1937’s “Post OK’d” Modern Manners, Part 2

 “For years it has been considered the height of rudeness to send typewritten letters to your friends. But nowadays, Mrs. Post holds, it is entirely correct to type personal letters, on all except formal occasions. The great convenience of the typewriter, plus the legibility of its product as compared to the deplorable handwriting of so many people have helped bring this about.”— Above, a letter from Emily Post to a friend in 1940, from the Etiquipedia private library and future Etiquette Museum

 Are Your Manners Streamlined to Modern Tempo?

Radical Changes in Social Customs Approved by Emily Post, America's Arbiter of Deportment, Who Gives Her “All Rights” and “Don'ts” in the World of Etiquette

RADIO and motoring manners are two more modern themes to receive Mrs. Post's consideration. She expresses wonder that men and women, ordinarily quite polite and considerate of others, so often become quite the reverse as soon as they sit behind the steering wheel of a car. Hand signals, she shows are just as trüly gestures of courtesy as is the gentlemanly ritual of raising ing the hat to a lady, and a cultured person will no more hog the road than he would spear all the lamb-chops on the family dinner platter.

Mrs. Post also has a helpful word for those who enjoy radios. It is rude to break in on the favorite program of a friend, in that friend's house. Thousands of radio listeners, she points out, look forward eagerly to certain scheduled periods of entertainment. So often, such a “fan” may be interrupted in the enjoyment of her favorite program by the arrival of a friend.

Such friends are often very inconsiderate. They think nothing of chattering — or shouting — above the sounds of a symphony. Yet these people would never dream of showing the same rudeness in a theatre, or at a concert.

Do you write many letters? For years it has been considered the height of rudeness to send typewritten letters to your friends. But nowadays, Mrs. Post holds, it is entirely correct to type personal letters, on all except formal occasions. The great convenience of the typewriter, plus the legibility of its product as compared to the deplorable handwriting of so many people have helped bring this about.

AS a hostess, would you poison your guests? If not, she claims that there is no justification for the almost universally- accepted practice of a hostess serving herself first at table. This, Mrs. Post terms "The Great American Rudeness."

She explains that it is a survival from the days of the Borgias, when scheming aristocrats often invited people to din- ner for the highly inhospitable purpose of poisoning them. Consequently, it was the very acme of good form in those days to sample every dish yourself before serv- ving others the theory being that if you'd eat it yourself, it must be safel And as a guest-don't be late for din- ner. That's old fashioned, and today hostesses are becoming intolerant even of the old custom of allowing guests a 15- minute period of grace. The author tells the story of one stern host who takes his guests in to dinner at the appointed time, and feeds the late-comers only those courses which remain to be served.

Once, a socially-prominent girl came very late, and the ensuing conversation went something like this: "Oh, dear Mr. Gilding, am I late?" "You are," are," said he, "very." "And I am so hungry!" "Oh, you are?" said the host. "well, coffee will be served immediately." The subject of lateness introduces an- other warning to girls. Don't keep him waiting! In other, more leisurely years, says Mrs. Post, a young man didn't mind standing around while his girl friend took her time. It was all very proper.

Today it isn't. The man should still appear first at a place of meeting, but, ideally, the woman woman should arrive exactly on the dot and there find that he has been waiting for her for about one or two minutes,

T ABLE manners, of course, are discussed by Mrs. Mrs. Post at great length. Here, too, there have been changes. At one time this arbiter of good form would not eat corn on the cob, a feat which not many diners manage to perform gracefully. Now, however, it is perfectly all right to pick up an entire ear in both hands and munch to your heart's content, even at a formal dinner. But try to do it neatly.

“Rules of etiquette are nothing more than signposts by which we are guided to the goal of good taste,” and she holds that “Americans as a people have all youth's glorious beauty and strength and vitality and courage. If we can keep these attributes and add finish and understanding and perfect taste in living we need not dwell on the Golden Age that is past, but believe in the Golden Age that is sure to be.” — Oakland Tribune, 1937

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia