Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-03-26
ASSEMBLIES.
Early Assemblies in Philadelphia.
Harper's Bazaar.


AS early as 1740 dancing assemblies were
held in staid old Quaker Philadelphia,
much to the horror and despair of the
Friends of that day, who viewed with con,
sternation the encroachmcnt upon their
simple mode of living, these foreign fads
and fancies, the attendant extravagancies
in dress, the firtations, and to them dread
full dissipti which followed in the
wake of the assembly. In those rrimi-
tive times the subscribers were all men,
each one being taxed the overpowering
sum of forty shillings. 1t must be remem-
bered, however. that forty shillings rep.
resented an imposing sum of money IN
the pre-revolutionary days. The menu
consisted of ''pickled oysters and bread
and-butter What they drank is not so
clearly stated, but it can be safely put
forward that this part of the bill OF fare
was we'll cared for. When we contrast
"pickled oy sters and bread-and- butter
with Sherry menu of bouillion en- tasse,
huitres, Bechamel aux truffes, terrapin,
aspic de toie gras, eelee sux fruits, cham
payne, etc, one wonders at the marvellous
Improvement and endurance in the short
space of one hundred and fifty years in the
appetites and digestions of the elite of our
American social world
Blink cards did not exist, and all invita-
lions were printed or WIT en- on the backs
of playing cards. Thus Mrs. Willing, or
Miss H"pkinson, or, let Us say, a Thigh
man, received her Invitation frC n the jack
Of diamonds, the queen of clubs, or the
XII ~ hearts One Ct the Invitations
ran thus:
The gentlemen OF the army present
their compliments to Mrs. Jeykell, and beg
the favour of her company to a ball at the
state house on Monday next. Saturday,
September Goth, 1775.' This Mrs. Jeyk ell
was celebrated belle in her day, daugh-
ter Of Edward Shipper, first mayor of the
Quaker CITY. Carriages too were rarities
In those early periods of society, and 1t
was no uncommon sight to see ladies GO
ing to the assembly on horseback in all
their feathers and furbelows. What a
sight it would make if one of Or society
leaders rode down Fifth avenue, we will
say, at eleven clock at night, clad in one
OF Worth s elaborate creations, and meas
ed IN dream of an evening wrap from
Pingit or Folk, for the purpose of reviv-
ing colonial costumes Here is an oppor-
tunity for immortal fame. The dowagers
usually INDUCED in a rubber of whist
while the dancing was going on; ''wall-
flowers existed even at that remote
period, and the music was usually furnish,
ed by colored fddlers.
Even as far back as the middle of tie
last century there were rival ''cliques'' or
''sets IN the fashionable world, often
caused by political controversy; and
Philadelphia saw the cotiIlion party spring
up to antagonize the city assembly. With
the breaking out of the war of tie revolu-
ton. the assembly and other kindred
trivlalties passed momentarily out of ex-
lstence. The same gallants who, with
their satin coats and ruffies, their dress
hangers and powdered perukes, flirting
and carouSing away their time, gave way
at once to the colonial soldier, ready to
fight and die if need be for the new re-
public; and within as stone 's-throw of
where the city assembly used to meet in
joyous company the declaration of indie
pendence was read, the liberty bell pealed
forth its tocsin of defiance to old Eng
land, and later still the first congress of the
United states met in solemn conclave.
The city assembly was revived in 1900,
with a subscription of twenty dollars, and
endured until 1875 There was then an in.
tereum until 1917, when an attempt
was made to resuscitate it, but finding the
cotilllon party too strongly intrenched in
social favor, the attempt was abandoned
and not renewed until 1925, when the
cotiIlion party gave up the ghost, and the
assembly strobe once more to the fore, and
has remained in active operation up to
the present day, giving every year IA
series of magnificent balls, attended by
the descendants of all that is aristocratic
in Philadelphia society. and also by priv
LEGGED guests from all parts of the coun-
try.