Top Ten Etiquette Changes by 1950

Trousers on women... “Slacks are not incorrect dress for resort areas, sports, and lounging at home,” says this expert, “but are improper for city wear. Of course,” she adds, “some women are mistaken to wear them ever.”

10 Important Etiquette Changes Listed by  

Emil Post’s Assistant

Anne Kent, personal assistant to Emily Post for more than 15 years, has listed for the December issue of Cosmopolitan magazine the ten most important changes in etiquette. Here they are:

1. First-name calling. Miss Kent finds no fault with this practice in circles where it’s taken for granted. She says that position and age should be respected, and children shouldn't call adults by their first names.

2. Trousers on women. “Slacks are not incorrect dress for resort areas, sports, and lounging at home,” says this expert, “but are improper for city wear. Of course,” she adds, “some women are mistaken to wear them ever.”

3. The younger set (past eighteen) after midnight. The modern young woman and her young man head for home alone or with other young friends, stopping off for a late snack.

4. Posture. “I don't believe we should revert to the ram-rod stiffness required when our grandmothers were young women,” says Miss Kent, “but a little more gracefulness of posture would eliminate a great American eyesore.”

5. The typewriter supersedes the pen. The typewriter for personal correspondence is now not merely approved but favored. Formal notes, such as answers to formal invitations, should be penned by hand. And letters of sympathy seem warmer and more sincere if handwritten.

6. Manners after divorce. Years ago, divorced couples shunned each other. But today, many of them remain good friends or, at least, on speaking terms.

7. Women and nicotine. Sherry’s, a famous old New York society restaurant, forbade any woman to light a cigarette on the premises. The modern woman reaches for a cigarette almost whenever or wherever she has the whim.

8. Calling on new neighbors. This old American custom is vanishing, a casualty of World War II. Miss Kent believes that “people’s instinctive kindness will eventually bring back the courtesy call.”

9. Buffet meals replace big dinners. The modern hostess who gives a dinner party can prepare ahead of time, relax, and ask the guests to help themselves.

10. The decline of chivalry. Since gaining a more equal status with men, women no longer expect deference as the “weaker” sex. Unless she’s infirm or elderly, the modern woman must hustle for a seat on the subway. And that old hats-off-in-elevator rule has been completely revoked in business-building elevators.

According to Miss Kent, feminine independence has been paid for out of the currency of male chivalry. And many a woman seems to believe the purchase isn’t worth the price. – Whittier Star Review, 1950

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette and Pushy Teenaged Girls

By the 1950’s, the novel automobiles and telephones from a short 70 years earlier had entered everyone’s homes and garages. At about that same time, the chaperones of young women had long exited the scene in most of the United States. It became more and more common for assertive young women to call young men on the phone and they began reversing the traditional, acceptable roles and doing the pursuing. But at what point did teenaged girls make the leap from being assertive and outgoing socially,  to being aggressive and rude? It was a quick evolution from women entering the work force en masse, to take traditionally male jobs in WWII, to the slow simmering of the roots of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Below is a prime example of what one modern teenaged girl had become by the end of the 1950’s.

DEAR DOROTHY DIX: Was I born 30 years too soon? Our 18-year-old son has been going steady with a 17-year-old girl for the past year. The young lady in question comes to our home looking for him when he's not at her house, she calls him to take her to school or on other errands, and even asked to accompany us on our vacation this summer. Her mother seems to encourage her aggressive attitude. I wonder whether common courtesy has died? I've always enjoyed having our children's friends in our home but this young lady seems to be a problem. – Worried Mother 

DEAR MOM: You've undoubtedly been told a hundred times that "times have changed since you were young," "things aren't done like that any more," etc... We'll all agree that times have changed but the qualities underlying common courtesy and graciousness have not changed. Your son's girl friend is a brash young thing, who has never been taught mannerliness and will never develop into a gracious and charming woman. 

She has the instinct of a savage she must get her man at any price and hold him against all comers. The best protection you can give your son against this predatory female is to show him, by example, that this is not the way girls behave. Your daughters can help. Maybe the girl will absorb some of your charm; she certainly isn't learning any from her own mother. And for your comfort, may I offer the suggestion that most teen-age romances are passing fancies. – Dorothy Dix, 1958

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia