“The upper classes were trying to patrol their borders and make sure that the newly rich didn't cross. And etiquette manuals, some people argue, were a result of those people who wanted to enter these exclusive precincts, wanting a guide as to how to do it.”
“Questions tend to come up during periods of change. Periods of immigration, periods where technology transforms the way we live, periods where there's a big population explosion, so there are more people encountering each other on a daily basis. All of those kinds of situations, I think, create a shift and a reinvestigation of manners and what they are.”