Announcement Cards are frequently sent out to all friends immediately upon the arrival of a little heir or heiress. These cards are variously worded. One seen by the writer was as follows:
Arrived: In Los Gatos, Sunday morning, November third, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, Florence Wescott. Weight, ten pounds; blue eyes and sound lungs. She sends greeting to all her friends.
A simpler one would be: Greeting: Edith May Toucey, November 1, 1895. Weight, 9-1/2 pounds.
These cards received (or even if they are omitted), the lady friends and acquaintances call and leave cards with kind inquires or send them by a servant. Gentlemen do not call, but they are expected to see the happy father and inquire after mother and child.
When the mother is ready to receive friends she sends out cards to all that have called “with thanks for kind inquiries,” written beneath her name, or issues invitations for a candle or christening party.
The Christening.
The baptism or christening is performed according to the rites of whatever church the parents may be members of. If the ceremony is performed in church, personal fancy has very little play, though it is almost a law that flowers shall cluster about the place where little ones are brought for dedication.
If the occasion is to be further celebrated by festivities at the house they may take whatever form is most agreeable. When the christening is held at the house and guests are invited, it is customary to defer the ceremony until the mother is ready to take the part of hostess; usually until the child is a month or six weeks old.