Omaha daily bee., 1891-12-27
UNDER THE MlSTLETOE BOUCH
Marriages that Gave Life and Interest to
Christmas Week.
WHAT IT COSTS TO ENTERTAIN IN OMAHA,
Brilliant Promises for the Pre- cent
Wcek-PcopIe who Entertained
During the Past
Seven Days.

"What does it cost TO entertain in Omaha'
Well, that depends upon the manner OF en-
tertainmcnt and the number OF guests in-
vited.n
The gentleman who spoke is quito
well known among fashionable people.
His wife is one of tho favorite hostesses in
the city and the entertainment they give
are upon an elaborate scale In keeping with
the position they occupy and the dollars that
make heavy their strong box.
more than ever does the subject Of cost
perplex the mind of so.called society people.
Each year more money is spent upon rccep-
ton, Kcnsington, card party and ball, to say
nothing OF diuner parties, than the year pre-
vious. More demands are made
upon the inventive faculty of host
and hostess to introduce something that
will furnish talk # not food for thought.
9TH successful hostess is tho woman
whose entertainments possess the charm of
novelty and who can always be depended
upon to introduce something that Is unusual
or out of the common ut least. 1t Is, OF
course, requisite that u hostess should have
the happy faculty of making friends ana
keeping them, but society will quite over
look the absence of this pleasant trait in a
woman's makeup, If she possess that great
est of prerequisites, the genius OF surround
ing herself with something that has tue ele-
ment of newness.
"In giving a reception there are many
things to be taken into consideration.
Suppose, for example, you have
planned a large evening reception, say 400
guests, the cost OF such an affair, to say moth
ing of the wear and tear upon everybody aud
everything, would be about as follows:
Flowers . 20
Music ....... 60
Waiters. .,.. ID
incidentals, cigars, punch, ctc.......,... 49,. Is
sla5
''!Say $500. Then there may be a gown or two
in ADDITION which will add another 500 20
the bill and your reception already represents
an outlay of $500. Stationary, postage, etc.
must also be figured In and by the Zine your
entertainment Is over you will realize that n
large hole has been made III $3.50.
"Now this estimate can be scaled considera-
bly,. You may have a beautiful home, with
rare pictures on the walls, with exquisite
bric-a-brac on the mantels, in the hooks and
scattered about the rooms, that the presence
OF any considerable number OF
flowers would hide instead Of
bringing into more prominent relief
as originally desired and you cut down your
flower bill to $50. the music too is usually
closely figured and so will provide five
pieces. The caterer comes in for the gen
eral scale, and if he provides the service as
we'll as food, $40 will secure a salad, q sand
witch, probably an olive or two, u cup of Cof-
fee and an ice. Quite enough possibly, but
il is u delightful thing to have u plate on the
bill, but that costs money.
you can also save in your cigars and
punch, $40 being a fair estimate to place on
these necessary anjuncts to the successful en-
tertainment.
Now to show you how the careful house
wife plans for her reception We will extend
the figures given above and an evening re-
ception can be given for
Flowers -. Nv
Caterer and service ........... 40
Punch, cigars, etc 10
d. Total ...... 800
This, with invitations, (engraved), pos
tage, etc, to be considered, shows that an
ordinary evening entertainment can be given
for 800. But everywhere one will notice
that economy has been used, and there are
people who will 60 away and make very
sighting remarks about persons trying to
measure wheat with other peoples bushels.
Afternoon receptions can oe given for
considerably less money, for the music may
be had cheaper, the caterer also shaves his
bill, the flowers need not be so elaborate, and
yet have everything upon a very elevated
plane. Card parties are the cheapest form
OF social entertaining, yet one of the most
charming ways in which to repay social
obligations
In conversation with another social light, a
man who nas given the question of how to
entertain well, close study, and whose din.
ners are remarkable for their elegance and
their completeness, said that a really fash
ionable reception could not be given for less
than $500, and as he has given such affairs in
past times, must be quoted as an authority
upon the subject. This is how he provided:
Flowers '.,......Sl3O
Music. ............... $50
Walters. ........ -. 70
Pinch Cigars, ctr $500 "a
Engraved Invitations, etc. ,............... -
i"''"on'u's'' -
Total. .... $500
In many homes there are good COOKS who
can be intrusted to making the salad, the
sandwiches, ana even the pate which
necessarily saves expense, A few flowers
will brighten things up considerably and
only the music becomes an item of expense.
But then entertaining is largely a matter of
experience and the wise houSekeeper profits
by tho lessons of the past. Still, as a rule,
it is quito safe TO say that every reception,
afternoon or evening, costs from 500 to 500
as the host ana hostess may elect.
| asked MIR Robert Patrick the other day
what he considered the most elaborate ban
quet ever given In Omaha. Without Il mo-
ments hesitation he said the banquet given
TO Senator Charles +. Henderson at the
Omaha club last fall. at was complete in
every PARTICULAR said he. The wines
were the best to be had, the cigars
were tho highest possible grade, and
yet that banquet only cost $40 n
cover, II fact which should not be forgotten
for u moment | question very much If such
n banquet could be duplicated for the same
money, for there were Inducements offered
WHICH | 40 not uelleNe VIII nc OHeTCu again.
''Speakiug of entertaining, DO you know
that the most delightful form OF entertaining
Is a dinner party, not over six people, for
when you go beyond thar number you are
likely to make the common error of asking
people who are not congenial one with
another, and therefore your dinnerdrags, the
wit Is heavy, the talk desultory and even un-
interesting. But when you invite only six
people you can have a lawyer, "a doctor, a
minister, n student, IA literary light, a trades
man, all upon the same equality and, for the
time you sit about the board, the lawyer is
the best lawyer, the doctor the most
scientific exponent of his art, the minister
tho cleverest of the cloth, the student a
coming power in the intellectual world, the
literary light unrivaled in the domain Of
letters, while the tradesman is the real
prince of the financial system. aud under
these conditions surely the repartee is of that
exalted kind which LIANT said was the quint-
essence Of good living.
Omaha is not a dinner giving own why,
IL is Lard 10 tell. There are many good
takers here. There are connoiSseurs who
are quite the equal of Epicurus when he was
upon earth, yet they rarely come together
except at some formal dinner given TO honor
a man who has made a name Tor himself in
his particular calling. To me a dinner with
six congenial people is the highest form of
social entertaining"
The children have been the real kings and