By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – These days, there is a long list of life coaches and influencers who provide advice, techniques, tips, etc., for the betterment of society or life skills. When it comes to etiquette and table manners, the most foremost expert on the matter was American author and socialite Emily Post. Since her time, there has been a roster of debutant balls, etiquette, charm and glamor schools and/or courses.
Department stores teaching etiquette
With Boston being a center for the culturally refined, it stands to reason the city has a history of educating women in the art of making an impression in polite society. Moreover, some local department stores were big proponents of the etiquette movement well into the 1970s since this was a great way for stores to promote their brands.
Beginning in the 1930s, R. H. White Department store (bought by Filene’s in 1928) offered a short course in the “field of charm” which was taught be a visiting expert. By the 1940s, Jordan Marsh launched the Marsha Jordan Fashion Board or “fashion council” while Chandler’s began the Junior Charm School for young ladies.
Perhaps more memorable for some are Jordan Marsh’s Marsha Jordan contests and the Marsha Jordan Girls. The contests, which lasted into the 1970s, were hugely popular for pre-teen and teenage girls and as split into three divisions for girls of different age groups – Connie Cut-Up, Jan Jordan and Marsha Jordan. Girls from the area would compete to be the store’s youth fashion spokesperson for an entire year and were chosen to serve on a fashion board along with being given a chance to model clothing at events during their time of service.
Marsha Jordan Girls reminisce
Young females were also afforded the opportunity to join any of the three Jordan Marsh clubs depending on their age, had access to fashion shows, beauty tips and other offers to help bring out their best. Several women took to Facebook to share their own stories when asked if they were a Marsha Jordan Girl.
Photo/Wikimedia Commons
Adelle Sumner wrote:
“You bet I was. Got my first charge card there, I still have it.”
Janice Maloney Abdalla added:
“My mother worked for Jordan Marsh in the 50s. She was a fashion coordinator. She did the window display of a replica of Grace Kelly’s wedding gown during that time and also escorted Debbie Reynolds around when she was doing a promotion at the store. She has a lot of stories from the time she worked there.”
Meghan Martel Reid wrote:
“My mother was a Marsha Jordan girl!!”
Other stores follow suit
Filene’s and Gilchrist followed suit with their own versions of a charm school and R. H. Stearns took it one step further with author Marjabelle Young Stewart’s course entitled, “White Gloves and Party Manners.” The $20, six-week course offered girls aged 5 to eleven special lessons in the ways of polite young society, a special guidebook, and a pair of white gloves. Stewart, also known as the “Queen of Couth,” taught several U.S. presidents about the art of social graces.
Of course, many of these courses ended with a graduation ceremony and certificate. Marianne Tay wrote, “I did both the Filene’s and Jordan’s Charm schools. I still have the certificate from Filene’s from 1968. I fondly remember the pink hatboxes from Jordan’s – all our materials were given to us in a big pink hatbox, and we had to bring it with us for every class. I am not ‘model material’ but it was great fun.”
In “Confessions of a Marsha Jordan Girl,” writer Ann Hood recalls wearing the cranberry blouse with gray and white striped pants and jacket uniforms and the practice of standing on pedestals at home. She remembers a training program that helped women become more polished personally and professionally before going off to college or entering the workforce.
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