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:
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:
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.
Luncheon Refreshments.
The refreshments must not be heavy, for the reason that many of the guests may be expecting to attend a dinner or evening party that same day. If a butler serves at a luncheon he does not wear full dress, as at a dinner party.
Only light wines are offered at a ladies’ luncheon, and more frequently none at all. Mineral waters and pure water are supplied.
Entering the Dining-Room.
Ladies who are intimate with the hostess often arrive half an hour before the time set for the luncheon and chat with the hostess. Usually there is no formality in entering the dining-room. The hostess leads the way with the honored guest, if there be one, on her right. The ladies go down together, talking as they go. If there are gentlemen present, they follow. Once there, they seat themselves at random, with the exception of the host and hostess, who seat themselves at the head and foot of the table.
Again, it may happen that the guests, when they reach the table, find name cards at each plate to designate the place to occupy. These often are simple bits of pasteboard with a gilded edge which the hostess buys and writes thereon her guests’ names. This is especially the case if other favors are given.
Where the luncheon is very informal the entire menu frequently consists of cold dishes, such as boned turkey, boned ham, raw oysters, salads of all kinds, chickens, fruits, fruit salad, Bavarian cream, or other creams, fancy cakes, pate de foie gras, etc. The coffee is hot. Let the hand of the caterer be kept as much as possible out of luncheon.
Lunch or Luncheon.
There has been much questioning as to the distinction between the words “lunch” and “luncheon,” which are often used interchangeably. The latest and best definition would be, that a lunch is a meal to be partaken of informally by the members of a household, at midday or before going on some pleasure excursion. Luncheon, on the contrary, signifies a form of entertainment given after breakfast and before the evening dinner hour. It is a meal of compliment and more frequently extended to ladies alone.
The invitations given for a luncheon are issued on the same principle as those for a breakfast. A young performer, vocalist or elocutionist, is often introduced at a luncheon.
Luncheon Favors.
Favors for a luncheon may be very elegant, or only simple and pretty. A single rose laid at each plate is frequently all that is given. Name cards are often made to serve as souvenirs. A very new and pretty design for a name card is made of a plain white or cream square envelope, painted with a dainty design of violets.
Where the name is to be seen, an opening like that of a picture frame is cut through the face of the envelope, a line of narrow gilding finishing the edge. The name of the guest is written on a plain card and put inside the envelope so as to show through the opening.
Some other small graceful flower in place of the violet is sometimes painted on it with good effect; and if one color, as yellow, for instance, predominates in the table decoration, a design of jonquils or buttercups is chosen.
A cardboard rest is tied in at the top of these envelope cards by a narrow ribbon caught through two little slits in the envelope over the one in the rest itself. They are then stood around the table like dainty little picture frames, which in reality they are, making the most charming souvenirs when taken home and a small photograph substituted for the card with the name on it.
Some quaint and pretty conceit is always sought after for favors. Too expensive articles suggest a desire for display. Painted satin bags or other fancy receptacles, filled with choice confectionery, are always acceptable, especially at a ladies’ luncheon. If the satin bag can be turned into an opera bag, so much the better. Tiny baskets, purchased for a trifle, and metamorphosed by means of a little gold paint, and a bow of ribbon on the handle, into dainty flower-holders, are also pretty. Hand-painted book covers are suitable, and, again, fans are much admired. Those of Japanese style can be bought reasonably.
Favors for gentlemen, such as fancy pocket pincushions, small coin purses, scarfpins, sleeve-buttons, etc., are more useful than ladies’ favors, but not so ornamental on the table. A pair of oars, artistically carved, are appropriate for the athletic-minded. Silk handkerchiefs with initials are also proper. Little silver bonbonnieres are nice for women, and silver matchboxes for men.
Some Betrothal Luncheons.
The bride-elect entertains her girl friends at luncheon, and revives all the old innocent superstitions to add merriment and interest to the occasion, notable among them the ring baked in the cake, the chance recipient of which will be first to wear the orange blossoms.
One of the prettiest of these luncheons was given on occasion of the announcement of the betrothal of the young hostess, and a veritable “feast of roses” was the result. As was proper, everything was couleur de rose—even the light in which the guests saw each other shone through dainty candle shades formed wholly of pink silk rose petals.
The central epergne, holding a luscious mass of bridemaids’ roses, was laid on a circle of filmy, transparent “bolting cloth,” the edge of which was embroidered with a wreath of pink roses of natural size and varied shades. Even the salt was contained “in the heart of a rose”— tiny little porcelain affairs—originally intended for candlesticks, but now appropriately used for the symbol of hospitality.
Dresden cupids, in pretty and artistic poses, held dishes filled with candied rose leaves and heart-shaped cakes covered with pink icing.
A wreath of paper roses surrounded the drop-light above the table; the ladies’ names were written on rose-petals (of cardboard), the sorbet was in the form of pink roses and flavored with the cordial parfait amour, while the ice cream repeated the design, and was served in a garden hat of straw-colored candy wreathed with natural roses. The human flowers around the table against such a background of “sweetness and light” made the scene one to be remembered.
Blue and White Tableware.
A contrast to the foregoing (which was, perhaps, rather suggestive of languors and luxury) was a dainty, prim little luncheon, where the table decorations were all of the soft delf, blue and white.
The centerpiece held bluets and “marguerites,” that carried one’s thoughts far afield, and brought memories of flower-scented breezes and of joys, healthful, pure and vivifying.
The service was entirely of blue and white delf china, and the quaint candelabra, of like material, were decorated with crimped paper candle shades repeating the same colors. Under the dish holding the flowers was a square of linen embroidered in blue. The design was an exact copy of that on the china.
The candlelight merely illuminated the little shades and added to the effectiveness of the decorations, but its pale beams were lost in the sunshine that streamed into the room and lighted up the intelligent faces of the women about the table.
Each guest read on the reverse side of her name card a little rhyming assurance of her welcome. For instance:
“If wishes were dishes,
These should be so rare,
You would vow that you never
Had tasted such fare!
“If wishes were riches,
A feast should be spread
That would tempt old Lucullus
To rise from the dead.
“But, since wishing is vain,
Take the will for the deed,
And the warmest of welcomes
I offer instead.”
A Dresden Luncheon.
A Dresden luncheon is a dainty and flowery style of entertainment for springtime, that is considered a more perfect combination of the exquisite and the elegant than any artistic gathering yet seen. The keynote is the blending everywhere upon the table of the delicate Dresden china colors, blue, pink, yellow and violet.
The fine flowers seen upon the royal china are scattered in embroidery over the linen centerpiece; on this stands a Dresden bowl holding an old-fashioned nosegay of pink rosebuds, hothouse daisies with their yellow centers, pansies and heliotrope. These are tied loosely together with a bow of blue ribbon, which gives the needed touch of that color, unless one is able to get natural forget-me-nots or some other fine blue flowers, like scillas. A few airy and smaller bunches of the same flowers, in little cut-glass stands, are placed about the table. The candelabra have pink rose shades.
The finger-bowl mats are embroidered to match the Dresden flower centerpiece, and floating in the water of the bowls are the different flowers—a few rose petals in one, a daisy in another and a pansy in another until each has one. Every cup, saucer, plate or dish used is of Dresden china, the greater the variety of their shapes the prettier.
The ice cream is served in small satin cases, in the different pale colors, blue, pink, violet and yellow. When boxes in these colors cannot be procured plain white is used. On the top of each is tied a little bunch of satin flowers composed of tiny pink rosebuds, blue forget-me-nots, a daisy, a bit of heliotrope, or a few violets.
At the place of each guest is a name card, done in the Dresden design. The cards are made of water-colors paper and the design painted in water-color. The color of the painted ribbon bows in the designs given varies in the different cards in blue, pink, yellow and violet, and where the loop ends extend over the edge they are cut out, making the ribbon look more realistic.
The sign of all Dresdenware from the royal factories is the tiny blue crossed swords on the reverse or bottom of the dish, without which no piece is genuine; so on the back of the cards one must be sure to paint the sword sign in just the right shade of old blue, thus making complete the idea of a veritable feast of royal Dresden.