Humbug!

A gentleman's socks!

The Daily Telegraph writes in an article that a new book, Gentlemen’s Pursuits, has been examining the pages of the British magazine Country Life to be able to present a new list of what makes a gentleman and how his interests have changed from what a 1912 gentleman was interested in. Personally, I think that there is a mix-up here between a ‘gentleman’ and a ‘celebrity’, which is a pity. In the 2012 list of gentlemen is for example David Beckham, for his good manners, but although Beckham maybe is a perfectly nice fellow, he is not a gentleman.

To compare the attributes of the 1912 gentleman to the 2012 gentleman, here are a few examples:

1912 / 2012
Rolls-Royce / Land Rover Discovery
Moustache / Clean-shaven
Cigarettes / Nicorette
Rudyard Kipling / Antony Beevor
Claret / New Zealand Pinot Noir
Scotland in August / Scotland in August
Manservant / No servant
Kedgeree / Muesli with blueberries
Dining room / Kitchen
Ironed newspaper / Today
English setter / Black labrador
Whist / BBC Ten O’Clock News
White tie / No tie
Catching lots of salmon in Scotland / Catching no salmon in Scotland

It made me happy to see that of the very few things that has not changed in these two lists, which is one hundred years apart, is Henley [Royal Regatta] - it's on both lists!

However, among the things that a 2012 gentleman would never do is take a Holiday in Florida (very understandable), but it also says that he would never wear pink socks! I beg your pardon? That would mean that a lot of the gentlemen at Leander Club are not... well, gentlemen. Preposterous, I say. It just shows that the 2012 list is humbug!