LUNCHEONS.
A luncheon is usually an entertainment given by a woman to women. From whatever cause, luncheon parties are rapidly gaining popularity among us. Macaulay wrote, "Dinner parties are mere formalities, but you invite a man to breakfast because you want to see him," and the same may apply to luncheon parties for ladies, these being almost exclusively their affair.
Invitations to small luncheons are usually very informal, and may be written in the style of a familiar note of friendship; or a visiting card may be used, underneath the name of which is simply written: Luncheon at one o'clock, Thursday, January eight.
The repast may be elaborately made up of salads, oysters, small game, chocolate, ices and a variety of dishes which will destroy the appetite for dinner, or it may simply consist of a cup of tea or chocolate, thin sliced bread and butter, chip beef or cold tongue, but there is the same opportunity to display good taste and a well-appointed table as at a grander entertainment.
Ladies attend formal luncheons in very elegant street or carriage costumes. They wear rich and becoming bonnets, which they do not take off. They appear with gloves, removing them when seated at the table.
The toilet of the hostess may be as elegant as she wishes, anything, in fact, short of an actual evening costume.
Luncheons of ceremony are sometimes given in honor of distinguished guests, or upon special occasions, instead of dinners, and may then be very stylish affairs. Flowers should be artistically arranged, both for the adornment of the parlor and dining-room and the table more sumptuous, though always dainty; broiled delicacies, such as do not require carving, take the place of joints, and too rich dishes, with salads, oysters, croquettes and ices; bouillon is very generally served at large or small lunches, as is also chocolate with whipped cream.
Tea is not expected to be present on these occasions. Coffee, served without cream after luncheon in the prettiest little cups the hostess can muster, is generally at hand.
The table may be decorated with flowers and fruit as a centerpiece, around which should be placed glass dishes of fancy cakes, and bon-bons.
At very formal luncheons each dish is served as a separate course. Instead of coffee being served in the drawing-room, as after dinner, the hostess dispenses it at the luncheon table.
The invitations to fashionable, elaborate luncheons should be handsomely engraved after the following style:
Mrs Robert Barton Keene
Requests the pleasure of
Mrs Frederick Daniel's company at
Luncheon,
Friday, May sixth, at half-past one o'clock.
6 Portland Place.
The toilets of the ladies attending should be elegant, and always appropriate to the occasion.
The hostess usually leads the way to the table, keeping the most distinguished guest at her right, the others following and seating themselves as they choose. Guests are not expected to remain longer than half an hour after they return to the parlors.
Calls are a polite acknowledgment after receiving hospitalities, and should be made within a few days after the entertainment.
If gentlemen are invited, and the master of the house is present, the guests proceed to the dining-room in the same order as at a formal dinner party. If the luncheon is given in honor of some particular individual, this fact should appear upon the invitation. The following is a good form:
Mrs. Vincent
Requests the pleasure of your company at luncheon,
On Tuesday, February fifth,
To meet
Genevieve Gallatin.
One o'clock.
1807 Chestnut Street.
The rooms are usually darkened for an elaborate luncheon, and artificial lighting resorted to. Wax candles are the most pleasing, their radiance having a softening effect.
Nowadays there are candles in the market warranted not to drip, and made not wholly of wax, but of some composition which burns brilliantly and slowly. They average eight to the pound, and cost something like twenty-five or thirty cents a pound. No light is so satisfactory or so becoming as candlelight. When the great question of illumination and flowers is settled, there remains one more opportunity for individual taste, for bon-bons, salted almonds and olives may be disposed here and there in small dishes of cut glass or silver.
The usual hour at which to take leave after luncheon is three o'clock, and, unless pressed to do so, luncheon guests should not remain beyond this hour, thus avoiding any inconvenience to a hostess in the matter of her afternoon engagements. Of course, the hour of leaving depends on the hour at which the luncheon is given.