![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/gallant_manners-game_time.jpg\" "\\"gallant_manners-game_time\\"")
<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tWhoever said\u00a0the subject of manners must be stodgy, serious, and stern?<\/p>\n
Well, one thing is for certain: it was not the Goops.<\/p>\n
Have you heard of them\u2014the Goop family, that is?<\/p>\n
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Perhaps you know them by remote reputation. Whether they’re licking their fingers, interrupting visitors, or pulling little girls’ hair, the Goops’ notoriously unrefined habits have earned them more than a century’s worth of fame, and they have garnered a devoted following of fans that has spanned generations.<\/p>\n
The Goops, you see, are a positively unpolished family inhabiting a series of books written by a funny fellow named Gelett Burgess<\/a> in the early 1900s. While manners and etiquette were the foundation upon which the Goop household was built, this gauche gaggle of round-headed ruffians simply couldn’t bear to behave, imparting lasting lessons within the guise of giggles.<\/p>\n Take this example, from Goops, and how-not-to-be-them, published in 1900 …<\/p>\n The Goops they lick their fingers, The Goops they talk while eating More than 100 years after their debut, the Goops now have their own official website, Goops Unlimited<\/a>, where you can buy the books, peruse the Ps and Qs of Politeness at the Table<\/a>, and play family-oriented Goops games online<\/a>.<\/p>\n Book cover: More Goops and How Not to Be Them by Gelett Burgess<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whoever said\u00a0the subject of manners must be stodgy, serious, and stern? Well, one thing is for certain: it was not the Goops. Have you heard of them\u2014the Goop family, that is? Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/gallant_manners-excuse_me.jpg\" "\\"gallant_manners-excuse_me\\"")
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\nand the Goops they lick their knives;
\nThey spill their broth on the tablecloth,
\nOh, they lead disgusting lives!<\/p>\n
\nAnd loud and fast they chew;
\nAnd that is why I’m glad that I
\nAm not a Goop\u2014are you?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/gallant_manners-more_goops.jpg\" "\\"gallant_manners-more_goops\\"")