Emily Post's Etiquette

When Americans wanted to know the proper way to set a table, answer an invitation, or write a thank-you note, they turned to Emily Post. For 40 years, she was the country’s most famous expert on etiquette---the correct way to behave in social situations.

The daughter of a prominent Baltimore architect, Post politely refused when an editor asked her to write a book on etiquette. Etiquette, she said, was stuffy and not to be taken seriously. But after looking at a book from a rival publisher, she decided that she could do a better job. Her book first appeared in 1922 as Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home. Its sound advice made it a must for every household. For a later edition, the book’s title was changed to Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage. Some of Post’s 1922 rules were soon outdated such as “It is unheard of for a gentleman to ‘take’ a young girl alone to a dance or to dine or to parties.” But her books were frequently revised to cover modern situations. And Emily Post continued to dispense good advice through books, newspaper columns, and a radio program until her death in 1960.

Another piece of Post’s advice…..”Never try to make any two people like each other, “ Emily Post warned. “If they do, they do; if they don’t, they don’t, and that is all there is to it.”