The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-12-30
IFrom our Regular Correspondent
Our Washington Letter.
Ceremonial Society and Social Ceremony
"A Chapter on Calls and CaIlers-some-
ihing about Gard Eiiqueitc-what FASH
ion Demands in that Line.-How n Mem
bfr of Congress was Taken in--Etc., etc.

lining about Gard EIiqueffe-What Fash-
ion Demands in that Line.- HI ow n Mem
bfr of Congress was Taken in-.Etc., etc.
WASHINGTON, Dec. q, 1875.
some one has said that ceremony" is the
handmad of Society but in my opinion she
is the master. This is true, at least, in Wash
ington, where politics and ceremony rule pretty
much everything, society included.
In no other city in the Union, and very few
outside of it except London and Paris are the
iron rules of ceremony so strictly enforced ard
so obedently observed, and the study of books
and pamphlets on the subject occupies no little
time of the wives and daughters of senators and
members who propose to make their debut here
this season.
Though the season may be said to have COM
menced with Thanksgiving Day, yet it does
not attain full vgor until New Years; but from
then and until Ash Wednesday it feurishes in
all its glory. most important part of it is
calls" Tie woman who moves in society
must make calls to be called upon; if she does
not, she will find her parlors empty on recep-
ton days. and (what isIto some far more inn
portant) her name out of the newspapers For
the record of receptions and social events, with
mention of those present and complete descrip-
ton of the toilettes worn, forms an important
part of local journalism and ranks fully as high
as, if not higher, than the record of Congress
ional events.
Congress having adjourned till after the holi
days, and the past week having been unusually
dull, with the one exception of Christmas day,
your correspondent will devote this letter to a
brief description or classification of "calls''
and 'callers,' as they exist here in Washing
ton. The former may be divided into five dis
tinct classes, and those who make them Into
three. The five kinds of calls are congratula-
tory. of coincidence, of invitation, official and
pour preRdre congo. The three classes of call
ers are: those who call as friends, those who
call as a matter of duty, owing to their official
position, and those who call because others do
and because they want to ''show off," The
latter class finds its representatives chiefly
amongst transient visitors to the seat of gov
ernment, who want to improve the opportunity
by seeing everything, from the dome of the
capitol to the back kitchen of the Secretary of
State, and who could never leave the capital
for home in contented state of mind unless
they carried with them the proud conviction
that they had shaken hands with the President
criticised Mrs. Grants dress, and taken a glass
of wine at the reception of some judge of the
Supreme Court or member of the Cabinet.
As for the calls, the two first classes (con-
gratulatory and of coincidence lre INDUCED in as
occasion demands. 1t is the thing for married
ladies when calling By card, to leave three spe-
cimens of the pasteboard, one bearing the call
er's own name and two with that of the hus-
band The former, which is for the hostess only.
is left in the drawing room, but the two others,
one of which is for the hos5 aud the other for
the hostess, are deposited in the card-basket,
that is always placed to receive them, in the
reception room, on the hall table. This fashion
is godsend to the stationersJard card engrav-
ers, who are kept busy from Christmas until
Lent supplying the enormous demand, aud
then, after one or two seasons retire rich.
"OfieiaP' calls are an Institution peculiar to
Washington, and are purely formal Ceremo-
ny directs the wives of Cabinet officers to call
upon the wife of the President at stated peri
ods; the wives of Senators must call upon the
Cabinet ladies; the wives of members upon the
wives of Senators; aud so on, through the gra-
dations of political and official life. 1 have
seen this carried to such a nicely that the wife
of S1400 clerk would turn up her nose at the
idea of calling first upon the wife of $1,000
clerk, while the latter would, with equal con-
temp, scorn ''the idea' of favoring the help
meet of $1,000 clerk with her presence before
the latter had made formal call on her! This
official and social ladder, with its step above
STEP like the "house that Jack built reaches
all the way from the departmental messenger,
with sixty dollars Month, to the White House,
with fifty thousand year, aud no round is ever
skipped overi
Invitation calls had lately become very fash
ionable, and it is considered the correct thing
to invite your friends not by card, as formerly.
but by an oral invitation, for the express pur-
pose of making which a call is made RSV.
| P. cards are therefore getting out of fashion,
| and it is perhaps as we'll as they are, for these
initials have bothered the brains of many
| verdant Congressman. L remember having
| heard of case in point, where member from
the far West, after studying long while upon
those mysterious letters at the bottom of an
invitation he had received to a grand levee at
the house of foreign ambassador, at last came
to the conclusion that they must stand for Red
Stockings, VelUet Pants, (the card having the
| words "full dress inscribed just opposite to
those initials), and consequently appeared in
such costume much to the disgust of his COL
leagues, who thought he had suddenly gone
crazy or become fit subject for lunatic asy-
| lum.
Cards P. d. A. (pour dire adieu), or P. p. c.
(poor prendre congel are scattered profusely
during the latter part of the season and in ear
ly spring, when preparations are made for the
| summer exodus to the watering places and Eu-
rope. Both forms of initials are equally pop
ular aud fashionable.
So much for the card etiquette, which plays
such an important part in the ceremony of So
cety, and which, ridiculous as it is when car
red to excess, has many good, points when
thoughtfully exercised. The "peddling of
cards. by the basketful is one thing, and their
proper use quite another thing, The former is
detestable abomination and an outgrowth of
shoddyism; the latter delicate privilege and
great convenience. l. b.
| The Loader Who Cannot Lead.