Book of Etiquette | The National Committee for Education on Alcoholism - 1948
Offered here is an original May 1948 Book of Etiquette pamphlet issued by the National Committee for Education on Alcoholism, the pioneering organization founded by Marty Mann and closely associated during this period with the Yale Plan on Alcoholism.
Although modest in size, this pamphlet is an important piece of early alcoholism-education history.
The inside cover identifies Marty Mann as Executive Director and lists an extraordinary group of Board and Advisory Board members connected to the early development of Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism research, psychiatry, medicine, public education, treatment, and corrections.
Among the names represented are:
Bill Wilson (Bill W.)
Robert Smith, M.D. (Dr. Bob)
Marty Mann
E. M. Jellinek
Harry M. Tiebout, M.D.
Fulton Oursler
Clinton Duffy
Howard W. Haggard, M.D.
Austin H. MacCormick
Charles Jackson
Rev. Harry Emerson Fosdick
Dorothy Parker
Mary Pickford
—and many others.
Taken together, the roster provides a remarkable snapshot of the people helping shape public understanding of alcoholism during the late 1940s.
“Never insist on anyone taking a drink.”
The message of Book of Etiquette is simple and direct.
Written for people hosting parties and serving alcohol, the pamphlet encourages hosts to respect a guest who declines a drink. It warns that the person may be recovering from alcoholism and that even one drink could have serious consequences.
Its central instruction reads:
“Never insist on anyone taking a drink.”
The inside cover also presents the Committee’s three guiding principles:
1. Alcoholism is a disease and the alcoholic a sick person.
2. The alcoholic can be helped and is worth helping.
3. Alcoholism is a public health problem and therefore a public responsibility.
These ideas were central to Marty Mann’s campaign to change public attitudes toward alcoholism from shame and punishment toward education, treatment, and recovery.
Publication Details
Title: Book of Etiquette
Organization: National Committee for Education on Alcoholism
Affiliation: A Division of the Yale Plan on Alcoholism
Executive Director: Mrs. Marty Mann
Date: May 1948
Printing Code: 4:5M:5.48
Format: Folded pamphlet
Address: New York Academy of Medicine Building, 2 East 103rd Street, New York
Condition
This original 1948 pamphlet remains in very good condition for its age.
There is light handling and age toning to the covers, with some discoloration near the lower portion of the front cover. The interior remains clean and clearly legible.
Please review all photographs carefully for the exact condition of the item being offered.
Collector Significance
What makes this pamphlet especially desirable is the remarkable concentration of major names connected to early A.A., alcoholism research, treatment, psychiatry, public education, and corrections.
In one small 1948 publication we find Bill W., Dr. Bob, Marty Mann, E. M. Jellinek, Harry Tiebout, Fulton Oursler, Clinton Duffy, and many others who played important roles in changing how alcoholism was understood and addressed in America.
For collectors of early Alcoholics Anonymous history, Marty Mann, the Yale Plan on Alcoholism, alcoholism treatment history, or recovery-related ephemera, this is a particularly interesting and uncommon piece.
