Here are various matters of manners that I found on the web and by just asking people about the topic of Southern manners and etiquette.
• Funerals – Stop and pull over for a funeral procession unless doing so would create a genuine hazard (not just an inconvenience).
• Titles – Use “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or “Miss” (plus the last name) when addressing someone until that person asks you to use their first name.
• “Sir” and “Ma’am” – Use “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” (or ma’am) unless the other person asks that you do otherwise.
• Thank You notes – When someone gives you a gift. Keep a supply of Thank You note cards on hand.
• Handshakes – A proper handshake is a firm handshake. The web between thumb and forefinger of both parties should touch. It is a handshake not a fingershake.
• Teacups – Despite what you may see in a movie, extending the “pinkie” is comical – not polite.
• Opening doors – Holding a door open for another is the right thing to do no matter who it is, but it should especially be done for women, the handicapped, and your elders.
• Hats and caps – This is one of the most commonly violated rules of polite behavior, and a new generation of Southerners has apparently failed to realize that wearing a ball cap in a restaurant or other indoor location is just plain rude. The rule is basically this – if you are in a place where people would commonly sit down, then you remove your hat or cap. So, hats are OK in a shopping mall, not OK in a restaurant. Hats are always OK when outdoors except for times when it is removed as a show of respect. Examples of hat removal for respect are during a funeral, during a prayer, during the playing of the National Anthem (including Dixie or other songs equivalent to a national anthem), as the flag passes by (federal or Confederate), and any other time you want to indicate respect.
• Don’t confuse etiquette and manners. It’s bad etiquette to use your dinner fork on your salad. It’s bad manners to comment that someone used their dinner fork on their salad. Manners always trumps etiquette.