There are useful manners, and then manners that people are like "what the fuck is that about?" when they hear them. But all manners had some use at some time. Many of the ones I was all "what the fuck is that about?" were useful back when servants were common.
Example: breaking your bread over your plate, buttering it over your plate, and popping the morsel into your mouth. WTF? But if you think about it, even the softest bread generates crumbs. So, breaking it over the plate means all those crumbs land in your plate, and your servants have less to sweep up over the night.
No elbows on the table. WTF? Why not? But if you have wine on the table and someone who likes to gesture with their hands, well, no elbows on the table keeps them from knocking the wine over as often. And wine stains, so it's even more important to keep it from hitting the cloth.
Ask for items to be passed instead of reaching for them. This one also keeps the person who needs the item from knocking things over and making a mess.
These are all I can think of for the moment, but I'm sure there's others.
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