The Book of Good Manners | Page 6

the guests bow to the committee and pass on.
It is not necessary to take leave of the committee.
CARRIAGE. A man should provide a carriage in which to call for the
woman he escorts and her chaperone.
CHAPERONES. For a small ball given in a private house, the hostess
need not invite the mothers of the young women, and the young women
can properly attend, knowing that the hostess will act as a chaperone.
But at a large ball it is necessary to invite the mother as well as the
daughters, and the chaperone as well as the debutante under her care.
The mother can send regrets for herself, and send her daughters in care
of a maid. Or she can attend, and, after remaining a suitable time, she
may entrust her daughter to the care of a chaperone who intends to

remain the whole evening.

BALLS FOR DEBUTANTE.
DRESS. A debutante should dress in white or some extremely delicate
color, and wear very little jewelry--some simple brooch or single piece
of jewelry, or a slender chain of pearls.
DUTIES OF DAUGHTERS. Except at her own debut, a daughter does
not assist her mother in receiving. She should be ready, however, to see
that young women have partners, and to speak, without introduction, to
strangers.
GUEST OF HONOR. If the ball is given in honor of some special
person, he should be met on his arrival, introduced to the women of the
reception committee, escorted to the seat prepared for him, and be
looked after the entire evening.
At the end of the ball he should be escorted to his carriage.
DUTIES OF HOST. It is not necessary that a man receive with his wife.
He should do all he can to help make the ball successful, especially if
his name appears on the invitation. He should assist in finding partners
for the women, taking the chaperones into supper, preventing the men
from selfishly remaining in the dressing-room, and at the end escorting
unattended women to their carriages.
When a formal supper is served, he takes into supper the leading
chaperone.
DUTIES OF HOSTESS. As a ball is an entertainment for dancing, it is
better to give two small balls where the guests are not crowded than
one where they are. It is permissible for a hostess not having sufficient
room to hire rooms in some place suitable for the purpose.
In selecting guests, it is wise to have more men present than women.

The hostess should see to it that the rooms are well ventilated and well
lighted. An awning and a carpet from the street to the hall door should
be provided.
The hostess should stand near the door, prepared to receive the guests
as they enter, shaking hands with each one, friend or stranger, and
introducing any woman who may receive with her.
A hostess herself should not dance until late in the evening, unless she
knows that nearly all her guests have arrived.
A wise hostess will personally see that the women are provided with
partners, and that diffident young men are introduced.
The hostess should see that the floor is suitable for dancing, that music
is arranged, programs printed, that dressing-rooms, one for the men and
one for the women, are arranged for with suitable attendants.
The hostess should stand where the guests can take leave of her, and
should shake hands with each when leaving.
HOURS. In the city the hour for a ball to begin is from 10.30 to 11
P.M., but in the country the hour is earlier--from 9 to 9.30.
A public ball begins promptly at the time mentioned in the
announcement.
INVITATIONS. These are issued from ten to twenty days before the
ball, and should be answered immediately.
For an impromptu dance, they may be issued within a few days of the
affair.
These invitations should be engraved. As a general rule, it is not now
customary to put on them the letters R. S. V. P.
But when an engraved invitation is posted, two envelopes are used, the
inner one bearing the person's name only and unsealed, and the outer
bearing both the name and address and sealed.

If the ball has any peculiar feature, as a masquerade or costume, the
invitation should have some words to that effect in the lower left hand
corner--as, Costume of the XVIIth Century, Bal Masque, or Bal
Poudre.
INVITATIONS ASKED FOR STRANGERS. If a hostess receives a
request from friends for invitations for friends of theirs, she can
properly refuse all such requests, and no friend should feel aggrieved at
a refusal for what she has no right to ask and which the hostess is under
no obligation to give. If the hostess chooses to grant the request, well
and good.
She would