Paul Pierce

“ Provide a long table, sheets of fancy paper, flowers, pictures, paste, scissors and watercolors and ask each to make an original valentine. The game of hearts, the auction of hearts and the auction of valentines are old but excellent ways of amusing a company. For the auction of hearts the girls are in a separate room and a clever auctioneer calls off their charms and merits and knocks them down to the highest bidder, who does not know who he has bought until all are sold. A fancy dress party, each girl representing a valentine, is a delightful entertainment for the evening. ”

“ A chocolatiere is a pretty affair. The decoration is an immense mound of bride roses in the center of the dining room table. The refreshments are baskets of chocolate ice cream filled with whipped cream. The cakes are chocolate squares. The candies are all chocolate and cream, and hot chocolate is served. Chocolatieres are very popular entertainments for young girls and for matrons. They are given in the morning or afternoon. As nearly every woman loves chocolate, they are pretty certain to please the guests. ”

“ This noonday breakfast very much resembles the morning breakfast of the French country-house in the variety of foods. This repast always is most attractive to an American because of its informality, and the viands are enticing. This morning breakfast of the Parisian is really like a little dinner, and that is what we wish to serve to meet all the varied obligations that are to be wiped out by an artistic and choice return entertainment, whether it be called luncheon or noonday breakfast. ”

“ A porch tea party given in the summer is a most enjoyable affair. The guests are seated on the porch which has immense jardinieres filled with garden flowers, and draperies of large American flags. The punchbowl is just inside the door in the hall. The guests bring their needlework and as they sew, one of the number reads a group of original stories. Following this have a little contest called The Menu. The prize for the correct list is a solid silver fork with a rose design. The refreshments are lemon sherbet, macaroons, sweet wafers, pecans and bonbons. ”

“ A Gypsy tea is the occasion of entertainment of young men by young women, wherein the young men have nothing to do but come and be treated just as hospitably and courteously as is possible. The girls must do all the hard work, all the planning, all the inviting and bear all the responsibilities of every kind. Twelve or more girls meet and appoint committees to attend to the necessary arrangements—one committee to select a picnic ground, another to invite the young gentlemen whom they desire to attend, another to arrange for the music, and another to get the refreshments. ”

“ A Gypsy tea always begins at twilight. The girls who are to select the picnic ground must exercise much judgment in deciding on a convenient and picturesque location, and as dancing is always an attractive feature of such an outing, they should see that there is a suitable pavilion nearby. Then there must be a spot well adapted for a campfire, for a Gypsy tea would never be a success without a campfire burning in the twilight. ”

“ Another way of serving caviar is to spread it on thin bread and butter, which is then rolled up like tiny cigars. Russians declare, however, that the less done to caviar the better it will be, and to send it to the tea-table in its original jar, with an accompaniment of fresh dry toast and quartered lemon, is the fashion preferred by connoisseurs.
It takes a grand dame, so to speak, to give a tea. The vulgarian almost always overdoes it. She gets things to eat, while the woman who knows gets people, and doesn't care what they have to eat. ”

“ From twelve to twenty-four guests are entertained, the ladies being asked to come at three o'clock and the gentlemen at half past six. As every woman, no matter what her condition in life, works industriously knitting or crocheting lace or embroidering, each guest brings her bit of handwork and the afternoon is spent in chatting while fair fingers ply the needles. At five o'clock the guests are invited to the dining-room where they are seated at a large table. [Pg 58]
At a typical Scotch tea the centerpiece is an oblong piece of satin in any preferred color edged with a ruffle of white lace. ”

“ Tea biscuit, chicken salad and tea or chocolate, ices or frozen custard and sponge cake are most suitable.
A High Tea.
A High Tea is one of the most complimentary entertainments to which a hostess may invite her friends in the afternoon. The number of guests is limited, but the possibilities for decoration, daintiness and elegance are unlimited. The exact hour is written on the invitation, as High Tea at 4:00 o'clock (or 5:00 o'clock) . The guests may number about twenty-four, but twelve or sixteen is a desirable number. They arrive exactly at the appointed hour. ”

“ Foreigners understand the value of the simple feast which makes frequent entertaining possible and a delight rather than a burden. In America the menu, decorations, etc., grow more and more elaborate from [Pg 46] the ambition of each successive hostess to out-do her neighbor, until the economy and beauty of simplicity is irretrievably lost in the greater expense, fatigue and crush of a more pretentious function.
At the afternoon tea guests may come and go in street toilet, with or without a carriage in accordance with preference and pocketbook. ”

“ The tea is powdered very fine. It is in the teapot or cups as the hostess chooses. The water is poured over it and off quickly for the tea in the cup is very weak and only straw-colored, not dark as we make it. It is drunk without cream or sugar. With it are served tiny wafer-like sweet cakes and dishes of bonbons are on the table, no nuts, just bonbons. Nothing is on the table save the tea equipment, tiny cups and saucers and dishes of sweets. As the water is only lukewarm one can easily have the five o'clock teakettle on the table (though that is not Japanese) . ”

“ When it has been decided which paper holds the greatest number of correct answers, the contestant's name is given as winner, and she is presented with a dainty souvenir, such as a flower vase, or a dainty painting of flowers. Other games and contests may follow, all suggestive of flower land.
The afternoon-tea should be dainty and appropriate. A big doll, literally covered with flowers, makes a pretty centerpiece for the table. Let ice lemonade be served, each glass having a sweet flower floating on its surface. The cakes should be in the form of flowers and the bonbons, flower candies. ”

“ Palms, ferns, mignonette, mosses and clusters of leaves lend themselves to the nicest effects against the whites of the table-cloth and china. If color is preferred, there are tulips and daffodils of gorgeous beauty, and good for a week's wear.
Nothing but white damask is used by gentlewomen. The woman who gives a tea never pours it. There are other things she can do to please her callers. Tea is usually served with candlelight, and to be a success [Pg 51] need cost next to nothing, for nothing need be served that is substantial enough to dislocate the appetite for dinner. ”

“ The kaffee klatsch is an afternoon affair where ladies meet and chat as they sew and are served a luncheon of German dishes—cold meats, salads, coffee-cake, pickles, coffee, etc. Each guest is given a bit of needlework, button-holes to work, or a small doily to embroider and a prize is given for the best work. ”

“ Who will attend our next entertainment? Phlox. What happened when Gladys lost her hat in the lake? A yellow rose (a yell arose) . What paper gives the most help in decoration? Justicia (just tissue) . What will the Far North do for you? Freesia. For what hour were you invited? Four o'clock. What is the handsomest woman in the world? American Beauty. Use pink and green for the color scheme and add a little touch of these two colors to everything served. Tie the skewers of the chops with pink and green ribbons and have the ice cream one layer of pistachio and one of strawberry. ”

“ Very pretty souvenirs can be made of small palm leaf fans. A Cuban landscape and the name of a guest are painted thereon, and tiny Cuban and American flags tied on the handle make a neat finish.
As most of the dishes served will be new to the guests, it is advisable to have at each place a menu card where they may see how the dishes are called, that they may not only relish them knowingly but remember their excellence. [Pg 24]
The hour for breakfast is noon, although it may be taken as late as one o'clock. ”

“ Hot plates are required for all the food except the raw shell-fish, salad and dessert, and should be ready for immediate use, together with a reserve of silver, or means for washing it. The coffee service may be laid before the hostess or upon the side table, at convenience; chocolate is similarly served, and is a favorite breakfast beverage, especially when it is made with eggs, after the Mexican method.
Tea is not on the regulation breakfast list, but of course it may be served if it is desired. ”

“ If the tea is given in spring or summer, green and white are liked. Have candles and shades match the color scheme and place silk or satin of the color used under the mats and doilies. On the table have cut glass or fine china dishes filled with candies, chocolates, salted nuts and candied fruits. Tea may be served from one end of the table and an ice from the other. Have a friend pour tea. Place before her the small cups, saucers, spoons. She fills the cups and hands them to the guests or to those assisting in the dining-room. ”

“ One of the newest suggestions for an original hospitality is "A Grandmother's Tea Party." If you have an "at home" day, as every busy woman should, and you want to serve tea to your guests, offer it to them as it was offered fifty years or more ago.
First of all, collect all of your antique table service. Every family has some dear old treasures of the kind—tea cups, old linen, flower vases, silver epergns, etc. ”

“ A breakfast for a bride-elect can be made very dainty and pretty by following out a pink color scheme, unless one prefers the more common scheme of white. Cover the table with the prettiest, whitest damask, and over this lay lace-trimmed or openwork doilies, with a foundation of pink satin underneath. For flowers have pink begonias (very pretty and effective) , carnations, roses, azaleas or cyclamens. Arrange the flowers in a center basket with a large pink butterfly bow on the handle. ”

“ Facilities for fitting out a Japanese tea-table can be found almost everywhere. The "correct" outfit consists [Pg 49] of a low lacquered table, lotus-blossom cups—with covers and without handles—and a plump little teapot heated over an hibachi of glowing charcoal. It is not a Japanese custom to have the tea-table covered, but the famous embroiderers of Yokohama, having learned to cater to foreign tastes, now send out tea-cloths of the sheerest linen lawn, with the national bamboo richly worked in white linen floss above the broad hem-stitched hem. ”

“ Others serve brown sandwiches made of Boston brown bread and butter.
More slices of lemon than cream jugs are used. Cream is something of a nuisance, and if people don't take lemon they can take tea as Li Hung Chang does. For a guest to have a preference and emphasize it, is downright rude. To be asked to a lady's house is glory enough for any one. ”

“ Seat the guests at round tables. Have all the viands on the table at once. Let the menu be cold turkey, pressed chicken, cold tongue, tiny pocketbook rolls, jellies and preserves, gelatines, pound cake and fruit cake, hot tea and chocolate. Decorate the table with old-fashioned flowers in quaint vases. Women of that age generally prefer to bring their own needlework and visit, so have a brief program of old-fashioned music, or an interesting old-fashioned story read. ”

“ A beautiful color effect can be secured for a tea by placing on a long table a series of French baskets of roses shading from American beauty to white. The basket at the lower end of the table is in the American beauty shade, the next basket of roses of a lighter shade, the third a deep pink, the fourth a pale pink and the fifth basket bride roses. ”

“ When the woman is done with the school room and finds herself in the social whirl it is then she begins to see that she has another and very important course of learning to acquire and forthwith she submits herself to the tutorage of the editor of the woman's page. ”

“ A tiny bouquet of violets tied with gauze ribbon at each plate makes the table pretty and is a dainty souvenir for the guest. Sometimes the individual favors are tiny wicker hampers filled with fine flowers tied with white silk cord.
For the Bride-Elect.
A white breakfast is the daintiest and prettiest for the bride-elect. Have the table decorations in white. For the center have a large round basket of bride roses, and at each plate tiny French baskets filled with maidenhair fern and white pansies, or apple blossoms, for individual favors. ”

“ From beneath the bowl radiate long streamers of pale green ribbon ending at the plates of the guests with name cards decorated with the lilies cut out of watercolor paper. Half way between the bowl and the plate, the ribbon is knotted about a bouquet of the flowers or a bunch of maidenhair ferns which will become the corsage bouquet of the guest. Sometimes several strands of narrower ribbon are used giving more rays; a very pretty effect. Do not have artificial light at a summer breakfast. Garden flowers are all the rage, either one kind or several kinds mixed. ”

“ The instructions that are given will afford suggestions for all the different kinds of social functions the host or hostess ever will have occasion to give or to attend, and therefore all the volumes combined will furnish a veritable library for the person who entertains or who attends entertainments, and no person with a regard for correct social forms should fail to be supplied with all five of the books. ”

“ When requested to attend an exchange tea, each person, male and female, [Pg 87] picks out from his belongings, personal or otherwise, such an article as he or she does not want, and after wrapping it well, takes it to the party. Of course, everybody desires to get rid of his parcel, and the exchange business waxes warm and furious as it progresses, for usually not one individual obtains anything which he wishes to keep, as a "pig in a poke" is scarcely ever a bargain. ”

“ Chicken croquettes molded in form of small chickens, or broiled chicken with water cress; creamed potatoes, sliced cucumbers, hot rolls, spiced peaches served in champagne glasses; whole tomatoes stuffed with cooked cauliflower and nuts set on branch of cherry or strawberry leaves; cheese sandwiches made very thin; ice cream molded in form of strawberries, small cakes frosted, (place half of a large strawberry on top of each piece of cake before serving) .
Breakfast al Fresco.
A breakfast al fresco is just the thing to entertain a party of young girls. Have the tables on the porch. ”