Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-13
GIVINGADINNER
The eliminating Point in the Art Of
Entertaining.
POINTS FOR THE ENTERTAINER
Tact in Arranging the Guests eysAmong
the Lions-What the Menu Should Be-Ev-
olution ofthe Dinner Party-No More Pedi-
greed Wines.
Written for The Evening Star.

young people. 81 would as soon give them to
calves" he replied. Now to compare young
people as class to calves is not just, for there
are more points of difference between the two
than there are points of similarity, and it is
even unjust to compare young society people to
calves But. nevertheless. it cannot be denied
That young people are like calves in this par
tlcular, that they dislike forced confinement in
narrow space for any length of time, and
much prefer to be frisking around the rooms in
n dance to being obliged to remain still at n
dinner party for couple of hours. Not only
is the forced inaction disagreeable to them, but
| they are In addition, as a general thing care
less OF what they eat and drink and are not
discriminating judges nor are they fond of
the prolonged conversation that is necessary.
The chatter of the debutante and the
| light jokes of the youth are more fitted to
the ball room than the dining room. 1t must
not be supposed that this applies to all young
people, put to most very young people. There
are some OF them who sip their wine and gloat
| over Their food with the delight of gourmandes
| put these are the exceptions. Nevertheless
| the young persons dinner party is now becom-
| ing n settled fashion. and a fashion that grows
| stronger every year. 1t requires years of
Practlce 10 have discriminating. taste in the
matter OF wines. and many of the most de-
| llcfous accomplishments of the culinary art are
| appreciated only by those who have acquired
tastes. The young fellow who drinks old Ma
deira under the impression that it is new sherry.
and the girl who relessv drinks a priceless red
wine. thinking it to be ordinary table claret
| are people that really do not enjoy dinner
parties. Ii they must be entertained ct din
ners they should be entertained bv them
selves, and If they are furnished with plenty
| fectly content.
| ThE CULEIEaTlSd POINT.
! The fact is that the eliminating point in the
art of entertaining is reached in the dinner
| party. Washington man was heard to make
the assertion the other day that he considered
| the man or woman who coud give q good
| dinner party to be the most talented person in
social h}e. He said that Of ali things it was the
hardest to give. of all entertainments it was the
plea Santcst to go to if it was successful and the
| most disagreeabc if il was not and that a
person might spend all the wealth of the Indies
| upon 1t and yet fail ut it. This il reasonable
as not q French cook, nor plenty of servants.
| nor miShlhcent chIna. nor even good company
| can make goOd dinner party unless the giyer
| OF the feast has a certain amount of talent for
! dlnner giving. The menu is important the
guests are more important, but the most i'm
| Portant thing of all is the arrangement of the
guests. What does it matter what sort of lions
| You may have at your table if Won distribute
| them so that they arc lost among the donkeys
| that are there! Yet lively donkey at Il dinner
party. if he is skilfully located is not an unde-
sirable thing to have. His braving makes a
very agreeable accompaniment to the roaring
| of the lions.
IN WASHINGTON.
Dinner parties are pretty frequent here. and
are becoming more frequent every year, but
they are not so numerous IA they are in larger
richer community like New York. Moreover this
Is liveler place III proportion to its size and
has not yet reached the more sedate social stage
where the appropriate entertainment is the
dinner. and, again. Our social circles are large
and this interferes with dinner giving No.
| body ought to feel offended at not being asked
| 10 DINNER. but some people DO and as Il con-
sequence it is much easier to give them success
| fully If You have limited circle of acquaint-
| ances. lnvidious distinctions among your
| friends are disagrecable But it has gone forth
as the decree of fashion that dinner parties
are the proper things to give, and they must
be given. OF course. they are among the old
est OF entertainments, but they have changed
materially.
EVOLUTION OF THE DINNER PARTY.
Many remember the dinner party of bygone
days. There the viands were placed upon the
table and the hostess helped you to your sorp
and fish and the host carved the roast and
game. Then people drank each other health
and the cloth was removed for desert display
ing the polished oak or mahogany table and
the men rat around it for some time after the
iidu TctlFeu-Sit around 1t sometimes
long that they could SIT no LONGER and slid ,;nle-
it. There is nothing that 30 marks the increns-
ing civilization CT the age rs the gradual cYolu-
tlon OF the dinner party. In ancient times it
degeneratcd nearly always into drunken de-
Danch IN more modern times the tpplirg be-
came less until at the present day drunken
ness has been banished almost entirely There
was one thing to be said in favor OF the old
fashioned dinner party. however. Generally
speakihS the wines were better or at any Pate.
II not really better, more known about
them In former times wealth was more
stationary. even if there was not 70 much Of it.
People had money whose parents and grand
| parents had ha' il before them and they left il
| to their children Nowadays one generation
makes the money and the next spends IL Inst
as mitch as it was considered The proper thiug
| To have house well stocked with furniture
| and well filled with plate, all of which were to
De famlk possessions from generation to
generation. so was it thought desirable that
| the cellar of the house should be generously
stored with wines. Thus it was that
oUn ANCESTORS DRANK rEDIUREED WINE,
But all this has changed Poodle are mora
migratory than they were and family wines are
things that require old houses and long. undis
turbed possession OF old cellars to come forth
Ill all their cobwcbbed glory. There is GOOD
VINE at dinner parties now. bat seldom can
your host say aught concerning it fGrth, + than
to name the merchant from whom h, bo,:,,lt it
1
must stand upon its merits without any of the
| prestige that pedigree might lend it, 1t il a
sing alar rnle of dinner parties. but it is one az
old rs the hills. that the host is at liberty nay
| 1t Is rather incumbent upon him, to call your
attention TO the excellence of his wine and to
| tell yon where it came from.
IN AND OUT OF SEASON.
Strawberries ut Christmas time and sbad in
January all very wei. but i. is absurd to
have them. When yOu eat them Won .re rom,
sciOus of eating great mGnv dollars, but there
your satisfaction ends. for strawberries are het-
ter when they are growing i'll the open air and
shad are better when they come from the
waters that are nearest to you. Milionnircs
who love to spend their money OstcutatiOusIv
are the ones that have dishes that are out of
| season. but the real epicGre never risks this
1t IL true that the conventional dinner party il
pretty much the same all over the country but
there should be certain notifications of it ir
| different localities. The magnificent saltwater
J fish of the south. the canva--ba,k duck and
oysters of our own region. the venisoI and prairie
chicken OF the west are all especially appropri-
| ate to the localities where they thrive. And
! here it must he remarked that Washington cn-
joys glstronomic facilities of an unusual char
acter. 1t was Oliver Wendell Holmes who
| characterized Baltimore as the gasronomic
| ceuter of America. and all that make it 40 can
| be obtained here as well. IL not the Potomac
shad famous the world over, and where are
there finer oysters or such delicious terrapin
and ducks and quail?
| At Last.