Mr. Manners

At lunch today, I was treated to the sight of a man vigorously picking his teeth as he stood in line to check out.  Apparently he never read the U.S. Army pamphlet “Personal Conduct for the Soldier” [ca. 1949], else he would have come to this illustration in the chapter on table manners:

 

Two soldiers pick their teeth while eating dinner in the cafeteria

Two soldiers pick their teeth while eating dinner in the cafeteria

 

If you have a moment, be sure to follow the link and take a look at the rest of the pamphlet.  There are some unintentionally funny recommendations in there.  Of course, given the date of publication, there is also some mild sexism.

I particularly got a kick out of the illustration in which men are advised not to let the “homely” girl know that they are there to see her prettier sister.

  1. Mel B.
    September 17th, 2009 at 16:53 | #1

    Well, at least they were pretending to be nice to the homely girl. That’s better than what people learn today. Homely girl/fat girl = doesn’t exist.

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