Here are just the books to help you:
Etiquette for Everybody, edited by Miriam Reichl ($4) SOLD
Written in 1952, it is not too weird.
The Book of Good Manners, by Victor H. Diescher ($3)
Here in 1923 there are starting to be a LOT of rules.
Encyclopaedia of Etiquette, by Emily Holt ($2.50)
This is my favorite of the lot, even though it has some water damage. How do you say good-by to your guests in 1915? You ring for the butler to help "the guest in finding his coat... and to open the hall door." Are you a man going bicycling? Remember to wear your "waistcoat and knickerbockers." And if you are riding with a female, be sure to show "manly consideration for womanly timidity and inferiority of strength." But if it rains, and you are a woman, be sure not to accept an offer from a stranger to share an umbrella. But if you do, be sure to get his name so that a man of your family can visit him at home to thank him. The most useful advice from the book, at least for me, was the instructions on how to train servants. Now there is something I really need to know! Finally, be sure NOT to use "gas jets or electric lights" at dinner, as they are a "tasteless, tactless means of illuminating a dining room." This stuff goes on and on. Of course, even in 1915 not everyone worried about this kind of thing.
Here in 2011this stuff is fun to read. You can find these books in the home arts section. Enjoy!
