Miss Manners column began
The "Miss Manners" column, created by Judith Martin in 1978, offers a contemporary approach to etiquette, blending traditional manners with modern social dynamics. Martin, a Wellesley College graduate and journalist with a background in social activism, recognized a growing need for guidance on manners amidst the changing societal landscape post-1960s. Her column, which quickly gained popularity despite initial skepticism from her editors, was inspired by a legendary figure known for teaching etiquette to previous generations.
Adopting the persona of "Miss Manners," Martin's writing features a unique blend of wit, irony, and references to literary figures, making her advice both engaging and relatable. The column's success led to its syndication in over two hundred newspapers and the publication of several best-selling books, establishing Martin as a leading voice in the realm of etiquette. Through her work, she emphasizes that good manners can enhance social interactions and reduce conflict, making her insights valuable to a diverse audience seeking guidance on navigating social situations.
Miss Manners column began
Identification Syndicated newspaper column
Date First published in 1978
Author Judith Martin
Martin redefined the purpose of etiquette for a constantly changing society and created a uniquely witty persona through which to express her views.
Key Figures
Judith Martin (1938- ), etiquette columnist and author
For Judith Martin, etiquette makes it possible for humans to enjoy the ceremonies of life, whether family meals or weddings, and avoid unpleasant confrontations with others, whether in the family, the workplace, or traffic. As the daughter of Jacob Perlman, an economist for the United Nations, she traveled extensively, seeing the differing forms of etiquette in other cultures and recognizing the urgent need for good manners. A Wellesley College graduate (1959) and, beginning in 1960, a reporter for The Washington Post, she was committed to social change as well as outspoken. Washington Post owner Katharine Graham in her 1997 memoir PersonalHistory recalled seeing Martin pushing a baby carriage in a 1972 picket line to protest the exclusion of women as members from the prestigious Gridiron Club. Likewise, because of previous comments about President Richard M. Nixon and his family, Martin was the only reporter barred from covering the 1971 White House wedding of Nixon’s daughter Tricia. Martin briefly recalled this incident in a collection of newspaper columns, The Name on the White House Floor, published in 1972.
In 1978, she created her advice column, which incorporated both her sense of the importance of good manners and her acceptance that changing conditions create the need for changing manners; unlike most previous etiquette writers, she was not locked into maintaining the rigid rules of a vanished elite. Her editors were not enthusiastic about the column’s potential because etiquette seemed a dead issue after the social changes of the 1960’s, but the flood of letters in response to Martin’s column assured her success. Her column was quickly syndicated, appearing in more than two hundred newspapers.
The success of the column was in part the result of the “Miss Manners” persona that Martin adopted for her column. Miss Manners was a legendary figure used to educate earlier generations in the refinements of etiquette (“What would Miss Manners say?”). Martin wrote as if she were that figure. Her prose style, reminiscent of the style of nineteenth century British novelist Jane Austen, whom she admired, combined unusually impeccable grammar and sentence structure and generally clear and simple word choice. Her responses were spiced by irony, modern idioms, and the occasional Victorianism or reference to a Victorian figure, such as author Anthony Trollope, as if Martin and that Victorian were contemporaries. The result was a highly original comic style attractive to general readers as well as those interested in specific points of etiquette.
Impact
Judith Martin quickly became the most influential writer in her field. The overwhelming response to her column resulted in a series of best-selling books, beginning with Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior (1982), Common Courtesy: In Which Miss Manners Solves the Problems That Baffled Mr. Jefferson (1985), and Miss Manners’ Guide to Rearing Perfect Children (1984).
Bibliography
Caldwell, Mark. A Short History of Rudeness: Manners, Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America. New York: Picador USA, 2000.
Koeppel, Geri. “Judith Martin.” In Newsmakers: The People Behind Today’s Headlines. Issue 4. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000.