Business Etiquette

"Emily Post of Business" is Elizabeth Gregg MacGibbon, a tall, handsome, energetic Californian in her 50's. She has been a confidential secretary, an automobile editor, an advertising manager, head of her own agency. For five years she was an account executive with the big advertising firm of Erwin, Wasey & Co. Having observed business from both the inner and the outer office, she set out to advise women on how to get on in the business world. She lectures, writes a syndicated column, tours the country presenting edifying playlets in big department stores. The lead is played by Mrs. MacGibbon, other parts being taken by the store's employes. Last week Mrs. MacGibbon summed up her advice to working girls in a sprightly little book called Manners in Business.*

Mrs. MacGibbon strayed far from her title, having apparently learned that the only safe assumption is that working girls know nothing about manners and little about anything else. Appalling is the number of complaints she has heard from personnel managers about dirty hands, dirty nails, dirty hair, dirty necks. She found it necessary to get right down to such questions as how often to take a bath (once a day, in summer twice) and how often to change underwear (frequently). Large women should beware of sweaters and even slim girls should wear brassieres with knits.

Harping on the importance of personal appearance, Mrs. MacGibbon writes: "You no longer hear an employer say of his secretary, 'She doesn't look like much but how she can type!' He is more apt to say, 'I've got an A-1 secretary now and is she a looker!' " But: businessmen "wish their offices to have a dignified, not a sexy, atmosphere."

Sex, nevertheless, rates a chapter by itself. "Everywhere under the seemingly placid surface of business," observes Mrs. MacGibbon, "there is the undercurrent of sex, upsetting, repelling, attracting individuals whose lives would never have crossed but for the accident of close-range employment. But the day's work must be done, and the money earned to pay dividends as well as to keep beauty on the payrolls."

Types of employers for girls to beware of include the amorous executive who is convinced that "99 out of 100 want to be kissed"; and the "Don Juan," easily spotted by the picture of his wife on his desk "as a perpetual reminder to go home at night." This latter type often calls all the girls by diminutives of their surnames such as "Macky" or "Jonesy." He Promptly puts things on a "clubby" basis and "the invitation to take a drink with him after 5 o'clock is a prelude to a dinner invitation and sometimes more." A particularly obnoxious executive, usually over 35 and "happily married," is called "Felix the Feeler" because he cannot keep his hands off female flesh.

Christmas office parties seem to be something of a problem to working girls. "If a girl is not in the habit of drinking, this is a poor time to learn," Mrs. MacGibbon advises. Other advice: When encountering the boss in a night club wait for him to make social advances. Always rise when introduced to the boss's wife at the office. "But perhaps the worst feminine fault," says Mrs. MacGibbon, "is talking too much."

* Macmillan, $1.50.

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