The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing | Page 9

entertain their own friends who may happen to be present, but to see that everyone is welcome and that especially those who are not acquainted with many in the room have an opportunity to become so. Anyone asked to assist at a function of this sort is in a sense a hostess, and it is quite within her province to enter into conversation with any unoccupied guest whether she has been introduced or not.
The usual hours for an afternoon tea are from four to six, but in the case of a coming-out reception the hour is often prolonged to seven so as to allow more men to be present than would be the case if the time were restricted to the early afternoon. In these busy days few men are at liberty to make afternoon calls, and it is always a compliment to a girl if her tea includes a sprinkling of black coats. Whatever hours are decided on, they should be engraved on the cards sent out two weeks before the tea. These are of the form and size of an ordinary visiting-card and include the daughter's name below that of her mother's. If she is the eldest unmarried daughter or the only girl in the family the card reads as follows:
Mrs. Geo. Baker Blank Miss Blank
December 9, 1911 4 to 7 o'clock
The daughter's given name is only used in case she has an older unmarried sister.
Ball and Evening Reception.
A more elaborate form of coming-out party consists of a ball or of an evening reception followed by dancing, and in this case the card contains the word "Dancing" below the date of the entertainment and the hours at which it is given. Few homes are large enough to provide for even a small dance, and so a party of this sort is generally given at a hotel. The guests as well as the receiving party wear evening gowns without hats, and men are expected to come in full evening clothes, which means the long-tailed coats and not the popular Tuxedo, white gloves, and, although this is not obligatory, white waistcoats.
After a girl has been introduced into society she has her individual visiting-cards, makes her own calls and is allowed to receive her own friends. Social customs differ with locality, and the chaperon is less customary in the West than in the East. In many cities girls are allowed to go to the theater and to evening parties with a man friend without a married woman being included in the party. A wise girl, however, is careful that any man she meets shall be introduced as soon as possible to some older member of her family and to introduce a young man calling for the first time to either her mother or father. Also when she accepts an invitation to an evening's entertainment she insists that her escort shall call for her at her own home and bring her directly home at the close of it. Dining or supping at a restaurant alone with a young man is sure to expose a girl to criticism.
A Woman's Lunch.
There are many pleasant forms of entertainment offered to a young girl entering society in which men are not included, and the most popular of these is a woman's lunch. This is a favorite form of entertainment for a young married woman to give in honor of some girl friend who has just come out in society or whose engagement has just been announced. One o'clock or half after is the usual hour, and the meal is served in courses and is as elaborate as the household resources may allow. The decorations of the table are important, and three courses are sufficient if they are carefully arranged. Handsome street costumes are worn for a function of this sort, and the guest of honor, if there is one, dresses as the others do. Outer wraps are left in the hall or in a room put aside for this purpose, and, as a rule, hats are retained and gloves removed when the guests sit down at table.
The custom of wearing a hat during lunch is not an arbitrary one, and it is not universal. In France, for example, where social customs are most carefully observed, it is the custom to wear handsome afternoon gowns if invited for the noon meal and to remove hats. The noon meal there is a social function, and certain formalities are observed. In London, on the contrary, no matter if a number of guests are expected, lunch is an informal occasion, and women dress for lunch as they would for an afternoon tea.
Hats are worn and women are prepared to rush off afterwards to meet other engagements. The English custom prevails now in the large cities in America, and, moreover, women