Book of Etiquette Volume I Part 26

company at luncheon on ....................

at ................. o'clock 11 Park Row_

Very often a hostess invites friends and acquaintances to a luncheon for the purpose of presenting to them a certain visiting guest, and perhaps to attend, after the luncheon, a matinee planned for the purpose of enabling the newcomer to become better acquainted with the hostess' friends. In this case, an invitation like the one following should be used:

_To meet Miss Helen Rhodes Mrs. Robert Blake requests the pleasure of Miss Joyce's company at luncheon on Tuesday, April the eleventh at one o'clock and afterward to the matinee 167 Grand Concourse_

The name of the play and the theater may be included in the wording of the invitation.

Breakfast invitations are rarely issued, for the very good reason that formal breakfasts are very rarely given. But when they are, the wording of the invitation is identical with the wording given above for the luncheon invitations, subst.i.tuting in each case the word "breakfast"

for "luncheon." Acknowledgments are also the same as those used for the luncheon.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE LUNCHEON INVITATION

A prompt acceptance or regret must be sent upon receipt of an invitation to luncheon. The following two forms are correct for use with the two invitations given above.

_Mrs. Frank Parsons accepts with pleasure Mrs. John Clancy Blake's kind invitation to luncheon on Friday, October the fourteenth at one o'clock 146 Park Place_

_Miss Jean Joyce accepts with pleasure Mrs. Blake's kind invitation for luncheon on Tuesday, April the eleventh at one o'clock to meet Miss Rhodes and to go afterward to the matinee 48 Fremont Avenue_

THE INFORMAL INVITATION

For the informal luncheon, a brief note of invitation is sent from five to seven days ahead. In making the note brief, one must be careful not to sacrifice cordiality. We give here two notes of invitation, one for luncheon and one for breakfast; and also their respective acknowledgments:

_86 Was.h.i.+ngton Terrace, April 14, 19--_

_My dear Mrs. Blank:_

_Will you come to luncheon on Wednesday April the twentieth, at half-past one o'clock? Mrs. Frank Richards will be here, and I know you will be glad to meet her._

_Cordially yours,_

_Helen R. Roberts._

_64 Main Street, April 16, 19--_

_My dear Mrs. Roberts:_

_I will be very glad to come to luncheon on Wednesday, April the twentieth, at half-past_ _one o'clock. It was very kind of you to remember that I have been wanting to meet Mrs. Richards for a long time._

_Yours very sincerely,_

_Justine Blank._

_437 Fairview Terrace, May 5, 19--_

_Dear Mrs. Miller:_

_I expect a few friends to join me at an informal breakfast at half-past eleven o'clock on Tuesday, the tenth. Won't you be one of them?_

_Sincerely yours,_

_Maybelle Curtis._

_822 Jennings Street, May 7, 19--_

_Dear Mrs. Curtis:_

_Thank you very much for asking me, but I regret that I will not be able to join you at breakfast on Tuesday. I have two young nieces stopping with me, and I promised to devote that morning to showing them the places of interest in town. They are planning so eagerly for the trip, and they are leaving here in such a short time, that I feel that I must not disappoint them._

_With most sincere regrets, I am_

_Cordially yours,_

_Mary K. Miller._

There is still another approved form for inviting guests to luncheon or breakfast. When the occasion is neither too strictly formal nor too informal, the hostess may merely write, beneath the engraved name on her ordinary calling card, the words, "Luncheon at one-thirty o'clock March fourth." This is sent about five days before the chosen day. The acknowledgment must be by informal note, never by a calling card. And this holds true of all other invitations; when the personally inscribed calling card is used, a first-person note of acceptance or regret must be promptly written. The use of cards in this way is looked upon with disfavor among people who are most careful of the amenities of polite society.

RECEPTION INVITATION

The word "reception" may mean several social functions which may or may not be extremely ceremonious. There is the afternoon tea, for instance, an informal little affair to which one invites one's best friends and most interesting acquaintances. The invitation may be either written by the hostess or engraved. The at-home day is also called a reception, as is the more elaborate occasion when a special guest is introduced to the hostess' friends.

There was a time when it was considered extremely bad form for a host's name to appear on the invitation, but to-day the reception invitation often takes the form of the following:

_Mr. and Mrs. Harold Blaine At Home Tuesday afternoon, May fifth from four until half-past seven o'clock Twelve, Park Terrace_

The above invitation should be engraved in fine script on a large white card of bristol board, and it should be mailed at least ten days in advance of the day set for the entertainment. An acknowledgment is not expected; if the invitation is accepted, the presence of the guest on the day of the reception is sufficient. If one is unable to be present, one's visiting card is sent to arrive on the exact day of the reception--unless an answer is explicitly required on the invitation.

Not to be present at the reception, and not to send one's visiting card, is to indicate either that one is ignorant of the correct social laws, or that one desires to discontinue friends.h.i.+p with the hostess.

When a mother and her daughter are to receive the guests at a reception together, the card is in this form:

_Mrs. William B. Harris The Misses Harris At Home Friday Afternoon, October fifth from four until seven o'clock Thirty-two Amsterdam Avenue_

If the reception is for the purpose of introducing a young _debutante_ daughter, the hostess would issue cards similar to the one above, except that the _debutante's_ name would appear immediately below her own. It would be merely "Miss Harris" with no Christian name or initial. If a second daughter is introduced to her mother's friends by means of an afternoon tea, the cards are also like the one above, except that the name of the second daughter is inscribed _in full_ beneath that of the hostess. Thus invited guests would know that "Miss Harris" is the elder and introduced to society first, and "Miss Merian Harris" is the second daughter to be introduced to society.

RECEPTION IN HONOR OF A SPECIAL GUEST

When the purpose of the reception is to honor a special guest the fact should be indicated on the invitations. If the invitation is written on a card, the words, "To meet Governor and Mrs. Frank Curtis" should appear. The proper form for the engraved invitation follows:

_To meet Governor and Mrs. Frank Curtis Mr. and Mrs. James Melvin request the pleasure of your company on Thursday afternoon, June fifth from four until seven o'clock Eighteen, Was.h.i.+ngton Garden Heights_

No acknowledgment other than one's presence on the day of the reception is necessary to this invitation. However, if one is unable to attend, the visiting card should be mailed so that it arrives on the precise day of the entertainment, or if an unexpected happening prevents one from attending, a messenger may be dispatched with a card in an envelope, forwarding it to the hostess while the reception is in progress.