Emily Post

I wandered over to the local thrift shop this morning and was looking through the book room...never know what you may find when I ran across this blast from the past......"Etiquette by Emily Post", circa 1937....its a big thick thing and as I leafed through the pages, saw that there was every kind of etiquette for every circumstance in a person's 1937 life, including how to be introduced to the queen or president, how to write a nice thank you note, how to set a table and also how to use the formal tableware......its fun reading...low and behold! there was a tiny yellowed newspaper clipping inside and I thought it would be fun to see if we could answer these etiquette questions...

1. When do you pick up your napkin after sitting down to dinner at your hostess' table?

2. How far should a dinner napkin be folded?

3. Is it good manners to tuck a napkin under your chin or tuck a corner of it under your belt?

4. At the end of a meal, do you wait for the hostess to put her napkin beside her plate before doing so yourself?

5. May paper napkins ever be used except at the most informal of meals?

6. What do you do if---
in a restaurant which you know nothing about--
a. Wipe your silver on your napkin or the corner of the tablecloth?
b. Don't do any " silver wiping" at the table?
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Answers

1. When your hostess has picked up hers
2. Half-way
3. No
4. Yes
5. No
6. B
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How did you do?
On the other side of the clipping is a sports story about how Joe Louis may be on the skids...

I will probably list this book in my Inspiration shop but think I will take the time to read through it...it also has black and white photos of table settings, etc. including this pretty garden party scene

I know I didn't get the best photo but it says "The Modern Ideal of Hospitality" friendliness rather than formality is expressed in every detail of this enchanting picture....how times have changed!