The twenty-second of February suggests that an almost unlimited amount
of ingenuity may be spent in preparing a meal in honour of the Father of
our Country. There is opportunity for decoration such as few gala days
offer, and this may easily be the prettiest luncheon of the year.
If the meal is an informal one a centrepiece may be arranged which will
amuse the guests. Get at the florist's a small dead plant, such as an
azalea, and pick off some of the twigs, making a symmetrical tree of
diminutive size. At a Japanese shop you can buy the pretty artificial
cherry blossoms used to set off the bric-a-brac in the windows, and
these can be fastened to the twigs with invisible wire, the little tree
may stand in a low pot filled with moss, and at its base may be a small
hatchet. With this, your candle-shades should be a sort of rosy white.
You might use in preference to this a bunch of the cherry branches in a
vase in the centre.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Or, if you prefer to have the Colonial colours, choose a large dark-blue
bowl and fill it with yellow tulips, and have all the dishes, or at
least several sets of plates, of dark-blue ware; if one does not own
Staffordshire of her grandmother's or the beautiful Chinese Canton
china, still she need not despair, for the shops are full of a cheap and
pretty imitation of the latter which gives an admirable effect. The
candle-shades should be yellow, in tulip pattern preferably, and the
candlesticks of old-fashioned silver.
[Illustration: A WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY FAVOUR.]
At each plate lay a bonbon box in the form of a paper hatchet with the
handle filled with red and white candies, and tie a bunch of artificial
cherries to it with narrow ribbon. You can get at the printer's cards
with the head of Washington which a line of gold paint and a bowknot
will transform into a miniature. Fold your napkins into little cocked
hats, and stand small silk flags in your dishes of almonds and olives.
In addition to all this, you can send to Mount Vernon for small
souvenirs in the shape of hatchets, supposably made of the actual
historic cherry-tree, which may take the place of the paper hatchets at
the plates.
Should your luncheon be given for the members of some patriotic
association, you might add the name of some famous Revolutionary battle
to your guest cards, or possibly a quotation from some well-known novel
which has historic characters, such as "Richard Carvel" or "The
Virginians."