Mrs. Brownton at home
Thursday, from 3 to 6.
and unless an R. S. V. P. is appended, no reply is expected. These receptions are favourites with housekeepers, as they avoid the necessity of keeping the servants up at night.
The drawback to this reception is that, in our busy world of America, very few men can spare the time to call in the daytime, so the attendance is largely feminine.
On entering, the guest places a card on the table, or, if she cannot be present, she should send a card in an envelope.
After these entertainments, which are really parties, a lady should call. They are different things entirely from afternoon tea, after which no call is expected. If the reception is given to some distinguished person, the lady stands beside her guest to present all the company to him or her.
If on the card the word "Music" is added, the guests should be punctual, as, doubtless, they are to be seated, and that takes time. No lady who gives a musicale should invite more than she can seat comfortably; and she should have her rooms cool, and her lights soft and shaded.
People with weak eyes suffer dreadfully from a glare of gas, and when music is going on they cannot move to relieve themselves. The hostess should think of all this. Who can endure the mingled misery of a hot room, an uncomfortable seat, a glare of gas, and a pianoforte solo?
A very sensible reformation is now in progress in regard to the sending of invitations and the answering of the same. The post is now freely used as a safe and convenient medium, and no one feels offended if an invitation arrives with a two-cent stamp on the envelope. There is no loss of caste in sending an invitation by post.
Then comes the ball, or, as they always say in Europe, the dance, which is the gayest of all things for the débutante. The popular form for an invitation to an evening party is as follows:—
Mrs. Hammond
Requests the pleasure of
Mr. and Mrs. Norton's company
on Tuesday evening, December 23, at 9 o'clock.
R. S. V. P.Dancing.