JABULANI SIKHAKHANE: How the world got all shook up
The handshake is one of the most important gestures as a mark of egalitarianism
02 October 2024 - 05:00
The diffusion of the handshake as a form of salutation in Britain between 1700 and 1850 is a reminder that not all innovations, or social changes, follow the path of trickling down from the elite to the masses.
Handshaking got a boost from three sources, two of which had socioeconomic underpinnings, according to a study by historian Penelope Corfield, “Egalitarian greetings: the social spread of the handshake in urbanising Britain, 1700-1850”...
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