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Tiffany's Table Manners for Teenagers
Here is the perfect little book for anyone—teenage or otherwise—who has ever wanted to master the art of good table manners. Written by Walter Hoving, former chairman of Tiffany's of New York, it is a step-by-step introduction to all the basics, from the moment the meal begins to the time it ends ("Remember that a dinner party is not a funeral, nor has your hostess invited you because she thinks you are in dire need of food. You're there to be entertaining"). In addition to the essentials about silverware, service, and sociability, it includes many of the fine points, too—the correct way to hold a fish fork, how to eat an artichoke properly, and, best of all, how to be a gracious dining companion.
Concise, witty, and illustrated with humor and style by Joe Eula, this classic guide to good table manners has delighted readers of all ages since 1961.
Concise, witty, and illustrated with humor and style by Joe Eula, this classic guide to good table manners has delighted readers of all ages since 1961.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
March 10, 2012
Walter Hoving, founder of Tiffany & Co, wrote a book of table manners after having lunch with his teenaged grandson in the 1960s. Rereleased for the 50th anniversary, this slim volume contains advice for each course of a meal as well as the usual stuff we learn from our parents: don't slouch, don't chew with your mouth full, and put that napkin on your lap.
This is not a good fit for urban public libraries. It is a rare modern teen who sits down for a five-course formal meal that requires knowing how to use multiple forks and spoons correctly. It was sometimes funny to read the old school advice such as "avoid imitating a trained seal." But this book will not see much use by your YA readers. Plus they want $17.99 for a 94 page book!
This is not a good fit for urban public libraries. It is a rare modern teen who sits down for a five-course formal meal that requires knowing how to use multiple forks and spoons correctly. It was sometimes funny to read the old school advice such as "avoid imitating a trained seal." But this book will not see much use by your YA readers. Plus they want $17.99 for a 94 page book!
January 19, 2011
I bought this book for my daughter when she was 4. Since I gave my son "50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know" when I came back from a business trip, she was upset that she did not get anything, she is 7 now. So I looked everywhere for this book and handed it to her. Boy am I happy I did, this book is magnificent, It is fun, witty and most importantly informative. I now know certain things about table manners I did not know before. I shall implement these tips from now on and hopefully, after she gives it a couple of reads, she will look at me and remember the book and be a little princess at the dinner table. An excellent gift for all young children, be it boy or girl.
August 4, 2016
Short, concise and to the point which is good if the purpose of the book is to explain table manners to teens. However, while the ink line drawings used to illustrate the "do's" and "don'ts" are interesting to look at they fail at clearly demonstrating hand positions for using utensils. Photographs would be better suited to teach or demonstrate which utensils to use and how to use them.
June 30, 2017
It's so cute. I love the last page. Hahaha.
September 7, 2023
I’ve never eaten at a fancy enough restaurant to have a fish fork and knife, but now I’ll know what to do if/when I find myself surrounded by a flock of forks! Also learned it’s ok to start eating before the host or hostess is seated - what else didn’t my parents tell me? Great little read with humorous sketches!
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December 23, 2018I was mostly in it for the lolz, but I actually learned a thing or two and the illustrations are delightful.
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March 21, 2024This book leaves me with one question: what is a mashie niblick?
May 6, 2021
Волтер Ховінг, був головою Tiffany & co і турботливим дідусем, бо якось після обіду зі своїм онуком, нписав цю коротеньку книгу етикету і столових манер для підлітків, яка дуже гарно до того ж проілюстрована у стилі коміксів Нью Йоркера.
September 24, 2010
Please! Adults need to read this! And yes, all you guys sitting next to someone as you crack your knuckles, crack gum, tap your feet, listen to bad sounds (and make weird primal sounds) that overflow your cheap ear buds and please...don't chew with your rude mouth open. And P.S. gum is never acceptable.
May 9, 2021
The only thing I own from Tiffany....
August 16, 2017
I heard of this book while watching a documentary in July 2017 about the history and socio-cultural impact of Tiffany's Department Store (we tend to forget they sell more than just diamonds). It was a cute and charming short book of straight forward and simple instructions for teens on how to behave in social situations that also involved eating. Each page is illustrated in the manner of an early 1930-50s New Yorker magazine style line drawing of characters in the situation for which the "manner" would be applicable.
Unfortunately, I doubt that young folks today would relate to or really even be interested by this book, unless they were exceptionally well-off, privately educated, well-traveled and from "old-money", as it were. I would be surprised if less well-off folks, even many of the Middle Class and doubtfully any of the "Nouveau Riche" would appreciate this little book. Frankly, it screams Old-money White Privilege, give-me-a-break-we-can't-afford-fast-food-and-a-movie-much-less-dinner-parties just a bit too loudly in my liberal progressive despite impending hopeless poverty status in Trump's America, August 2017, ears.
Please don't misunderstand me, I did enjoy the book. Honestly, I did. However, if I'd grown up in the kind of household and lifestyle that I've barely been able to provide my kids with instead of the upper-middle class, well-educated, we truly all can grow up to be better off than our parents and their parents before them lifestyle and household that I grew up in, I couldn't possibly relate to this book. In fact, I probably couldn't have related to it on any level and I know this because my own kids (22 & 17 in 2017) have trouble relating to it.
What I'd sincerely like to see is Tiffany's creating an updated version of Hoving's charming book for the 21st century and adapting not just the illustrations to the current era but also the Manners as well. And, perhaps create an additional volume addressing social behavior both private and pubic, in-person and on-line, with the same wit and clarity that the original "Table Manners for Teenagers" was created.
Unfortunately, I doubt that young folks today would relate to or really even be interested by this book, unless they were exceptionally well-off, privately educated, well-traveled and from "old-money", as it were. I would be surprised if less well-off folks, even many of the Middle Class and doubtfully any of the "Nouveau Riche" would appreciate this little book. Frankly, it screams Old-money White Privilege, give-me-a-break-we-can't-afford-fast-food-and-a-movie-much-less-dinner-parties just a bit too loudly in my liberal progressive despite impending hopeless poverty status in Trump's America, August 2017, ears.
Please don't misunderstand me, I did enjoy the book. Honestly, I did. However, if I'd grown up in the kind of household and lifestyle that I've barely been able to provide my kids with instead of the upper-middle class, well-educated, we truly all can grow up to be better off than our parents and their parents before them lifestyle and household that I grew up in, I couldn't possibly relate to this book. In fact, I probably couldn't have related to it on any level and I know this because my own kids (22 & 17 in 2017) have trouble relating to it.
What I'd sincerely like to see is Tiffany's creating an updated version of Hoving's charming book for the 21st century and adapting not just the illustrations to the current era but also the Manners as well. And, perhaps create an additional volume addressing social behavior both private and pubic, in-person and on-line, with the same wit and clarity that the original "Table Manners for Teenagers" was created.
July 22, 2025
Charming and good-humored -- both the words and the illustrations.
Some takeaways I'll be keeping in mind at the next dinner party I attend:
"You don't have to wait for your hostess to start eating, but don't leap at your food like an Irish wolfhound."
"Asparagus is eaten with the fingers, unless stalks are too long. If the asparagus is long and thin, cut off the ends with your fork held in your right hand and eat with your fork. You will then avoid imitating a trained seal. Then pick the shortened stalk up in your fingers."
"Don't talk with your mouth full. Some of your lunch might fall out. You must learn, however, to talk with a little in your mouth, simply because you can't always wait until you have swallowed everything before answering a question. So if you take a little at a time, you will always be ready to join the conversation. This takes skill and practice."
"Above all, be natural. Don't put on airs or try to be 'backstairs refined' by sticking your finger out at a ninety-degree angle when you lift your cup to your mouth. And, don't chew your food in a mincing, silly way. Just be yourself."
Some takeaways I'll be keeping in mind at the next dinner party I attend:
"You don't have to wait for your hostess to start eating, but don't leap at your food like an Irish wolfhound."
"Asparagus is eaten with the fingers, unless stalks are too long. If the asparagus is long and thin, cut off the ends with your fork held in your right hand and eat with your fork. You will then avoid imitating a trained seal. Then pick the shortened stalk up in your fingers."
"Don't talk with your mouth full. Some of your lunch might fall out. You must learn, however, to talk with a little in your mouth, simply because you can't always wait until you have swallowed everything before answering a question. So if you take a little at a time, you will always be ready to join the conversation. This takes skill and practice."
"Above all, be natural. Don't put on airs or try to be 'backstairs refined' by sticking your finger out at a ninety-degree angle when you lift your cup to your mouth. And, don't chew your food in a mincing, silly way. Just be yourself."
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April 23, 2023Picked this off the shelf in a used bookstore because the name made me snicker and the publishing date of sixty years ago (1961) suggested that it might be entertainingly filled with a quaint but dogmatic primness about table etiquette.
Some of the directives make fancy sort of sense: fill your soup spoon by scooping away from you, always impale your food with your tines pointed downward (i.e. with the curve of the fork arcing away from you), don’t leave your knife and fork hanging off the sides of your plate “like oars in a rowboat”, don’t eat the dessert doily, etc..
But corncob holders are prohibited for being “too precious and artificial”, so I guess you just get butter all over your hands? Don’t eat fried chicken with your fingers, “except at a picnic.” Don’t mop up water that you’ve spilled, just right your glass and keep talking to the person next to you (presumably about your mutual buttery grip). And whatever you do, you ignoramus, never hold your knife in your left hand.
Some of the directives make fancy sort of sense: fill your soup spoon by scooping away from you, always impale your food with your tines pointed downward (i.e. with the curve of the fork arcing away from you), don’t leave your knife and fork hanging off the sides of your plate “like oars in a rowboat”, don’t eat the dessert doily, etc..
But corncob holders are prohibited for being “too precious and artificial”, so I guess you just get butter all over your hands? Don’t eat fried chicken with your fingers, “except at a picnic.” Don’t mop up water that you’ve spilled, just right your glass and keep talking to the person next to you (presumably about your mutual buttery grip). And whatever you do, you ignoramus, never hold your knife in your left hand.
June 21, 2018
Originally published in 1989, this short book is authored by the chairman of Tiffany & Company from 1955 to 1980.
As the title indicates, the content focuses exclusively on TABLE manners - which fork to use, where to sit, what to do if you drop your napkin, etc.
It's a bit pretentious and outdated in parts, but I appreciated the brevity, the humor, and the corresponding illustrations. Would love to see a similarly formatted book for children that highlights important manners + etiquette for a variety of situations.
As the title indicates, the content focuses exclusively on TABLE manners - which fork to use, where to sit, what to do if you drop your napkin, etc.
It's a bit pretentious and outdated in parts, but I appreciated the brevity, the humor, and the corresponding illustrations. Would love to see a similarly formatted book for children that highlights important manners + etiquette for a variety of situations.
November 16, 2018
Better read, in my opinion, as humor rather than a straight guide to table manners, especially since the majority of teenagers (and people in general) will rarely find themselves experiencing an occasion in which to display their knowledge of how to properly eat an artichoke. I did, however, find the fact that one should eat asparagus and artichoke with their fingers interesting.
It's a cute little book and speedy read. Libraries probably shouldn't feel the need to make room for it, but it's a good addition to private collections.
It's a cute little book and speedy read. Libraries probably shouldn't feel the need to make room for it, but it's a good addition to private collections.
May 7, 2017
Apparently, this kind is what I read after midnight.
About the book, it was fine, regarding something I could very well have read about in a short 5 mins blog post otherwise. This too didn't take me more than ten minutes, though.
It is a subtle reminder of good and bad table manners, most of which we already know about (but tend to forget.) Nothing too great.
One thing, it has illustrations, if that helps.
About the book, it was fine, regarding something I could very well have read about in a short 5 mins blog post otherwise. This too didn't take me more than ten minutes, though.
It is a subtle reminder of good and bad table manners, most of which we already know about (but tend to forget.) Nothing too great.
One thing, it has illustrations, if that helps.
December 20, 2023
Cute, quick, and gets progressively sassier as you go on. It’s like he gets more tired and annoyed and thus, funnier.
Obviously a cute little money grab by Tiffany’s but actually I do wish I had read this before going to Cambridge, which has formal dinners. I might have had at least some system to follow instead of just getting stared at.
Does make me glad I wasn’t brought up this way, lol, we weren’t monsters but we just ate our food without worrying about much.
Obviously a cute little money grab by Tiffany’s but actually I do wish I had read this before going to Cambridge, which has formal dinners. I might have had at least some system to follow instead of just getting stared at.
Does make me glad I wasn’t brought up this way, lol, we weren’t monsters but we just ate our food without worrying about much.
June 25, 2024
Very amusing, with fun & interesting line-drawing illustrations. Some helpful tips, even for those of us who are seldom eating formal dinners. The underlying premises are quite important, and I think often forgotten: good manners at table are meant to make others comfortable and to help everyone have a good time together, in a neat & dignified & human way.
June 22, 2017
Precise notes on how one should behave at the dining table. It is not just good for teenagers; I believe it's for everyone!
Note: getting it on the Kindle was not a good idea as the layout was a bit weird.
Note: getting it on the Kindle was not a good idea as the layout was a bit weird.
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January 16, 2023Well this taught me how to properly eat, sit and converse at the table. I will be practicing this. I think it should be something we all learn and get into the proper habit of. It just looks better and it’s really only some slight adjustments to what we do now.
May 20, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this short little guide to table manners. While some guides can be extra wordy, this one is short, sweet, and sometimes comical. This would be an excellent addition to any classroom where students wanted to improve their sophistication and professional abilities.
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April 7, 2017395.54 H846 1989
October 26, 2017
Informative and entertaining. Good read.
Informative and entertaining. It’s hard to describe rules without being boring. This book, however, does exactly that and it does well.
Informative and entertaining. It’s hard to describe rules without being boring. This book, however, does exactly that and it does well.
July 26, 2018
Great intro and illustrations to table manners.
December 5, 2018
Charming little book. I enjoyed the illustrations and vintage humor.
May 7, 2019
I enjoyed learning the proper table manners! Loved this book! Definetly keeping this book for my future kids!!
February 6, 2020
Короткая и с картинками про этикет за столом.
June 3, 2020
Зураг дүрслэлээс бүтсэн авсаархан хөөрхөн ном байна. Зоогийн ширээний ард мөрдөх зүйлсийг богино товч тодорхой өгүүлсэн.
December 17, 2020
This book is cute, I don’t think it’s just a book for teenagers. Having table manners is something everyone should know! And this book doesn’t use a lot of details to explain and there are pictures.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews