Rules of Civility

Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year-old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.

First commercial transatlantic flight (by Pan Am) Blue Note records established as Charlie Parker settles in NY “The Wizard of Oz” starring Judy Garland Einstein-Szilard letter alerting Roosevelt that Germans are working on an atom bomb

Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall concert Superman introduced in Action Comics #1 (followed by Batman a year later) British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain confirms “Peace for our time” Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre

Joe Louis becomes heavy weight champion The zipper gains ascendancy over the button in men’s pants as Lana Turner popularizes “the sweater girl” look Minetta Tavern opens on MacDougal Street

First washateria in the US Polarized sunglasses and sunblock first marketed “Modern Times” with Charlie Chaplin Spanish Civil War begins

Penguin publishes first paperback (Andre Maurois’s Ariel) United Auto Workers (UAW) forms and immediately organizes strikes Monopoly introduced by Parker Brothers Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

Chanel #5 advertised actively in New York Donald Duck appears in his first film New York premier of Anything Goes by Cole Porter

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appear in first of ten films. Billie Holiday’s recording debut (at age 18, with Benny Goodman) United States v. One Book Called Ulysses finds Joyce’s novel is not pornographic

“Room in New York” by Edward Hopper “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” debuts, the first science fiction program on radio Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley The Dow Jones reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.2

Cab Calloway’s orchestra replaces Duke Ellington’s at the Cotton Club Ziegfield Follies closes Al Capone indicted Pair-o-Dice, the first Las Vegas casino, opens for business