Be careful to sign your own name, Jane Briggs or Ellen Blair, never Mrs. William Briggs, Mrs. John Blair. The very vulgar fashion of a woman signing herself Mrs. John Blair, Mrs. William Briggs, as the case may be, stamps one as unused to the usages of good society. In writing to an intelligence office a lady may have to sign herself in that way, but even business letters may be signed with the lady's own name, while the necessary address is put below in a parenthesis. THE AR T OF ENTER TAINING. 649 If the invitation be formal, write with care upon a large card : <b IPSta. efee^b Request the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson 's company at dinner, on Saturday the loth of September, at six d clock. The response should be prompt 9H^. ct/kvb ^It^. T&howv^ovv Accept with pleasure {or decline with regret) Mr. and Mrs. Field's kind invitation to dinner on the 10th of Sep- tember. VERBAL INVITATIONS. When you receive a verbal invitation, never waiver, never leave your would-be entertainer in doubt. If you are uncertain, decline promptly, so as not to inconvenience the party-giver but, if possible, give a pleasant acceptance. When invited to a reception or informal tea party it is perfectly allowable to take any stranger friends with you without warning, but never at a dinner or formal card party. TABLE SERVICE. As to the table service, a round table to begin with is most desirable where the room will allow of it, and where your waiters are good. The centre can be devoted to the decorations, and every one can have the best place. Good white table linen, like good white stationery, is always in good taste, and it is always the one proper thing for dinner. At lunch or breakfast a red table cloth, or even gold-colored, is frequently seen. 653 THE ART OF ENTERTAINING. TABLE DECORATIONS. Decorate your table simply, but, if possible, have some little pleasant surprise — some decoration that shall have the effect of a witty or grace- ful speech. A friend of The Household once made a dinner table beautiful with two branches of cherry blossom, starting from a beauti- ful cherry-colored vase set in a bank of moss. Another made "an arrangement in yellow :" A low-set fruit dish of oranges and yellow bananas set round with narrow, low glass vases of dandelions. If nothing else is at hand, polish some handsome apples and put at each side low dishes of nuts which the children have gathered. Peanuts are sometimes seen on elegant dinner tables. Always have the decorations placed low, so that the guests may each see each other, for, after all, " the ornaments of a house are the guests who frequent it." Some people complain of the fashion of placing several forks, knives and spoons at each place as an ostentatious one. Very often the dis- play consists chiefly of borrowed silver, and is not done for the sake of display, but simply to avoid confusion. Suppose a dinner of four courses. You place a tablespoon at the right hand for soup, also a knife and napkin, with a piece of bread folded in it. At the left two forks and a dessert spoon, quite an array, but the waiter has been saved just that many changes of forks and spoons, and what a relief for the hostess who can see to the proper arrangement of each article before- hand ! INTRODUCTIONS.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Be careful to sign your own name, Jane Briggs or Ellen Blair, never Mrs. William Briggs, Mrs. John Blair. The very vulgar fashion of a woman signing herself Mrs. John Blair, Mrs. William Briggs, as the case may be, stamps one as unused to the usages of good society. In writing to an intelligence office a lady may have to sign herself in that way, but even business letters may be signed with the lady's own name, while the necessary address is put below in a parenthesis. If the invitation be formal, write with care upon a large card : <b [illustration: Jane Smith and Ellen Brown request cards] Request the pleasure of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson 's company at dinner, on Saturday the loth of September, at six d clock. The response should be prompt [illustration: Response card] Accept with pleasure {or decline with regret) Mr. and Mrs. Field's kind invitation to dinner on the 10th of September. VERBAL INVITATIONS. When you receive a verbal invitation, never waiver, never leave your would-be entertainer in doubt. If you are uncertain, decline promptly, so as not to inconvenience the party-giver but, if possible, give a pleasant acceptance. When invited to a reception or informal tea party it is perfectly allowable to take any stranger friends with you without warning, but never at a dinner or formal card party. TABLE SERVICE. As to the table service, a round table to begin with is most desirable where the room will allow of it, and where your waiters are good. The centre can be devoted to the decorations, and every one can have the best place. Good white table linen, like good white stationery, is always in good taste, and it is always the one proper thing for dinner. At lunch or breakfast a red table cloth, or even gold-colored, is frequently seen. TABLE DECORATIONS. Decorate your table simply, but, if possible, have some little pleasant surprise — some decoration that shall have the effect of a witty or graceful speech. A friend of The Household once made a dinner table beautiful with two branches of cherry blossom, starting from a beautiful cherry-colored vase set in a bank of moss. Another made "an arrangement in yellow :" A low-set fruit dish of oranges and yellow bananas set round with narrow, low glass vases of dandelions. If nothing else is at hand, polish some handsome apples and put at each side low dishes of nuts which the children have gathered. Peanuts are sometimes seen on elegant dinner tables. Always have the decorations placed low, so that the guests may each see each other, for, after all, " the ornaments of a house are the guests who frequent it." Some people complain of the fashion of placing several forks, knives and spoons at each place as an ostentatious one. Very often the display consists chiefly of borrowed silver, and is not done for the sake of display, but simply to avoid confusion. Suppose a dinner of four courses. You place a tablespoon at the right hand for soup, also a knife and napkin, with a piece of bread folded in it. At the left two forks and a dessert spoon, quite an array, but the waiter has been saved just that many changes of forks and spoons, and what a relief for the hostess who can see to the proper arrangement of each article beforehand ! INTRODUCTIONS.

The household (of the Detroit free press)