a quick bend over from the hips and neck, as though the human body had two hinges, a big one at the hip and a slight one at the neck, and was quite rigid in between, remains in a modified form through life.  The man who as a child came habitually into his mother’s drawing-room when there was “company,” generally makes a charming bow when grown, which is wholly lacking in self-consciousness.  There is no apparent “heel-clicking” but a camera would show that the motion is there.

In every form of bow, as distinct from merely lifting his hat, a gentleman looks at the person he is bowing to.  In a very formal standing bow, his heels come together, his knees are rigid and his expression is rather serious.

=The informal bow=

The informal bow is merely a modification of the above; it is easy and unstudied, but it should suggest the ease of controlled muscles, not the floppiness of a rag doll.