The Ottawa Citizen
14 November 1953
Look familiar? What we have here is the Mind Your Manners publicity sheet from Monday's post reproduced word for word and passed off as a book review. The Ottawa Citizen seems to have been quite keen on promoting this guide; five months later, it devoted the better part of a two-page spread to 13 cartoons inspired by the book:
These cartoons show artist Peter Whalley's reaction to a new dictionary of etiquette written by Claire Wallace and Joy Brown and titled Mind Your Manners. Whalley's interpretations are fortunately not everyone's. The authors say they could only be Whalley's.Mind Your Manners is the outgrowth of a column on etiquette which writer-commentator Wallace syndicated to 25 newspapers across Canada between 1945 and 1949. It was bought and published by Harlequin Books, of which Joy Brown is an editor. The first printing of 30,000 has been followed by a second and seems to justify the authors' belief that there was a need for a new simplified guide to Canadian manners.
The Ottawa Citizen
24 April 1954
It would not be considered proper behaviour, I suppose, to question the motives of the paper's editors. That said, I will point out that this latter piece also reads like a Harlequin press release. Let me leave you with that thought, along with a few sample cartoons and one final rule.
On Addressing a Duke's Eldest Son's Younger Son
I can't seem to locate my father's copy of Mind Your Manners. Can I borrow yours? Wait, no. Scratch that request.
ReplyDeleteSee, if you'd been able to find the book you'd have known not to ask... but then you'd have had no reason to ask. Life as a Möbius strip.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Harry, you being a good friend, I'd be pleased to loan this precious volume - provided you have paper or cellophane at the ready. You are wearing gloves, I hope.