A breakfast or a luncheon is somewhat less formal than a dinner and, hence, so much the more delightful.

The breakfast party includes both gentlemen and ladies while, as a rule, the luncheon is an entertainment given to ladies. The invitations to a breakfast may be written, engraved or verbal. If a large number of guests are invited to meet some distinguished stranger, engraved invitations are issued.

Five days or a week’s notice is usually considered sufficient, but if distinguished wits and scholars are to be secured, it is well to give a longer period, since their time, always in demand, should be bespoken well in advance. A reply to the invitation is a necessity, because the hostess wishes time, in case of non-acceptance, to secure another guest.

Where the breakfast is less stately in character, an informal note, written by the hostess, in the first person, is a pleasant method, or simply written on the lady’s visiting cards under the name in this form: Breakfast, Tuesday, ten o’clock, February fifteenth.

Artificial light is out of place, and sunshine should flood the apartment, while a certain airiness and daintiness should pervade the table appointments, quite the opposite of the elaborate display that characterizes the dinner party. Flowers should form the decorations of the table. Breakfast parties are a very convenient mode of social entertainment for those whose limited means will not admit of a more extensive display of hospitality.

Ten o’clock is the usual hour, though it may be as late as twelve, thus differing from the luncheon, which is never earlier than one.

Breakfast parties are a favorite reunion with literary people, who generally take the morning hours for leisure, leaving brain work until later in the day. Sidney Smith said he liked breakfasts, “because no man was conceited before one o’clock in the day.”

In serving breakfast the bill of fare, unless for special occasions, should never be elaborate, but rather dainty and attractive, as the appetite usually needs tempting at this early hour; fewer courses of a more delicate variety should be served than at other meals. The hostess dispenses the coffee, tea and chocolate from the head of the table; the substantials are set in front of the host, who may help the plates and hand them to the waiter to serve; the vegetables and other dishes may be handed from the side table.

Concerning the Viands.

It is well-bred to serve the breakfast with as little formality as possible, and with as few attendants; one servant, a maid, or man servant is sufficient unless the party is unusually large.

If grape-fruit be used for a first course, or orange skins filled with juice, a wreath of smilax on each plate makes a pretty decoration.

A breakfast should invariably begin with fruit, followed by a course of eggs. This latter is one of the essentials, and offers a greater variety than is perhaps known outside of France. A Spanish omelette, if properly made, is a thing to be treasured among the “pleasures of memory.” Stuffed eggs, or hard boiled eggs cut in slices, with a bechamel or white sauce, are appropriate and generally liked. A fish course, an entrÉe, one meat, a salad and a sweet course should follow next in order, concluding with coffee. The entrÉe and the meat may form one course, if a slice of duck with olives, fried chicken or some such dish be selected.

Ices of all kinds are entirely out of place at a breakfast. An omelette soufflÉe, peaches with cream, or best of all a fruit salad, are within the proprieties. This last never fails to call forth enthusiastic appreciation. It is simply made, and keeps perfectly for two or three days. Half a dozen oranges should be peeled, leaving no particle of the white adhering, and then cut in small pieces. Half a ripe pineapple, broken with a fork into bits and sugared to taste, and four bananas sliced, are mixed with the oranges, and the whole put on ice for three or four hours. This will be found a dish rivalling the ambrosia of high Olympus.

With the first course of fruit, finger-bowls are in readiness, but are removed at its close. Hot breads and breakfast cakes are always suitable, and oatmeal, carefully cooked and served with thick cream and powdered sugar, often follows the fruit. The closing course should be hot cakes served with honey or maple syrup.

If there are ladies present, or the hostess presides, the coffee, chocolate, etc., are poured by her, and after the first course she asks the guests when they will have it served.

The following will be found an acceptable bill of fare for an ordinary breakfast party. It can of course be varied to suit the convenience and taste of housekeepers.

Bill of Fare for Breakfast.

Melons.Grapes.Oranges.Fried Perch with Sauce Tartare.
Young Chickens with Cream Gravy.Saratoga Potatoes.
Poached Eggs on Toast.Broiled Quails.Baked Mushrooms.
Tomatoes or Celery.Bread and Butter.
Crackers.Hot Cakes.Coffee.Tea.Chocolate.

If a butler serves at a breakfast he does not wear full dress as at a dinner.

Wedding Breakfast Menu.

A menu that would be easy to prepare for a wedding breakfast would be two hot dishes consisting of chicken croquettes, lobster cutlets, oyster patties or creamed oysters. Everything else might be cold and as follows: salad, either chicken or lobster, pickled oysters, a small wedding cake, little cakes for the bridemaids, Charlotte russe and coffee. The table decorations should either be all white, or the colors used in the bridemaids’ costumes. Let the waitresses be dressed in white.

The simplest costume is in good taste for breakfast parties. Men wear morning dress, and ladies handsome but plain street costumes. Gloves are removed before going to the table. Bonnets are kept on.

Each gentleman is given the escort of a lady. The host conducts the lady who is the most distinguished guest to the table, and the hostess follows last with the gentleman whom it is desired to honor particularly.

Upon entering the dining-room the ladies are assisted to their seats, and the gentlemen then follow, and the meal is served. The signal for rising from the table is given by the hostess, with a smile and simple bow, and all proceed to the parlor, exchange a few pleasant remarks, and take their leave.

For informal breakfasts no after-call is expected, but for ceremonious entertainments of this kind the same observance of the rules of etiquette are required as for dinners and large parties.

Guests should not remain more than half an hour after leaving the table, and many do not even return to the drawing-room.

A Bachelor Breakfast.

If a breakfast has been given by a gentleman to ladies and gentlemen, the lady who chaperones it and presides as hostess, receives all the attentions of a lady in her own home. The host calls upon her soon after the event, and also calls upon his lady guests. Gentlemen usually give their breakfasts at fashionable hotels or restaurants.

A Golden-Rod Breakfast.

This is a pretty country entertainment. It can be given out of doors under wide-spreading trees. For the one in mind, great roots of golden-rod were dug up and transplanted into jardinieres (stone jars in this case) and a hedge of the nodding yellow plumes placed all about.

The carpet was of checkered sunshine and shade, and the green canopy of the leaves made the scene a perfect one. The guests, arriving at ten o’clock, were ushered into the rustic breakfast room. Four tables were used. On one pure white damask napery was enlivened by low baskets of maidenhair fern, and sprays of the same delicate plant tied with baby ribbon of green gave a cool look to the whole. The largest table was resplendent with cut glass vases filled with golden-rod. White asters gave a hint of autumn’s snow to the third table, and the ingenuity of the hostess found pleasure in decorating the remaining one with the delicate grasses and rich-colored small fruits of autumn. Gold-banded china, cut glass and silver, which had been in the family for three generations, supplemented the floral charms of the tables.

Choice Blending of Colors.

Autumn and yellow were the main ideas which guided the selection of the menu for this golden-rod breakfast. Everything possible was in the yellow tint or rich golden brown. With plenty of cream and fresh eggs and the fresh fruits of the farm to work with the menu was an easy one to furnish. Ices served in the shape of tiny melons and cakes decorated with frosted sugar. As a memento of the feast each guest retained her name card which bore a spray of pressed golden-rod fastened with narrow yellow ribbon, and on it in golden script a verse with some thought suggested by autumn or the flower.

Tiny garden hats of yellow straw, filled with golden-rod, accompanied the name cards. The golden-rod in itself proved a veritable gold mine as a help to conversation. Discussions as to whether or not it should be chosen as the national flower; descriptions by travelers of where they had seen it growing best, bright quotations of favorite authors leading to discussions of poems or books by these authors, anecdotes of travel all followed each other and naturally, led by the clever hostess who, in her quaint gown of yellow, with golden rod in her belt and a spray tucked close to the wide tortoise shell comb which held her golden hair, looked like the personification of the flower she had honored at her breakfast.

Wine at a breakfast is optional. If used, two varieties are enough, and should be in keeping with the principal dishes; claret, sherry, Burgundy are suitable.

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:

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.

CONCERNING TEAS.

The distinction between five o’clock teas, kettledrums, afternoon receptions and high tea, is not very clearly drawn. Strictly speaking, the afternoon or morning reception is the most formal, and has been dwelt upon in a former chapter.

High Tea.

This is really the evening supper, which has also been described in detail, although sometimes the “high tea” is spread for an earlier hour than the supper, say seven or eight o’clock. The ladies come in visiting costume, and the gentlemen in morning dress in country towns. In cities, sometimes, dress coats and light gowns are considered essential. Guests are expected to spend the evening.

Where there are two rooms, such as dining-room and parlor, or two parlors, the tables can be laid in one room, while the guests are assembling in the other. Often, however, the hostess can command but one large room in which to entertain her friends. In this case, the little tables can be brought in by a servant and spread in the presence of the guests without the least breach of propriety. After the meal is over, the dishes are quickly carried out on trays and the tables either taken from the room or left where they stand for cards or any of the many pencil-and-paper games that are pleasant at such gatherings.

One waitress, if quick and deft, can readily wait on a dozen people, especially if all the necessary articles for changing the courses, plates, silver, etc., are arranged on a side table in the room or outside the door.

There are many attractive menus that can be suggested for teas, but the following seems to demand as little home labor for satisfactory results as any other. The word tea, by the way, is something of a misnomer, as at these entertainments the beverages are almost invariably coffee or chocolate, or both, tea being left entirely out of the question.

Menu.

Bouillon.Bread.Crackers.Celery.Pickled Oysters.
Chicken Salad.Peanut Sandwiches.Olives.Salted Almonds.
Chocolate.Coffee.Ice Cream.Fancy Cakes.Fruit.

Serve the bouillon in cups, and be sure that it is very hot. Have a thin slice of lemon floating on the surface of each cup. Pass crackers (the Zephyr or Snowflake brands are best,) with this, and choice blanched celery. If the tables are set before the guests arrive, it is well to have a couple of short stalks of celery laid at each plate and spare that amount of waiting. Have each cup and saucer set in a plate, and take all three pieces off at once. Either tea or coffee cups may be used, and it is, of course, unnecessary to have them match.

The pickled oysters, with not too much liquor, may either be served on the same plate with the salad or separately. Glass or china dishes may hold the salad and oysters. Forks should be used with this course. The sandwiches must be neatly piled on fringed napkins on bread plates, and must be passed several times, and the olives and salted almonds may fill small glass dishes. The olives may be helped with a fork or spoon or with the fingers, the almonds may be served with spoons. The coffee and chocolate should be poured out at a side table, and sugar and cream passed with them to each person.

The ice cream should also be served off the table and passed in the plate or saucer from which it is to be eaten. The cakes should be prettily arranged in a cake dish with a doily under them. The fruit should be placed on a flat salver, as high piled dishes are apt to be top-heavy and difficult to pass. Oranges, bananas, grapes, the last cut into rather small bunches, make a pretty array. Each guest must be supplied with a fruit plate, doily, finger-bowl, fruit-knife and fork or spoon. Souvenirs are sometimes given, or attractive menu cards are used.

Five O’clock Teas, or “At Homes.”

Some ladies make it a point to be “at home” almost every day at a certain hour, and serve tea or coffee in their drawing-rooms, accompanied by either wafers, maccaroons, fancy cakes, or small delicate sandwiches, and perhaps bouillon for masculine callers.

Such a lady who is bright and interesting, who gives a warm welcome, yet does not bind any one to a longer stay than the conventional ten minutes, is sure of drawing about her a delightful circle of acquaintances, men and women alike being pleased to drop in on their way home from the city, or from more pretentious gatherings.

This is the afternoon tea in its simplest form. In London afternoon tea is universal. If you are calling anywhere in the latter part of the afternoon, tea and thin bread and butter will be offered you as a matter of course, or if it has already been handed round, you will be asked if you have had your tea, and if not a fresh supply will be immediately brought.

If bread is thin enough, butter fresh, cake good, and tea and coffee perfection, you have provided all that is necessary. In warm weather ices or strawberries could be added. In England you will very seldom be given more than this at the best houses, and in Italy, where the afternoon receptions are the most agreeable entertainments imaginable, you will never be offered anything more than dainty little cakes, chocolate and tea. These slight refreshments are usually served in the simplest way. The hostess herself, or if the guests are numerous a white-capped bonne or two, pours out the tea and chocolate and the men of the party hand it to the ladies. Often the children of the house flit to and fro, carrying cups of tea or plates of cake, and everybody talks to everybody else. There will be the best pictures on the walls or the easels, often the best music from people the world knows well, and a reception thus simple in point of refreshment, but rich in the pleasures of art, is a memorable delight.

Still other ladies are at home on some one afternoon in each week, and announce that fact on their cards under their names as follows: Thursdays in February. Tea at Four O’clock. Or, if for a single occasion, it may read thus: Four O’clock Tea. Tuesday, February Fifth. Or, Mrs. George Green, Five O’clock Tea. Tuesday, January Fifth. 47 Sussex Place. Or, Mrs. George Green. Thursdays. Four to Seven. 47 Sussex Place. The year, or P. M., should not appear on the card.

These invitations require no answer, and no after calls, since really it is nothing more than a grand calling day. Those who cannot attend, call as soon as convenient, and those who come leave cards in the hall. Walking or carriage costumes are worn. Men wear morning dress. The hostess dons a handsome reception gown, never an evening dress. The young ladies who assist her are prettily clad in fabrics that suit the season, but which must not suggest ball toilet.

The simple refreshments served must be the very best of their kind. This style of afternoon tea is suitable for city or suburban life.

The Five O’clock Tea Table.

Beginning with the table itself, it may be a small oval, circular or hexagon shape. Any one of these is preferable to a square one. If the surface of the table is highly polished and it is preferred not to cover it entirely, a handsome square or round centerpiece doily, which is only a dinner centerpiece, is used, or a teacloth a yard square may prettily and wholly veil it.

For the actual furnishing of the table there are required a tea caddy, teapot, a hot water kettle, a cosy, a wafer or cracker dish, two or three pretty cups and saucers, cream jug and sugar bowl.

To measure the tea with a spoon is not considered quite so correct, and so redolent of the old-time flavor as to use the cup-cover of the caddy, “one fill to a brew.” A glass mat may be provided to set the hot teapot upon, and the spoons are laid loose upon the table.

Cups should hold more than an actual thimbleful, though they need not hold a pint, and should bear some relation to the laws of gravitation in their poise upon the saucer. They should have a smooth rim. A fluted edge is a most uncomfortable finish for a drinking vessel. The wafer-basket may be silver, china or cut glass.

For the winter months many hostesses have introduced a variety on the menu of the five o’clock tea table. Tea is a doubtful beverage in many hands, and is wholly abjured by many women as injurious to the complexion, hence a big, egg-shaped urn, beneath which a tiny alcohol jet burns, is set up in the corner of the drawing-room. The urn is filled with chicken bouillon, served piping hot in small silver cups, and with an invigorating dash of sherry for those who prefer it so. With the bouillon are served platters of toasted water biscuit that have been sparingly buttered and lightly sprinkled with salt. Sometimes, in place of salt, a powdering of cheese is grated over the hot cracker, and for a relish at five o’clock nothing could be preferable to this light, warm repast. Men, it is well to remark, heartily advocate the change from insipid tea to the invigorating hot bouillon.

Pages.

The special innovation for the benefit of women are two drawing-room pages. These are small, well-trained little boys in buttons, livery or done up in slippers, white linen and turbans, who at intervals of fifteen minutes carry about among the callers large lacquer trays, on which are spread violets and rose leaves, crystallized and salted nuts with ginger. One is supposed to scoop up a few of the confections or nuts as the pages pass.

Receiving Friends.

Those friends invited to pour tea or chocolate also come at the hour named, and after removing their wraps seat themselves at their particular tables, or at their end of the one long table. It is their duty to dispense, besides the cups that cheer, words and smiles that cheer also to every one who comes, no matter whether they know them or not. Usually they can do much to make it lively for all in their immediate vicinity. If the afternoon is a long one and guests numerous several of the receiving party volunteer to relieve those at the urns, and they spend an hour pleasantly about the rooms and beside the hostess.

These are the kindly things expected of a woman who accepts an invitation “to receive,” and when she has done them gracefully and prettily she is a social “sister of mercy.”

If the number of guests is small the hostess herself frequently serves, with perhaps her daughter or some friend, to assist.

The Eatables.

The tea, with its pretty equipage, is placed on the table by her side; sometimes chocolate is provided, and occasionally a crystal pitcher of milk for any who may desire it. Some very thin sandwiches (rolled ones are better), a silver basket of sweet biscuit and one of mixed fancy cakes, form an all-sufficient menu. A small cluster of flowers in a slender vase and the table is complete.

Friends greet one another, drink a social cup of tea, chat a little, and that is all. Formal leave-taking is not expected.

Sliced lemon should be at hand for any who prefer the creamless, sugarless Russian tea with a slice of lemon floating on its ambertide.

Some ladies invite several young girls to help serve and entertain, and, in the eyes of the masculine half of creation, this adds greatly to the beauty of the picture; for ever since tea became famous in our society, men have found much to admire in a girl who can serve it gracefully.

A kettledrum and an elaborate five o’clock tea are precisely the same form of entertainment. The term “kettledrum” is not very frequently used.

Some of the guests at “at homes” have so little judgment in the matter of departure that experience never serves them in good stead. They are nervous and vacillating when they should be neither; they linger and know not how to get themselves gracefully away, and usually succeed in making an abrupt exit. They know the right moment at which to leave, but fail to put this knowledge into practice. “Almost think it is time to go now,” or “I wonder whether I ought to say good-bye or wait until some one else comes in.”

The regulation conventional time for a call on an “at home” day is about twenty minutes, but this can be lengthened out to half an hour or forty minutes, circumstances being favorable, or shortened to ten minutes when the position is distinctly unfavorable to a longer stay.

“Bringing Out” a Debutante.

The “bringing out” of a dÉbutante at an afternoon tea has become, because of its simplicity, a favorite method. It affords opportunity to invite a number of young “rosebuds” to cluster about her, and it does not subject the “bud” to the ordeal of a ceremonious, or large, ball.

The dÉbutante’s name will be engraved below that of her mother, on at “At Home” card.

If she be the eldest daughter, her name is written Miss Manning. If she have elder sisters, it is Miss Amy May Manning.

No answer is expected to these cards, but each recipient will note the especial significance of the occasion by leaving cards in the hall for her as well as her mother, and, if the invitation be not accepted, they will send or leave cards within a few days, for both her and her mother.

An elaborate afternoon tea is often given in honor of some stranger, when the cards will read as follows: Mrs. James Ladd, At Home, Tuesday, March Tenth, from Four until Seven o’clock, to meet Mrs. Gordon Bennet. 5 South Fiftieth street.

This would indicate a daytime, but not usually a day-lighted assembly, and means flowers, gaslight and music; elaborate costumes as may be without infringing on actual evening dress, and refreshments, all too abundant for those who expect a dinner to follow.

Ladies leave outer wraps in hall, or dressing-room, but do not remove their bonnets. Gentlemen who expect to spend but a few moments, carry their hats with them into the drawing-room.

The table is made attractive with beautiful linen, china, and silver, and salads and oysters, ices and cake turn this entertainment from a simple afternoon tea into a “high tea.” The tea-room is never deserted, and, although servants are in attendance, there are young girls to pour the tea and add the charm of their presence to the hour.

Dancing even is suggested by the enchanting waltz music that floats from some hidden nook, and a hostess with a sufficiently spacious home often provides a room for this amusement, gentlemen and ladies who wish to participate, disposing of their wraps in the dressing-room.

Gentlemen Visitors.

These occasions usually capture more men than any other daytime gathering. They attend in Prince Albert (frock) coat, neat scarf, faultless gloves, perfect-fitting shoes, and unexceptionable hat. They need not remain long, they need not talk much, and they are sure to find some few that they recognize; and besides, in the best society, the theory of non-introduction gives each person the privilege of conversing with anyone present. Yet, hostesses who are strong in their social positions are not afraid to introduce people who meet under their roof, or to express pleasure that you took the time to call. Such a hostess brightens and warms the atmosphere, and the busy, tired man, who does not usually enjoy such affairs, will enjoy coming to her house and will come again.

How to Leave.

When the drawing-room is crowded it is possible to leave without saying adieu to the hostess, and good form does nor necessitate the hostess to ask anyone to call again.

An Afternoon Tea-Saucer.

A convenience that any victim of the afternoon tea will appreciate is a tray or elongated saucer, oval in shape. At one end is a rest made of gold wire, in which the cup stands. The other is quite large enough to allow of serving sandwiches, biscuit, or even a bit of salad without burdening the guest with a second object to hold. The cup stands firm in its place. Not even the jostling common in a crowded room will displace it or endanger that breakage which so often follows a crush. The tray is easily held in one hand, and the other is free to handle fork or spoon without inconvenience of the smallest sort.

Pretty teapots for the five o’clock tea table are of rosewood in a pinkish brown and in the usual olive coloring. The handles of the lids are butterflies, and a butterfly is on the handle used for pouring. Some of these elegant little pots are overlaid with a tracery of silver. Teapots intended for Easter favors are of brown porcelain in the form of a chicken with the mouth doing duty for the spout.

“Pink and Blue Teas.”

These have been a great “fad,” and while not quite so popular, are pretty enough to deserve mention. A table is too often confused in its arrangement of color on account of its changes of courses. This can be entirely done away with by adopting some simple color scheme. A luncheon, or tea, is easier to serve in this fashion because of its simpler menu.

Amber and white will harmonize with celery, salads, ices and other articles needed at a luncheon. The yellowish white, full of sunlight, harmonizes with amber and can be followed up to deepest bronze. Amber glasses, creamy damask, all the tints from white to bronze, can be used in the dishes. Apricots heaped on amber dishes, ices tinted in harmony, and a great mass of white roses for a center ornament, are appropriate.

Another beautiful effect is to do away with the cloth and let the polished wood of the table set the keynote of color. An oak table, with its rich yellows and browns and its lurking suggestions of green, would afford a color scheme with which all shades of amber, bronze and yellow would blend. Bon SilÈne or Malmaison roses would also be in harmony with the other decorations.

---