Etiquette And Manners Vol. 1
“SOCIETY” is an ambiguous term; it may mean much or nothing. Every
human being—unless dwelling alone in a cave—is a member of society of
one sort or another, and therefore it is well to define what is to be
understood by the term “Best Society” and why its authority is
recognized. Best Society abroad is always the oldest aristocracy;
composed not so much of persons of title, which may be new, as of those
families and communities which have for the longest period of time known
highest cultivation. Our own Best Society is represented by social
groups which have had, since this is America, widest rather than longest
association with old world cultivation. Cultivation is always the basic
attribute of Best Society, much as we hear in this country of an
“Aristocracy of wealth.”
To the general public a long purse is synonymous with high position—a
theory dear to the heart of the “yellow” press and eagerly fostered in
the preposterous social functions of screen drama. It is true that Best
Society is comparatively rich; it is true that the hostess of great
wealth, who constantly and lavishly entertains, will shine, at least to
the readers of the press, more brilliantly than her less affluent
sister. Yet the latter, through her quality of birth, her poise, her
inimitable distinction, is often the jewel of deeper water in the social
crown of her time.
The most advertised commodity is not always intrinsically the best,
but is sometimes merely the product of a company with plenty of money to
spend on advertising. In the same way, money brings certain people
before the public—sometimes they are persons of “quality,” quite as
often the socalled “society leaders” featured in the public press do not
belong to good society at all, in spite of their many published
photographs and the energies of their press-agents. Or possibly they do
belong to “smart” society; but if too much advertised, instead of being
the “queens” they seem, they might more accurately be classified as the
court jesters of to-day.
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