The problem of providing suitable entertainment for one’s
informal parties is something which has perplexed many a host and
hostess in recent years. How often has it happened that just when
you had gotten your guests nicely seated around the parlor
listening to the Caruso record, some ill-mannered fellow would
remark, “Oh, Lord—let’s go over to the Tom Phillips’ and get
something to drink.” How many times in the past have you prepared
original little “get-together” games, such as Carol Kennicott did
in _Main Street_, only to find that, when you again turned the
lights on, half the company had disappeared for the evening.
Of course we cannot all be as startlingly clever as Carol, but
Hallowe’en, which comes this year on October 31st, offers a
splendid opportunity for originality and “peppy” fun. The
following suggestions are presented to ambitious hostesses with
the absolute guaranty that no matter what other reactions her
guests may have, they will certainly not be bored.
[Illustration]
Care Should Be Exercised in the Choice of Post-Cards _Few people
realize the value of picture post-cards as indicators of the birth,
breeding, and character of the sender, yet nothing so definitely
“places” a person socially as his choice of these souvenirs. Could you
have selected the senders of the above cards?_
[Illustration]
Cards Concealed about the Person Betray the Boor _In spite of his
haughty airs and fine clothes, the gentleman betrays that he is not
much accustomed to good society when, having been asked by his hostess
if he would care to remove his coat and waistcoat during the warm
evening of bridge, he, in doing so, reveals the presence of several
useful cards hidden about his person. This sort of thing, while often
tolerated at less formal “stag” poker-parties, is seldom, ever,
permissible when ladies are present. The young man was simply ignorant
of the fact that Hoyle and not Herman the Great is the generally
accepted authority on cards in the “beau monde.”_