Case II:
"From George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Mrs. Grant’s Sketches of Manners and Scenery in America, to the etiquette of the Stars and Stripes and the U. S. Military: An American Sampler, 1746-1963."
View of Washington-City Taken from Georgetown (Prospect Hill), 19th century.
Digital scan of the original engraving, 21 cm x 28 cm.
The dust jacket for Service Etiquette, "The guide to correct social usage on official and unofficial occasions for men and women in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force. General manners, the social side, table etiquette, calls and calling cards, hops and dances, tipping charts, weddings, salutes, flag etiquette, correspondence, military funerals, customs of each Service. A basic book for all young men and women...," which offers answers to the questions plaguing all servicefolk, such as how to overcome "asking a young lady for a date," "How much to tip for services... on a train," and how to get "in and out of boats."
The dust jacket for Good-by to G.I.: How to be a Successful Civilian, which advises the soldier returning to civilian life on how to cope with exiting the warzone. Author and WWI veteran Maxwell Droke seeks to prove that the average veteran is not "a greatly changed-certainly not a "brutalized"- man, but just a guy who's been away from home and out of touch with civilian life." Featuring such chapters as, "Your Handicap--Face it and Forget It," "How to Get Acquainted with Your Family and Friends," and "A New Man... And a New World," as well as a warning to provide a veteran with the book "before disillusion and confusion get in their crippling blows," it is clear that this 1945 etiquette book was an attempt to confront Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in an era before it was recognized.
This 19th century engraving depicts the United States Capitol Building with the dome, which was completed in 1866. The American icon was under construction into the early 20th century. During the war of 1812, the building was partially burned. After the war, the building took another 20 years to be restored; while this construction was happening, the Supreme Court, House of Representatives, and Senate continued to meet in the Capitol.
The cover of Etiquette of the Stars and Stripes, 1929.
Courtesy was not limited to Old-World Europe. The early United States also had rules for proper behavior. The newly-formed government, in particular, developed a code of conduct that covered every topic from the coats that dignitaries should wear abroad to the minute details of behavior during ceremonial procedures to the types of modern luxuries good servicemen ought to indulge in. As a teenager, George Washington himself copied a work of civility, courtesy, and manners for gentlemen that was first compiled by French Jesuits in 1595 with the title, Bienséance de la Conversation Entre les Hommes.
