Vaudeville trails thru the West (1919)

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HERBERT LLOYD'S VAUDEVILLE GUIDE 29 PROFANITY. By Dr. Frank Crane. The trouble with profanity is not so much that it is wicked, but that It is just plain dirty. It is not so much that you shock religious people, as that you disgust decent people. Swearers are behind the times. They are hold-overs from a former century. A hundred years ago or so swearing was a habit indulged in by all classes. Hostlers swore in the stable, gentlemen swore in the club, boys swore in the street, and ladies swore in the parlor. Husband and wife cursed each other across the breakfast table. The world has grown more decent since then. A gentleman that would curse in the presence of ladies would be hustled away, and never invited again. Americans, in former times, were so profane that the porters of the railway stations, in Europe, on seeing an American traveler alight from a train, would shout, "Right this way, Mr. Goddam!" Nowadays anybody who sw^ears is set down at once as being coarse and vulgar. Nobody wants a swearer in the office, nor in the theatre, nor on the train, nor in the hotel. The only place swearing fits is the saloon. Swearing means you don't know how to talk. Your vocabulary is limited. It is the sign of ignorance. Swearing means weakness. You will notice that forceful men, whose words carry weight, use simple, plain words. When you swear it shows your impotence. It is the petty refuge of the helpless. If you can help a thing, help it; if not, keep still; any- way, don't swear. Swearing has bad kin. It goes with ignorance, brutality, cruelty, drunkenness, licentiousness, viciousness and anger. And you can tell a- habit by the company it keeps. Swearing that is the sudden, impulsive exclamation is not so bad compared with swearing that has become a vile habit. And when a man gets the habit of sprinkling oaths through his speech constantly he ought to be tied out in the barn with the pigs. To abstain from swearing does not mean you are a sissy. It simply means you're decent. To show you are manly, you don't have to have a dirty face, nor black finger nails, nor greasy clothes, nor tousled hair. You can be manly though clean. And you are not showing any manliness by filthy talk. Even if you want to hurt anybody's feelings, or insult any one the worst way, use plain English; it hurts much worse than curses. Altogether, swearing is a useless, unclean and offensive habit. Quit it! (Publisher's Note.) It is noticeable to every one that profanity around the theatre of late years is the exception instead of the rule. Read the Stage Manager's letter on page 69, which the author has termed "THE PROPER SPIRIT."