1940s Etiquette Rules and Cosmetics

One 1940’s college newspaper article gave a warning to young American women, regarding ‘Lillian the Leech’ advising not to loan her your new face powder. Loaning personal items to friends can always be risky. This is a health issue and one can easily spread pimple causing bacteria, pink-eye, lice or worse, among other reasons — “Take for example the case of ‘Lillian the Leech.’ She is always borrowing your comb, lipstick, pencil, or bobby pins. She doesn't just ask you for them once in a while, but so often that you wonder if she even has any cosmetics.”

Modeling Expert Gives Rules for Pretty Faces

The trend in lipstick, as Peggy Healey sees it, is darker for blondes and lighter for brunettes. Peggy, who told us this as she smiled across a big desk at the models agency, has seen a lot of makeup in five years of dashing across Europe and America, modeling fashions and posing for photographs.

She is a blonde herself, and thinks the darker makeup gives her an exotic flare, especially, in the evening. And televised blondes find darker lipstick reproduces better. Peggy is a living example of what three simple rules do for pretty faces. These are the rules:

Cleanliness really is next to godliness. (Peggy favors cold showers and plenty of soap and water for her face. She doesn't depend on a lot of creams.) Foundation makeup should be chosen carefully for each skin. Practice in applying makeup is the surest way to get that essential natural look.

Eye makeup, Peggy says, is very important these days. It takes time, too. Black mascara is the thing. Omit eye shadows if you have large eyes. You can make small eyes lovelier by pencilling a tiny line from the inner corner of the eye, across the lashes out and up a bit at the outer corner. — (AP) Feature Service, 1940

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

On Charm Not “Being Enough”

Planning one’s appropriate weekend getaway clothing to pack is one of many subjects covered in etiquette and charm school books of the 1950’s and 1960’s

On one’s charm and manners– Four points to round off the whole

1. GROOMING, MAKE-UP AND HAIR-DOS. 

Never be casual about personal grooming, however casual the outfit and the occasion. The fashion model photographed in sports wear has paid as much attention to her make-up, hair-do, accessories and general tidiness as if she were wearing full evening dress. Nevertheless, for casual occasions, keep in mind that anything elaborate will be out of place.

2. HATS. 

If you belong to the hatless brigade, this is all right up to a point. More and more women wear less and less hats-and this is an accepted trend, but a hat for a church service, or for a wedding, is still considered a 'must'.

3. SPECIAL CEREMONIES, ACCEPTING AWARDS, ETC…

Find out well ahead everything to do with your part, particularly about the moment of receiving a prize or an award. Are you to curtsy, bob, or just shake hands? Will there be a platform to negotiate? Get information ahead about suitable outfits, especially as to whether you should, or should not, wear hat and gloves. Your preparation in all these little matters, your 'visualization' ahead of the event, will help to ensure your confidence in what, after all, is likely to be a conspicuous moment in your life.

4. GIVE AND TAKE. 

Of course you expect to enjoy yourself enormously during all your leisure activities. If by now you have trained yourself to be observant, I hope that you would be quick to spot the odd person who may look a little out of things-and that you would feel it your job to do something about her or him. – From “Charm is Not Enough,” by Mary Young, 1965

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

Etiquette and Body Odor

Most people are reluctant to ask others whether their own body odor stinks or not. And even if an individual was able to work up enough courage to ask such a question, they’d have a hard time knowing whether the answer was sincere. In an attempt to put people’s minds at ease, Konica Minolta Inc. recently unveiled what it claims is the world’s first device that measures and rates a person’s body odor. The gadget, dubbed Kunkun Body (kunkun is an onomatopoeia for sniffing in Japanese), is a pocket-size instrument co-developed with the Osaka Institute of Technology that rates a person’s body odor on a scale of 1 to 100 and sends the results to a smartphone that is connected wirelessly. “Scents are chemical substances but how people’s sense of smell works varies according to each individual,” says Daisuke Koda, one of the key researchers behind the instrument’s development. Koda says, “We thought it would be very useful if we could create some kind of system to measure the types and strength of scents that are close to how humans smell.” Users simply launch an app on their smartphone, place the device near the area where they want to measure their body odor (ex.— their armpits or feet) and, about 20 seconds later, the results appear on their smartphone.“Body odor is one of the hardest things to point out to another person but because many people can’t smell their own odor, they have this vague sense of anxiety,” Koda says. “Now, however, they can feel assured by being able to ‘see’ their own scent.” - Japan Times Online

Not creating a stink at the office — More Japanese companies are taking the issue of unpleasant odors in the workplace seriously

From sexual harassment and power harassment to maternity harassment and alcohol harassment, unjustifiable conduct in the workplace takes many forms. In recent years, however, a new issue has begun receiving media attention: “smell harassment.” The “smell” referred to in the above phrase could be anything from bad breath and body odor to perfume and fabric softener. Regardless of whether a person is conscious of their odor or not, some consider it to be harassment if others are bothered by the smell. However, unlike other types of harassment, smell harassment — often abbreviated as sumehara — is a very personal and sensitive issue, making it difficult for others to speak up.

It’s worth noting at this point that some men and women suffer from a medical condition called axillary osmidrosis (commonly called wakiga in Japanese), a hereditary disorder caused by the secretion of the apocrine gland that causes body odor. Experts say that an estimated 10-15 percent of the Japanese population have this condition, adding that, in most cases, it can be treated through surgery.m

For the majority of the population, however, body odor is a consequence of general sweating. Both men and women sweat, but men are more likely to emit a stronger body odor. And more often than not, the person responsible for the odor is likely to be completely oblivious to the smell they are emitting because of olfactory fatigue, a condition in which individuals cannot distinguish a certain smell after being exposed to it for a period of time.

With more women in the workplace as well as commercials frequently using the term “kareishū,” the Japanese equivalent of “old-person smell,” men are increasingly becoming conscious of their smell. Drugstores typically feature rows of men’s products, from roll-on and spray-type deodorants to body-wipe sheets, scalp-care shampoo and so on. Deodorizing suits and socks are now available at menswear chainstore Yofuku-no-Aoyama, while Konica Minolta Inc. launched a gadget that measures body odor called Kunkun Body in mid-July.

“Body odor is not just a personal issue, because it affects those around you,” says Keisuke Oku, chief of the Public Relations Division at major cosmetics manufacturer Mandom Corp. “It could not only make others not want to work with you, but also negatively impact what people think of you.” In a survey compiled by Mandom in May, 63.1 percent of the 1,028 people who responded in Tokyo and Osaka ranked body odor as the No. 1 thing that bothers them during the government’s Cool Biz energy saving campaign, which calls on companies to set their air conditioners at 28 degrees Celsius. More specifically, respondents highlighted body odor and bad breath as the top two grooming categories they wished others would pay closer attention to.

Meanwhile, respondents who have come across the words “smell harassment” appear to have doubled from 20.1 percent in 2014 to 45.8 percent in May. “People’s awareness of body odor and smell is increasing,” Oku says. “It is not like sweat, which is mainly uncomfortable for yourself. Body odor will cause discomfort to others, too.” — Japan Times Online

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

Facial Hair Etiquette

Simion Grahame was a Scottish-born writer and courtier to James VI. He urged gentlemen to keep their beards and moustaches clean, well trimmed and tightly curled.

Simion Grahame (1570-1614) was a Scottish-born writer and courtier to James VI. One of his better known works was Anatomie of Humors, in 1609. Much of this work dwells on human emotions, melancholy, in particular, something to which Grahame himself seemed familiar. 

Interspersed with advice on conduct, manners and how to forge and maintain good relationships with others. In one chapter Grahame urged gentlemen to keep their beards and moustaches clean, well trimmed and tightly curled. — “…A man is to be commended if he be [clean] in his linings, his hair well dressed, his beard well brushed and always his upper lip well curled… For if he chance to kiss a gentlewoman, some rebellious hairs may happen to startle in her nose and make her sneeze…”


Those who did not attend to their facial hair, wrote Grahame, were slobs, not fit to socialize with:. —“[These] snotty nosed gentlemen, with their drooping moustaches covering their mouth and becoming a harbour for meldrops [mucus]… He will drink with anybody whatsoever, and after he hath washed his filthy beard in the cup… he will suck the hair so heartily with his under lip.” — Simion Grahame, The Anatomie of Humors, Edinburgh

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

Etiquette and Public Grooming

You wouldn't wear this in public, so why would you  pick your teeth, comb your hair, or perform any of the necessary operations of the toilet in public or company?

Personal Grooming in Public

Never pare or scrape your nails, pick your teeth, comb your hair, or perform any of the necessary operations of the toilet in company. All these things should be carefully attended to in the privacy of your own room. 

To pick the nose, dig the ears, or scratch the head or any part of the person in company is still worse. Watch yourself carefully, and if you have any such habits, break them up at once. 

These may seem little things, but they have their weight, and go far in determining the character of the impression we make upon those around us. –From 1887's "How to Behave"

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

Etiquette and Personal Grooming

The secret of her manicure should be left at home, or with her manicurist, and kept a secret.

Women Win by Tact Rather Than by Beauty

I have seen various vulgar habits exhibited at a public table, but never until this week has it been my misfortune to sit at table with a woman who brought along her manicure implements and used them while waiting for the first course of her dinner.  

She was a good-looking young woman, with an air of repose that was positively refreshing in these days of nerves. She was carefully dressed and seemed to be more than ordinarily intelligent. I considered myself fortunate in having such a presentable vis-a-vis until she produced her nail file and began the scraping process which is irritating at all times, but was particularly nerve-wasting as an accompaniment to soup. 

People with weak stomachs have a hard time in life. There are so many disgusting things to be met with outside one's home that scarcely a day passes without an experience which cannot be readily banished from the memory. I felt really angry with my neighbor who gave the finishing touches to as ugly a set of nails as I ever saw before her dinner was served. I looked for other uncommon traits in her behavior but could find nothing else at which to complain. Why she should have thought herself justified in such an act passes my comprehension. 

Somebody told me once that every person had some disgusting trick. I did not believe it then, I do not believe it now, even with a wide experience of men and women and their little ways. I do believe, however, that many persons have more than one objectionable trick, for they are likely to go in pairs like reptiles. Why does not father, mother, relative or friend call such a person's attention to these horrid little ways? It is infinitely better to risk unpleasantness at home than to allow a woman to be publicly condemned for a thing that could be avoided. Women are shunned for smaller offenses than the one I witnessed the other day, and perhaps they never guess the reason. 

Refinement is bred in the bone, and where it exists such ways are impossible. The next best thing is the veneer which comes from the polishing process of education and experience. The possessors of this, too, would scarcely be guilty of glaring faults except under the stress of excitement, when the veneer seems to break away and show glimpses of the true nature below it. It is said that as a nation we are improving year by year, but the progress is so slow when compared with all there is to be done that the task seems an endless one. 

It would hardly seem necessary to say that one's nails should be cared for in private like other points of the toilet. It is not at all uncommon to see women rearrange side combs after removing their hats in the theater, but there is some excuse for the act in the discomfort of loose-ends of hair which have been pulled away from their fastening and float about one's ears and in front of the eyes. So we accept this breach of manners. There is no good excuse for the nail file and toothpick when they appear in public, and it will be long before refined people will care to search for one, by her irreproachable toilet. –By Mrs. Martha Taft Wentworth, in San Francisco Call, 1901

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