FTERNOON TEAS WITHOUT DANCING=

Afternoon teas without dancing are given in honor of visiting celebrities
or new neighbors or engaged couples, or to "warm" a new house; or, most
often, for a house-guest from another city.

The invitation is a visiting card of the hostess with "to meet Mrs.
So-and-So" across the top of it and "Jan. 10, Tea at 4 o'clock" in the
lower corner, opposite the address.

At a tea of this description, tea and chocolate may be passed on trays or
poured by two ladies, as will be explained below.

Unless the person for whom the tea is given is such a celebrity that the
"tea" becomes a "reception," the hostess does not stand at the door, but
merely near it so that anyone coming in may easily find her. The ordinary
afternoon tea given for one reason or another is, in winter, merely and
literally, being at home on a specified afternoon with the blinds and
curtains drawn, the room lighted as at night, a fire burning and a large
tea-table spread in the dining-room or a small one near the hearth. An
afternoon tea in summer is the same, except that artificial light is never
used, and the table is most often on a veranda.

="DO COME IN FOR A CUP OF TEA"=

This is Best Society's favorite form of invitation. It is used on nearly
every occasion whether there is to be music or a distinguished visitor, or
whether a hostess has merely an inclination to see her friends. She writes
on her personal visiting card: "Do come in on Friday for a cup of tea and
hear Ellwin play, or Farrish sing, or to meet Senator West, or Lady X." Or
even more informally: "I have not seen you for so long."

Invitations to a tea of this description are never "general." A hostess
asks either none but close friends, or at most her "dining" list;
sometimes this sort of a "tea" is so small that she sits behind her own
tea-table--exactly as she does every afternoon.

But if the tea is of any size, from twenty upwards, the table is set in
the dining-room and two intimate friends of the hostess "pour" tea at one
end, and chocolate at the other. The ladies who "pour" are always
especially invited beforehand and always wear afternoon dresses, with
hats, of course, as distinguished from the street clothes of other guests.
As soon as a hostess decides to give a tea, she selects two friends for
this duty who are, in her opinion, decorative in appearance and also who
(this is very important) can be counted on for gracious manners to
everyone