Emily Post: "Table Manners" (1947)

Another odd little entry in the "How To Eat Right" film canon, which seems to change the rules from film to film. Ahh, but gentle reader, we get the grand dame of rulemaking herself, Emily Post, doing the narrative, so she SHOULD have the final word on the subject, right? Well, I'm not so sure. We first see her in her garden, lamenting about the fact that the number one concern people have is how to eat properly. She then takes us on a tour of courses, and how to eat each one. While some of it is certainly practical, there are other "rules" I'm surprised she's endorsing. For example, she says it's perfectly acceptable to pick up your soup bowl, put your lips to the bowl, and sip away. And her guidance on buttering bread seems at odds with the bread-buttering advice of other table manner films (and hey, where IS the dinner roll plate?). She also, incredibly, says that salad is to be eaten with a knife and fork, something which totally looks archaic today. After all that, I guess she realizes she has some time left to kill, so, bizarrely, the film jumps to points on how to eat spaghetti (spoon not required!) how to eat asparagus (!!) and finally, eating sticky desserts (napkin dab, napkin dab). The subjects used in these films look like zombies, especially when they're eating soup.. Bzzt, take dainty spoonful, bzzt, put it to mouth.. Bzzt take spoonful... Producer: Christy Associates, Inc. Sponsor: Post (Emily) Institute