Some ladies make it a point to be "at home" almost every day at a
certain hour, and serve tea or coffee in their drawing-rooms,
accompanied by either wafers, maccaroons, fancy cakes, or small
delicate sandwiches, and perhaps bouillon for masculine callers.
Such a lady who is bright and interesting, who gives a warm welcome,
yet does not bind any one to a longer stay than the conventional ten
minutes, is sure of drawing about her a delightful circle of
acquaintances, men and women alike being pleased to drop in on their
way home from the city, or from more pretentious gatherings.
This is the afternoon tea in its simplest form. In London afternoon
tea is universal. If you are calling anywhere in the latter part of
the afternoon, tea and thin bread and butter will be offered you as a
matter of course, or if it has already been handed round, you will be
asked if you have had your tea, and if not a fresh supply will be
immediately brought.
If bread is thin enough, butter fresh, cake good, and tea and coffee
perfection, you have provided all that is necessary. In warm weather
ices or strawberries could be added. In England you will very seldom
be given more than this at the best houses, and in Italy, where the
afternoon receptions are the most agreeable entertainments imaginable,
you will never be offered anything more than dainty little cakes,
chocolate and tea. These slight refreshments are usually served in the
simplest way. The hostess herself, or if the guests are numerous a
white-capped _bonne_ or two, pours out the tea and chocolate and the
men of the party hand it to the ladies. Often the children of the
house flit to and fro, carrying cups of tea or plates of cake, and
everybody talks to everybody else. There will be the best pictures on
the walls or the easels, often the best music from people the world
knows well, and a reception thus simple in point of refreshment, but
rich in the pleasures of art, is a memorable delight.
Still other ladies are at home on some one afternoon in each week, and
announce that fact on their cards under their names as follows:
Thursdays in February. Tea at Four O'clock. Or, if for a single
occasion, it may read thus: Four O'clock Tea. Tuesday, February Fifth.
Or, MRS. GEORGE GREEN, Five O'clock Tea. Tuesday, January Fifth. 47
Sussex Place. Or, MRS. GEORGE GREEN. Thursdays. Four to Seven. 47
Sussex Place. The year, or P.M., should not appear on the card.
These invitations require no answer, and no after calls, since really
it is nothing more than a grand calling day. Those who cannot attend,
call as soon as convenient, and those who come leave cards in the
hall. Walking or carriage costumes are worn. Men wear morning dress.
The hostess dons a handsome reception gown, never an evening dress.
The young ladies who assist her are prettily clad in fabrics that suit
the season, but which must not suggest ball toilet.
The simple refreshments served must be the very best of their kind.
This style of afternoon tea is suitable for city or suburban life.
The Five O'clock Tea Table.
Beginning with the table itself, it may be a small oval, circular or
hexagon shape. Any one of these is preferable to a square one. If the
surface of the table is highly polished and it is preferred not to
cover it entirely, a handsome square or round centerpiece doily, which
is only a dinner centerpiece, is used, or a teacloth a yard square may
prettily and wholly veil it.
For the actual furnishing of the table there are required a tea caddy,
teapot, a hot water kettle, a cosy, a wafer or cracker dish, two or
three pretty cups and saucers, cream jug and sugar bowl.
To measure the tea with a spoon is not considered quite so correct,
and so redolent of the old-time flavor as to use the cup-cover of the
caddy, "one fill to a brew." A glass mat may be provided to set the
hot teapot upon, and the spoons are laid loose upon the table.
Cups should hold more than an actual thimbleful, though they need not
hold a pint, and should bear some relation to the laws of gravitation
in their poise upon the saucer. They should have a smooth rim. A
fluted edge is a most uncomfortable finish for a drinking vessel. The
wafer-basket may be silver, china or cut glass.
For the winter months many hostesses have introduced a variety on the
menu of the five o'clock tea table. Tea is a doubtful beverage in many
hands, and is wholly abjured by many women as injurious to the
complexion, hence a big, egg-shaped urn, beneath which a tiny alcohol
jet burns, is set up in the corner of the drawing-room. The urn is
filled with chicken bouillon, served piping hot in small silver cups,
and with an invigorating dash of sherry for those who prefer it so.
With the bouillon are served platters of toasted water biscuit that
have been sparingly buttered and lightly sprinkled with salt.
Sometimes, in place of salt, a powdering of cheese is grated over the
hot cracker, and for a relish at five o'clock nothing could be
preferable to this light, warm repast. Men, it is well to remark,
heartily advocate the change from insipid tea to the invigorating hot
bouillon.
Pages.
The special innovation for the benefit of women are two drawing-room
pages. These are small, well-trained little boys in buttons, livery or
done up in stippers, white linen and turbans, who at intervals of
fifteen minutes carry about among the callers large lacquer trays, on
which are spread violets and rose leaves, crystallized and salted nuts
with ginger. One is supposed to scoop up a few of the confections or
nuts as the pages pass.
Receiving Friends.
Those friends invited to pour tea or chocolate also come at the hour
named, and after removing their wraps seat themselves at their
particular tables, or at their end of the one long table. It is their
duty to dispense, besides the cups that cheer, words and smiles that
cheer also to every one who comes, no matter whether they know them or
not. Usually they can do much to make it lively for all in their
immediate vicinity. If the afternoon is a long one and guests numerous
several of the receiving party volunteer to relieve those at the urns,
and they spend an hour pleasantly about the rooms and beside the
hostess.
These are the kindly things expected of a woman who accepts an
invitation "to receive," and when she has done them gracefully and
prettily she is a social "sister of mercy."
If the number of guests is small the hostess herself frequently
serves, with perhaps her daughter or some friend, to assist.
The Eatables.
The tea, with its pretty equipage, is placed on the table by her side;
sometimes chocolate is provided, and occasionally a crystal pitcher of
milk for any who may desire it. Some very thin sandwiches (rolled ones
are better), a silver basket of sweet biscuit and one of mixed fancy
cakes, form an all-sufficient menu. A small cluster of flowers in a
slender vase and the table is complete.
Friends greet one another, drink a social cup of tea, chat a little,
and that is all. Formal leave-taking is not expected.
Sliced lemon should be at hand for any who prefer the creamless,
sugarless Russian tea with a slice of lemon floating on its amber
tide.
Some ladies invite several young girls to help serve and entertain,
and, in the eyes of the masculine half of creation, this adds greatly
to the beauty of the picture; for ever since tea became famous in our
society, men have found much to admire in a girl who can serve it
gracefully.
A kettledrum and an elaborate five o'clock tea are precisely the same
form of entertainment. The term "kettledrum" is not very frequently
used.
Some of the guests at "at homes" have so little judgment in the matter
of departure that experience never serves them in good stead. They
are nervous and vacillating when they should be neither; they linger
and know not how to get themselves gracefully away, and usually
succeed in making an abrupt exit. They know the right moment at which
to leave, but fail to put this knowledge into practice. "Almost think
it is time to go now," or "I wonder whether I ought to say good-bye or
wait until some one else comes in."
The regulation conventional time for a call on an "at home" day is
about twenty minutes, but this can be lengthened out to half an hour
or forty minutes, circumstances being favorable, or shortened to ten
minutes when the position is distinctly unfavorable to a longer stay.
"Bringing Out" a Debutante.
The "bringing out" of a _debutante_ at an afternoon tea has become,
because of its simplicity, a favorite method. It affords opportunity
to invite a number of young "rosebuds" to cluster about her, and it
does not subject the "bud" to the ordeal of a ceremonious, or large,
ball.
The _debutante's_ name will be engraved below that of her mother, on
at "At Home" card.
If she be the eldest daughter, her name is written MISS MANNING. If
she have elder sisters, it is MISS AMY MAY MANNING.
No answer is expected to these cards, but each recipient will note the
especial significance of the occasion by leaving cards in the hall for
her as well as her mother, and, if the invitation be not accepted,
they will send or leave cards within a few days, for both her and her
mother.
An elaborate afternoon tea is often given in honor of some stranger,
when the cards will read as follows: MRS. JAMES LADD, At Home,
Tuesday, March Tenth, from Four until Seven o'clock, to meet MRS.
GORDON BENNET. 5 South Fiftieth street.
This would indicate a daytime, but not usually a day-lighted assembly,
and means flowers, gaslight and music; elaborate costumes as may be
without infringing on actual evening dress, and refreshments, all too
abundant for those who expect a dinner to follow.
Ladies leave outer wraps in hall, or dressing-room, but do not remove
their bonnets. Gentlemen who expect to spend but a few moments, carry
their hats with them into the drawing-room.
The table is made attractive with beautiful linen, china, and silver,
and salads and oysters, ices and cake turn this entertainment from a
simple afternoon tea into a "high tea." The tea-room is never
deserted, and, although servants are in attendance, there are young
girls to pour the tea and add the charm of their presence to the hour.
Dancing even is suggested by the enchanting waltz music that floats
from some hidden nook, and a hostess with a sufficiently spacious home
often provides a room for this amusement, gentlemen and ladies who
wish to participate, disposing of their wraps in the dressing-room.
Gentlemen Visitors.
These occasions usually capture more men than any other daytime
gathering. They attend in Prince Albert (frock) coat, neat scarf,
faultless gloves, perfect-fitting shoes, and unexceptionable hat. They
need not remain long, they need not talk much, and they are sure to
find some few that they recognize; and besides, in the best society,
the theory of non-introduction gives each person the privilege of
conversing with anyone present. Yet, hostesses who are strong in their
social positions are not afraid to introduce people who meet under
their roof, or to express pleasure that you took the time to call.
Such a hostess brightens and warms the atmosphere, and the busy, tired
man, who does not usually enjoy such affairs, will enjoy coming to her
house and will come again.
How to Leave.
When the drawing-room is crowded it is possible to leave without
saying adieu to the hostess, and good form does not necessitate the
hostess to ask anyone to call again.
An Afternoon Tea-Saucer.
A convenience that any victim of the afternoon tea will appreciate is
a tray or elongated saucer, oval in shape. At one end is a rest made
of gold wire, in which the cup stands. The other is quite large
enough to allow of serving sandwiches, biscuit, or even a bit of salad
without burdening the guest with a second object to hold. The cup
stands firm in its place. Not even the jostling common in a crowded
room will displace it or endanger that breakage which so often follows
a crush. The tray is easily held in one hand, and the other is free to
handle fork or spoon without inconvenience of the smallest sort.
Pretty teapots for the five o'clock tea table are of rosewood in a
pinkish brown and in the usual olive coloring. The handles of the lids
are butterflies, and a butterfly is on the handle used for pouring.
Some of these elegant little pots are overlaid with a tracery of
silver. Teapots intended for Easter favors are of brown porcelain in
the form of a chicken with the mouth doing duty for the spout.
"Pink and Blue Teas."
These have been a great "fad," and while not quite so popular, are
pretty enough to deserve mention. A table is too often confused in its
arrangement of color on account of its changes of courses. This can be
entirely done away with by adopting some simple color scheme. A
luncheon, or tea, is easier to serve in this fashion because of its
simpler menu.
Amber and white will harmonize with celery, salads, ices and other
articles needed at a luncheon. The yellowish white, full of sunlight,
harmonizes with amber and can be followed up to deepest bronze. Amber
glasses, creamy damask, all the tints from white to bronze, can be
used in the dishes. Apricots heaped on amber dishes, ices tinted in
harmony, and a great mass of white roses for a center ornament, are
appropriate.
Another beautiful effect is to do away with the cloth and let the
polished wood of the table set the keynote of color. An oak table,
with its rich yellows and browns and its lurking suggestions of green,
would afford a color scheme with which all shades of amber, bronze and
yellow would blend. _Bon Silene_ or _Malmaison_ roses would also be in
harmony with the other decorations.
Miscellaneous Entertainments.
[Illustration]
Coffees are so exactly like teas, with the exception that coffee is
the reigning beverage, that extended description is unnecessary. The
invitations are precisely the same as for teas, simply substituting
the word, "Coffee," or "Kaffee Klatsch" in the corner of the card
instead of "Tea." The German term, "Kaffee Klatsch," is frequently
used. This, literally translated, would be "Coffee Chat" or "Gossip."
The entertainment is of German origin, and was adopted to fit the
fiction that the stronger sex, of whom the lateness of the hour
captures many a willing or unwilling victim, do not revel in tea.
Chocolataire.
This is rather a new entertainment. Its novelty lies in the fact that
the beverage served is chocolate, and that chocolate enters into all
the refreshments served, such as chocolate wafers, etc. A chocolate
lemonade will be a nice addition in hot weather, chocolate bon-bons
being passed in dainty silver bon-bon baskets.
The cards are the same as for "Teas" and "Coffees," simply
substituting the word "Chocolataire" or "Chocolate" in the left hand
corner.
If this is used, as it sometimes is, for a church or charitable
entertainment, cards are not issued, but it is simply announced
through the usual channels as a "Chocolataire," and numerous other
refreshments all containing chocolate in some form can be dispensed,
chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake, etc.
Theater parties may be made into very elaborate entertainments, or
they may be simple and quietly arranged. Ladies and families often
give these parties as an easy method of repaying their social debts.
But the theater party is the entertainment, par excellence, dear to
bachelor hosts, especially those who have no homes of their own to
which they may invite guests, and wish to return some of the many
courteous hospitalities of which they have been the recipients.
In one of these elaborate affairs the host first secures some popular
lady to chaperon the party. Then he calls upon his florist, makes
arrangements with some famous restaurant and pays a visit to the
box-office of some theater where a new play is to be brought out in
ten days or two weeks.
Invitations for Theater Parties.
He then gives the invitations in person to the selected number of his
lady friends, not less than six, not more than fifteen, explaining to
the mothers who will chaperon the party and what gentlemen he has
invited. These must number the same as his lady guests and will have
been chosen from among the most eligible of his friends.
The rendezvous will be at the restaurant where dinner will be served
at six o'clock. The young ladies attended by father, brother or a
maid, come in carriages and the coachman is told at what hour to
return. This is usually half past twelve or one o'clock.
The dinner will be served in a sumptuously decorated, private
dining-room, and by eight o'clock the party are _en route_ in
carriages for the play. Each lady is first supplied with exquisite
corsage and hand bouquets by an attentive maid.
Boxes are engaged at the theater, or in case of large parties, the
front row of the balcony. Programs printed on scented satin are
frequently placed in front of each chair and serve as souvenirs of the
occasion. When the play is over the party returns in carriages to the
same restaurant where an elegant supper is laid.
Frequently each lady finds costly souvenirs at her plate. Each
gentleman acts as escort through the evening to whatever lady he has
been assigned by the host. At the appointed hour carriages call for
the ladies and the gentlemen escort them thereto. If some male
relative come, he does not accompany her home, but if it is the maid
only, he is expected so to do.
The young ladies and gentlemen must call upon the chaperon within a
few days and the host calls upon the mothers to express thanks for the
pleasure of the daughter's attendance. The men invited must each call
within three days upon the especial lady to whom they devoted their
time during the evening, or if this is impossible, leave a card.
A simpler form of this entertainment is where the host calls upon each
proposed guest, and if the invitation is accepted, leaves two entrance
tickets, and one for some male relative who must accompany her. The
party meet in the box, where the host and a lady chaperon greet them.
After the theater supper is served at some fashionable resort, or
perhaps at the home of some friend, where dancing occasionally follows
the supper. After calls are expected.
These parties are sometimes given by a lady, when the invitations are
sent by informal notes in her own name, and a six o'clock dinner laid
in her own home precedes the opera. After the entertainment the guests
return in carriages to the house where a little supper is served, and
perhaps some dancing varies the program.
Occasionally this entertainment takes the form of a matinee party of
ladies only, who adjourn at its close to the hostess's home for a
supper.
Dress for the Opera.
When a gentleman invites a lady to the opera, he should tell her what
part of the house they are to occupy. If it is a box she must at least
wear a light opera cloak, even if she does not array herself in full
evening dress. However, evening toilet, no bonnet and beautifully
dressed hair, are the correct thing. At an opera matinee, elegant
visiting dress and dainty bonnets are always worn. If a gentleman is
to escort a lady to the opera in any of the public conveyances she
must wear street toilet.
Picnic Parties.
Picnics and excursions are delightful summer entertainments. But it is
essential that whoever goes on a picnic should possess the power to
find "sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, and good in
everything;" know how to dress, know where to go, and above all, know
what to carry to eat.
A very great variety of food should be avoided, also soft puddings and
creamy mixtures of any sort, which persistently "leak out." Plain,
substantial food, simple and well-cooked, should ever be chosen, with
a few sweet and simple dainties to top off with. This can be divided
up among the party by the one who is most executive, with the ladies
to furnish the substantials and the gentlemen the beverages. The men
assume the expenses of the boats or other conveyances.
Paraffine paper is indispensable in wrapping up the viands, which are
much more wisely carried in boxes, than baskets, as the former can be
thrown away, and the fewer the burdens on the home-coming the better.
A rubber coat or mackintosh is also a necessity, for no matter how
warm the day, there is a risk of sitting out in the woods on the bare
ground. This can be easily managed in a shawl strap. It is best not to
carry a tablecloth, but if something is preferred to spread upon the
ground, a strip of enameled cloth is the most satisfactory thing, and
whatever is spilled upon it can be easily cleaned off. Japanese
napkins take the place of linen, and wooden plates, which can be
thrown away, are most desirable, like those which the bakers use for
pies.
There are several important items which must not be forgotten, and
among them are hand-towels and soap, combs, hand-mirror, thread,
needle and thimble, a corkscrew and a can opener.
What to Eat.
There should be a clear understanding at the outset what eatables each
one is to bring. One girl may promise to furnish a certain proportion
of the rolls or sandwiches, and another, part of the cake. Others may
promise cold or potted meats, sardines, stuffed eggs, Saratoga
potatoes, olives, pickles, fruit, lemonade and cold coffee. Salad may
easily be carried if the lettuce and chicken or lobster are arranged
in a dish set in a basket, and the dressing contained in a
wide-mouthed bottle or pickle jar. The best way to transport lemonade,
if fresh water can be readily procured at the picnic grounds, is to
take the lemon juice and sugar in a jar, adding the water after the
party reach their destination. Apollinaris water is excellent for
lemonade. The coffee and milk should have been put together before
leaving home, but the sugar is carried separately.
Tongue and Sandwiches.
To begin with the substantials, a cold roast, a boiled tongue, deviled
eggs, are simple and tasty. The roast may be sliced off before going,
and carefully wrapped up, but the tongue should be carried whole and
cut up when required, or it is apt to become dry. The eggs are easily
prepared, being hard boiled, cut lengthwise, the yolks taken out,
mixed in a bowl with pepper, salt and mustard, and a few drops of
Worcester and put back again in the whites.
Different kinds of sandwiches may be served. For one time there may be
finger-rolls, split, the inside hollowed out and filled with chopped
chicken or tongue, and the two sides tied together with the narrowest
of ribbon. Again, bread and butter, cut wafer thin and rolled, may
appear. Sweetbread sandwiches, sardine sandwiches, egg sandwiches, are
delicious and easily prepared variations upon the everlasting ham and
tongue. Very dainty sandwiches are made of two thicknesses of thin
bread and butter, with a layer between of cream cheese and chopped
water cress. The fruit should be heaped in a basket or arranged as a
centerpiece with the flowers.
Ice cream may be taken to a picnic without much additional trouble.
The brick molds can be so packed by a confectioner in a pail of ice
that there will be no danger of the cream melting. For this, of
course, wooden plates are not available, but china saucers will have
to be transported. For the sweets some plain cake and bon-bons, and a
box of crystallized ginger are all-sufficient. Cold tea, with lemon
and ice, is certainly the most refreshing and satisfactory.
If more side dishes are preferred, there are olives, salted peanuts or
pecans, gherkins, radishes or club-house cheese and wafers to choose
from, and if berries in season are desired, they are best carried in a
glass preserve jar.
If one person gives a picnic, she should expect to furnish all the
food, the means of transportation for her guests, the plates, glasses,
knives, forks and napkins--in short, to defray all the expenses of the
trip. This is apt to prove a rather expensive proceeding, if there are
many guests invited, but it is a very pretty style of entertaining for
those whose means permit them to indulge in it. A "Basket Picnic" is a
more general affair, where each member of the party supplies a quota
of the provisions. Some one person undertakes the charge of the party,
and invites such people to join it as she thinks would make it a
success. The girls usually provide the refreshments.
Chaperons.
It might seem needless to say that there should always be a chaperon
on picnic parties if it were not that even in this day there appears,
in some places, to be a lack of proper understanding of this subject.
Dwellers in large cities see matters in a clearer light, and a young
man who is thoroughly versed in points of etiquette will not think of
inviting a young lady to accompany him to the theater without also
requesting her mother or a married friend to join them. In the same
manner he asks a chaperon to go with them when he escorts a young lady
to a ball or party.
When a number of young people get off together, they are apt, without
the least intention of impropriety, to let their spirits carry them
away and lead them into absurdities they would never commit in a
graver moment. If a chaperon is bright and cheery, sympathizing in the
enjoyment of the young people, and avoiding making her presence a bar
upon innocent gayety, she need be no drawback to the pleasure of the
expedition. On the contrary, most young men and women will feel a
security and sense of comfort from having some one along to take the
responsibility of the conduct of the party that they could never know
were there no chaperon present.
It is a good rule, if possible, to have an equal number of persons of
each sex on a picnic. This is especially desirable if the party is to
be on the water, in rowboats, where each boatload must be evenly
divided. The hostess or projector of the party may arrange in whose
escort each girl is to go, or this may be left to the young people
themselves.
A Marshmallow Toast.
This is exclusively a girl's entertainment. A very pretty one was
given to about twenty girl friends. The guests were invited in the
afternoon from two until six o'clock. A large room had its furniture
removed and in its stead were placed small tables, which contained
trays holding marshmallow candies, skewers and lamps. The mallows were
toasted and eaten after a little supper. Tables were spread prettily
with white linen and decorated with flowers. The supper was arranged
as follows:
Oyster Patties. Buttered Bread. Sandwiches.
Salad with French Dressing. Assorted Cakes. Chocolate.
Toasted Marshmallows.
The young girls had a delightful time and the entertainment was simple
and inexpensive.
Roof Parties.
Roof parties are the very latest diversion which the girl who stays in
town is enjoying. They are the very jolliest entertainments
imaginable, and the best part of them is that one can go in any sort
of an outing suit without feeling _de trop_. Even the dwellers in the
big apartment houses are able to give these high-in-the-air festivals,
and they have become very popular from the fact that they are so
informal and delightfully novel.
If your roof is spacious and walled in by a high parapet so much the
better, for, of course, one can always imagine danger if there be only
a narrow coping about the edge.
Pick out a night when the clerk of the weather will be polite enough
to give moon and stars and soft southern breezes. Then cover the
surface of the roof with rugs or else stretch a matting over the tin.
Improvise couches upon boxes covered with rugs, or bring up a couple
of cots and pile cushions upon them.
Palms and plants placed about always add to the effect, and if you
wish the place to look like a little bit of fairy land hang Chinese
lanterns on strings stretched about the edge, and when they are lit
they will look remarkably pretty. If the roof be provided with ledges
between your own and your neighbors, the bricks can be spread with
napkins and refreshments arranged thereon.
Almost any sort of menu is permissible, but salads, sandwiches,
olives, ice cream and liquid refreshments of all kinds are always in
order.
Bachelor's Parties.
Bachelors who live in apartments are giving "Dutch" parties on roofs,
and in those cases the refreshments consist of beer and ale served
from the wood, rye bread and cheese sandwiches, sausages cooked in a
chafing-dish and Rhine wine in the cup.
Roof parties can be so elaborate that they will cost quite as much as
a more pretentious function, but they are more enjoyable when they are
simply gotten up. One was given in a fashionable part of the city, and
the aid of the caterer and the decorator had been utilized in such a
manner as to produce the effect of a gorgeous _al fresco_ reception. A
gaily striped awning was stretched across the part of the roof where
the edibles were spread upon a table loaded with flowers. A carpet was
spread for a dance at one side with only the stars for a canopy. About
the entire roof and reaching far up in a pyramid of light there were
lanterns lit by electric lamps fastened within. There was a pleasant
breeze blowing, and these many swaying colored lights produced a
beautiful effect. Rich rugs carpeted the roof surface, and flags were
draped about the high coping.
This party was given on the roof of a large hotel and was such a
success that a number of similar ones were arranged for.
A Flower Party.
Another young girls' entertainment is a "flower party"--an appropriate
name, as the writer once attended one where all the young ladies wore
snowy gowns, each beautifully adorned with the wearer's favorite
flower. A large silver salver filled with sprigs of flowers awaited
the young men in the reception-hall, and upon his entrance each
selected according to his fancy a flower from the waiter and sent it
up the decorated staircase to find its mate and the young lady wearing
the matching one met him on the landing, pinned his chosen flower to
the lapel of his coat and became his partner for the evening.
Bicycle Teas.
With the bicycle comes the bicycle tea. In the large cities these teas
have been given for charity and have been great successes. But there
is no reason why any girl may not give an attractive bicycle tea and
make it very original. Sandwiches in the shape of tennis rackets, with
an olive steak in the center for a ball, are among the novelties.
Sandwiches in the shape of a wheel and a saddle might easily be cut.
Bicycle lanterns, which resemble glowworms, should furnish decoration.
If possible, a bicycle tea should be given out of doors, where outing
costumes would not be incongruous.
A Barn Party.
There is a big, red barn on a fine old farm, that is easily reached by
city friends, and there, every year, is given an autumn revel in the
shape of a genuine "barn dance." The mow is filled with sweet smelling
hay and the cattle, stalled, are below. The big center floor is
cleared and swept and reswept and chalked to make it fit for dancing
feet. The decorations for the dance consume much time, and into them
the hostess throws many a loving thought. Pumpkins form the chief
theme. In flower-like or hideous forms as jack-o'-lanterns they hold
posts of honor on rafter and beam.
The lanterns used are the regular farm lanterns, though the walk
through the old-fashioned garden to the barn is outlined by the fancy
Japanese lanterns. Ears of corn tied by fluttering ribbons, the husks
turned back to show the golden ears, cornstalks, golden-rod, milkweed,
woodbine and clusters of purple grapes are all worked into the
decorations.
The young folks learn by previous experiences not to wear perishable
finery at the barn dance, and the girls all come in pretty
wash-dresses that will stand a good romp. Music is furnished by an old
darkey fiddler, not violinist, who plays "Money Musk," "Fisher's
Hornpipe," "Ole Dan Tucker" and any number of plantation melodies.
The supper, of course, is the best part of the dance to hungry
city-bred people. Hot coffee is served in bright new tin-cups, for
these young people mimic harvesters; there is fried chicken, cold ham,
potato salad, rolls with golden country butter that melts in one's
mouth, plenty of fresh milk, pumpkin and apple pie, with cottage
cheese, ginger cakes and doughnuts, and even cider for those who wish.
The dance is always given during the full harvest moon and the stone
wall which bounds the orchard, the old farm wagons, the grain bins and
even the low apple trees furnish flirtation nooks for lovers. One year
the barn dance was also a potato roast. Huge fires were built on the
lawn, and during the intermission the crowd gathered around the fires
and roasted potatoes. This time, too, the dance was made a house
party, and the girls were stowed away in the farmhouse while the boys
enjoyed tents and the big haymow. Is it any wonder that the pretty
hostess' friends call her barn dance the big event of the year?
Bachelor Women and their Entertainments.
The bachelor women in their cosy little city apartments, or even their
one apartment, refuse to be debarred from the pleasure and privilege
of giving the little entertainments so dear to the heart feminine.
They not only give the most charming little "teas" and "coffees," but
they are past masters in the use of the chafing dish and those who
have feasted with them will no longer deem that liveried service and
stately rooms are necessary to the proper receiving of one's friends.
After all, "the highest hospitality is in giving what one has."
Hawthorne and his wife never forgot the little American studying art
in Rome, who, in her tower room, reached by many flights of stairs,
made tea before their eyes, and took from a cupboard the cake and
crackers that made her feast. Neither will the world forget her, since
she it was, who, in the "Marble Faun," is the Hulda who fed the doves
from the tower.
A Sandwich Spread.
A sandwich spread is another entertainment easily given by a "bachelor
maid." This is a meal at which everything, barring the tea and coffee,
is served in the form of a sandwich. Not until one has tried does one
realize to what excellence and variety this form of viand lends
itself. Deviled ham sandwiches, egg sandwiches, cheese sandwiches,
lettuce sandwiches, potted ham, potted fish, potted cheese sandwiches,
pineapple sandwiches, peanut sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, tomato
sandwiches, walnut sandwiches, oyster sandwiches and so on
indefinitely. Any modern cookbook will furnish the formulas for all
these and more.
"He or she," says one writer, "who partakes, forgets the presence of
the folding bed and gas stove; of the curtained china cupboard in
friendly proximity to the writing desk or easel. There is no paint on
the artist's fingers, and the newspaper woman wears as pretty a gown
as any woman could wish."
Private Theatricals.
The etiquette of invitations is the same for Private Theatricals, as
for musicales. Simply substituting the word, "Theatricals,"
"Charades," or "Tableaux," whichever it is to be, in the left hand
corner of the card. The same observances as to arranging the seats,
toilettes of the guests, etc., are requisite, and performers should be
equally careful not to fail at the last moment in taking their part.
In reality they should be more so, since the failure of one performer
might ruin the entire play.
A drama entails more expense and care than characters and tableaux. A
host or hostess should never take leading part unless it be especially
urged upon them by the others, and even then it is not best, first,
because the entertainers should never eclipse their guests, and,
second, they should be free for a general oversight of the whole
affair, ready to settle disputed points and find missing stage
"properties." An effort should be made to assign, as nearly as
possible, acceptable and suitable parts to all.
Those invited should display willingness to take parts assigned them,
even if not the most important in the cast. All cannot be Romeos or
Juliets. There are minor parts to play on all stages. Learn the part
given you thoroughly, and do your best to make the play a success. If
sickness or unavoidable accident intervene, inform the hostess at once
that she may be able to supply a substitute for the part.
Guests indulge in conversation between the acts, and the music of an
orchestra often fills the pause.
A carpenter is usually called in to build the temporary stage, or a
curtain is fitted to rise and fall in the archway between two parlors;
the first parlor being used for the audience room and the second one
for stage, with dressing-room in the rear. A private billiard-room,
also, can be used to good advantage. At the conclusion of the play,
supper is served, and social conversation and dancing follow.
A Social Evening.
There are many ways of making pleasant entertainments out of these
informal gatherings. Such an evening may last from nine to twelve
o'clock. Where impromptu dancing is resorted to, as it so often is,
another hour is sometimes added. If dancing be excluded, games, music,
cards, or recitations should take its place. If neither card-playing,
nor dancing is permitted, the supper usually becomes the feature of
the evening.
When friends are invited to pass an evening socially with cards and
music, refreshments are always served. They can be placed upon the
dining-room table, and the company invited to partake of them. They
should consist of sandwiches or cold meats and rolls, and cakes and
coffee or chocolate, or only cakes, ices and lemonade can be served.
The best dishes the china closet affords should be used.
Or, the supper can be made an elaborate "sit-down" banquet. If the
long table is not sufficient for all, the guests can be served in
relays. The table should be prettily decorated. There are different
forms of home parties, such as birthday celebrations, where gifts and
toasts are in order, house-warmings, or a church party.
When the supper is served in relays the hostess had better wait until
the last table, and circulate about among those guests who have not
yet been served. Some appointed lady can serve as hostess at each
table. The elder guests should be seated at the first. Sometimes small
tables are scattered about the rooms to accommodate those who cannot
find place at the large table, thus all are served at once.
Where neither card-playing nor dancing are indulged in, it becomes
necessary to find some other amusement. Impromptu charades are sure to
break the ice. A shadow party also, where any amount of sport can be
had with a darkened room and a tightly stretched sheet illuminated
from the rear, whereon shadows can be cast for guessing. There are
also a great many interesting games of which enough can be furnished
for an entire company.