Etiquette

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Etiquette

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Title: Etiquette
Author: Emily Post
Release Date: December 10, 2004 [EBook #14314]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: A BRIDE'S BOUQUET
"THE RADIANCE OF A TRULY HAPPY BRIDE IS SO BEAUTIFYING THAT
EVEN A PLAIN GIRL IS MADE PRETTY, AND A PRETTY ONE, DIVINE." [Page
373.]]

=ETIQUETTE=
IN SOCIETY, IN BUSINESS, IN POLITICS AND AT HOME
=BY EMILY POST=
(MRS. PRICE POST)

Author of "Purple and Fine Linen," "The Title Market," "Woven in the Tapestry," "The
Flight of a Moth," "Letters of a Worldly Godmother," etc., etc.
ILLUSTRATED WITH PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHS AND FACSIMILES OF SOCIAL
FORMS
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
=NEW YORK AND LONDON=
1922
By
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
[Printed in the United States of America] First Edition published in July 1922 Second
Edition published in September, 1922
August 11, 1910.
TO YOU MY FRIENDS WHOSE IDENTITY IN THESE PAGES IS VEILED IN
FICTIONAL DISGUISE IT IS BUT FITTING THAT I DEDICATE THIS BOOK.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
I. WHAT IS BEST SOCIETY? II. INTRODUCTIONS III. GREETINGS IV.
SALUTATIONS OF COURTESY V. ON THE STREET AND IN PUBLIC VI. AT
PUBLIC GATHERINGS VII. CONVERSATION VIII. WORDS, PHRASES AND
PRONUNCIATION IX. ONE'S POSITION IN THE COMMUNITY X. CARDS AND
VISITS XI. INVITATIONS, ACCEPTANCES AND REGRETS XII. THE
WELL-APPOINTED HOUSE XIII. TEAS AND OTHER AFTERNOON PARTIES XIV.
FORMAL DINNERS XV. DINNER-GIVING WITH LIMITED EQUIPMENT XVI.
LUNCHEONS, BREAKFASTS AND SUPPERS XVII. BALLS AND DANCES XVIII.
THE DÉBUTANTE XIX. THE CHAPERON AND OTHER CONVENTIONS XX.
ENGAGEMENTS XXI. FIRST PREPARATIONS BEFORE A WEDDING XXII. THE
DAY OF THE WEDDING XXIII. CHRISTENINGS XXIV. FUNERALS XXV. THE
COUNTRY HOUSE AND ITS HOSPITALITY XXVI. THE HOUSE PARTY IN
CAMP XXVII. NOTES AND SHORTER LETTERS XXVIII. LONGER LETTERS
XXIX. THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GOOD BEHAVIOR XXX. CLUBS AND CLUB
ETIQUETTE XXXI. GAMES AND SPORTS XXXII. ETIQUETTE IN BUSINESS
AND POLITICS XXXIII. DRESS XXXIV. THE CLOTHES OF A GENTLEMAN

XXXV. THE KINDERGARTEN OF ETIQUETTE XXXVI. EVERY-DAY MANNERS
AT HOME XXXVII. TRAVELING AT HOME AND ABROAD XXXVIII. THE
GROWTH OF GOOD TASTE IN AMERICA
PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS
A BRIDE'S BOUQUET A GEM OF A HOUSE THE PERSONALITY OF A HOUSE
CONSIDERATION FOR SERVANTS THE AFTERNOON TEA-TABLE A FORMAL
DINNER DETAIL OF PLACE AT A FORMAL DINNER A DINNER SERVICE
WITHOUT SILVER THE MOST ELABORATE DINNER DANCE EVER GIVEN IN
NEW YORK A CHURCH WEDDING A HOUSE WEDDING THE IDEAL GUEST
ROOM A BREAKFAST TRAY THE CHILD AT TABLE

INTRODUCTION
MANNERS AND MORALS
By
Richard Duffy
Many who scoff at a book of etiquette would be shocked to hear the least expression of
levity touching the Ten Commandments. But the Commandments do not always prevent
such virtuous scoffers from dealings with their neighbor of which no gentleman could be
capable and retain his claim to the title. Though it may require ingenuity to reconcile their
actions with the Decalogue--the ingenuity is always forthcoming. There is no intention in
this remark to intimate that there is any higher rule of life than the Ten Commandments;
only it is illuminating as showing the relationship between manners and morals, which is
too often overlooked. The polished gentleman of sentimental fiction has so long served as
the type of smooth and conscienceless depravity that urbanity of demeanor inspires
distrust in ruder minds. On the other hand, the blunt, unpolished hero of melodrama and
romantic fiction has lifted brusqueness and pushfulness to a pedestal not wholly merited.
Consequently, the kinship between conduct that keeps us within the law and conduct that
makes civilized life worthy to be called such, deserves to be noted with emphasis. The
Chinese sage, Confucius, could not tolerate the suggestion that virtue is in itself enough
without politeness, for he viewed them as inseparable and "saw courtesies as coming
from the heart," maintaining that "when they are practised with all the heart, a moral
elevation ensues."
People who ridicule etiquette as a mass of trivial and arbitrary conventions, "extremely
troublesome to those who practise them and insupportable to everybody else," seem to
forget the long, slow progress of social intercourse in the upward climb of man from the
primeval state. Conventions were established from the first to regulate the rights of the
individual and the tribe. They were and are the rules of the game of life and must be