Is it a faux pas to bring your own dessert to Aunt Pearl’s Thanksgiving feast?  What about calling in advance to let her know that your new love interest is coming to dinner and is a vegetarian?  After all, nothing is worse that having to break bread with an unhappy host – especially when it was something you did that made them a Scrooge.  Luckily, you have an online ally to help make the season bright.  The Etipedia is “etiquette’s home on the web!”

Thanks to the Emily Post Institute, we no longer have to just wonder what that grand dame of good manners would do in a situation.  We can go to the Etipedia and actually look it up!  According to the website,

The Etipedia® is our encyclopedia of etiquette, housing content from all of our published Emily Post Institute materials: books, surveys, videos, podcasts, magazine columns and online articles.

And just who or what is the Emily Post Institute?  Founded in 1946 by Emily Post and her son Ned, The Emily Post Institute has been promoting etiquette around the world for five generations.   What started in 1922 when Emily Post published here seminal book on proper manners, Etiquette, has grown into a family business in which her descendents are still actively engaged.  Good etiquette is in their blood!

The Etipedia can be browsed, using the content tabs on the top, or even searched using keywords and/or phrases.   It is very user friendly.  Emily would approve!  Try searching “food allergies” as a phrase and you will see what we mean.  Did you know that proper etiquette dictates handling food allergies and dietary preferences (e.g., vegetarianism) differently?  Well, now you do!

Thanks to the Etipedia, formal gatherings and family meals no longer have to be frightening.  Simply brush up before you go or bookmark it on your smartphone while you are there.  Just please keep that phone off the table!  Our personal favorite entry is the Top Ten Table Manners.  Memorize them now before the holidays are upon us!