When I sat down and planned my wedding, Emily Post was my guide. No, I did not have her ubiquitous tome on manners, Etiquette, at my fingertips guiding my every move. Rather, it was that I had been schooled in the proper etiquette of being nice to others that was my guide, and when this idea is applied to social occasions, then Emily Post is responsible. It was this shift in focus of proper...
more When I sat down and planned my wedding, Emily Post was my guide. No, I did not have her ubiquitous tome on manners, Etiquette, at my fingertips guiding my every move. Rather, it was that I had been schooled in the proper etiquette of being nice to others that was my guide, and when this idea is applied to social occasions, then Emily Post is responsible. It was this shift in focus of proper behavior that she espoused that shaped how we all relate to each other in this country that guided much of the social interactions of the 20th Century. At least that is the hypothesis of Laura Claridge.
To prove her contention, Claridge delves into every. single. facet of American life that may have affected Post's life in any shape or form. The thoroughness of her research and need to impart every detail of the life is my only criticism of the book. The flow of the book could have been improved by cutting out some of the references to contemporary events. As it stands, the book sits in the netherworld between popular non-fiction and academia, albeit a better fit for the endcap of a Barnes & Noble than the dusty shelves of your University's Memorial Library.
Claridge tells the story of a Baltimore socialite eagerly trying to be what everyone else expected her to be in New York, until she had enough with her philandering husband and decided to do what made her happy. A half way sucessful fiction writer and author of non-fiction magazine serials after her divorce, her book on Etiquette hit at the right time in the right place. Unlike previous guides which told people how to behave so that the Upper Crust would like you, Post focused on treating everyone with respect, not just those whose respect you sought. Hers was not a book for the Poseur, rather one for the average person who wished to avoid offense. Having tried to pass herself off as the perfect wife to the old Dutch families of New York society, she threw that out the window earned her own way. Claridge makes a great (though belabored) point of demonstrating that the decade between her divorce and the publication of Etiquette encompassed a shift in society in which women were able to be full independent beings and seperate from their spouses and fathers.
I'm not sure if I'll fully agree with Claridge's belief that Emily Post empowered women rather than reflecting on the more empowered role that women were taking, but the author does make a strong case for the point. At any rate, it's a worthwhile read if you have the time, and makes me take a second look at the stack of Thank You cards I still need to mail out for Christmas
hide
Yes (0) 
No (0) 
