MR. AND MRS. B. N. JONES
request the pleasure of presenting their
eldest [or second, etc.,] daughter,
Miss Ada Anna,
to
...............................................
on Wednesday evening, April 11, at half-past
eight o’clock.
No. 2002 Fifth Avenue.
A preferable method is simply to inclose the card of the young lady in the envelope containing the invitation.
The reply is written and forwarded directly, and corresponds in style to the invitation, in the following manner:
MR. AND MRS. E. DE PEYSTER
accept with pleasure
Mr. and Mrs. B. N. Jones’
kind invitation for Wednesday evening,
April 11th.
No. 969 Irving Place. March 12th.
The young ladies use the same form, and commence their note with “The Misses Jones,” or in whatever style the invitation is sent to them. Young gentlemen follow the same custom. Intimate friends may send flowers on the day of the young girl’s first appearance, if they please; but it is not an inflexible custom.
The young lady stands at the left of the mother during the reception of guests, and is presented to her elders and to ladies. Of course, welcomes and brief congratulatory compliments are offered to her by each guest, and then place is made for the presentation of others who are arriving. When supper is announced, the brother or father escorts the young lady to the table, and the mother follows, accompanied by some honored gentleman guest. If the brother takes the young lady in, the father leads the way with the eldest or most distinguished lady of the party.
Visits of ceremony paid to the hostess following this entertainment should include this young lady, but during her first season in society she has no card of her own, and does not pay formal visits alone. If she be the eldest unwed daughter, her name is engraved as Miss Jones, beneath that of her mother. If she have elder sisters at home, her name is engraved as Miss Ada Anna Jones. During this first season she does not receive visits from gentlemen without a chaperon under any circumstances. If her mother be unable to receive with her, she politely declines a visit. After the first season, her own separate card may be left, either alone or with those of other members of her family. This formality past, she may be considered launched into the world of social intercourse.
Young gentlemen on the other hand, enter society without formality, and without much difficulty. A youth usually begins by endeavoring to assist his mother at her entertainments, and by being an escort to his sisters on informal evening visits among lady acquaintances where his agreeable traits win him a future invitation.