The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-30

These lunch parties arc very convention
for ladies who, from illness or indispositio
to society. cannot 60 out in the evening
1t is also very convenient il the lady of til
n house has q husband who does not like &C
society and who finds a dinner party a bore
The usual custom is for ladies to dreas i
That with a n American lady meant yer
much. for an American HUSBAND
"stops ut no expense" Worth
says that American women are tn
l. best customers he has. far bette
than queens. They ask the price and occa
t the price, but the order is, "the very bes
you can do"
Luncheons are very fashionable in Eng
land. especially on Sunday.
These lunches, although luxurious, are BY
no means the costly spreads which Ameri
can women indulge in.
8 They are f~requented bv gentlemen as vel
IS ladies, for in a land where a man doel
not go to the house of until five
" in the afternoon he may we'll lunch with hi'
family. What time did our forefatheri
lunch? In the reign of Francis the First
. the polite French rose at five, dined anime,
, supped at five, and went to bed at nine,
Froissart speaks of waiting upon the duke
, of Lancaster at five in the afternoon afte,
, he had supped."
If our ancestors dined at nine when did
they lunch2
After some centuries the dinner hour
grew to be ten in the morning, by which
time they had besieged a town and burned
up a dozen heretics probably to give them .
good appetite. y sort of an ayant govt.
Dinner was what our late breakfasts are.
The later hours now in vogue did not pre-
vail until after the restoration.
But lunch has remained fastened at one
O'Clock for q number of years at least. In
England, curiously enough. they give you
no napkins at this meal, but the nature Of
the food certainly requires them,
A u breakfast in America is of course
a hearty meal, at which the men and wo-
men are asked who have an idea of riding
to hounds.
1t is usually served at little tables, and
the meal begins with hot bouillon. 1t ia a
heartisr meal than a lady's lunch and as
luxurious az the hostess pleases.
But it does not wind up with ices and
fruits, although it may begin with an or
ange or grape fruit salad.
Much more wine is drunk than at a lady's
lunch, and yet some hunters prefer to begin
the day with tea only. Everything should
be offered. and what is not liked can be re-
fused.
What is hit is history,
And what is missed is mystery"
There are famous breakfasts in London
which are not the early morning meal.
neither are they called luncheons. It is tho
constant habit of the literary world of
London to have reunions of scientific and
agreeable people early in the day, and what
would be called a party in the evening ia
called a breakfast. We would call it a
reception, excepting that one is asked at IL
O'Clock. But the greatest misnomer Of all
is the habit in London of giving a dinner,
a ball and a supper out of doors at 5 O'Clock
and calling that a "breakfast."
Excepting that the gentlemen are in
morning dress n the ladies in bonnets,
this has no resemblance to what We call
breakfast.
Breakfast at nine, or earlier, is a solemn
process. 1t has no great meaning for rs,
who have our children to send to school,
our husbands to prepare for business. our
selves for q busy day or q long journey.
For the very luxurious it nc longer exists.
Luncheon, on the contrary, is apt to be a
lively and celebrating occasion. 1t ia the
best moment in the day to some people. A
tho 1sand dollars is not an unusual sum to
expend on a ladles' lunch in New York for
eighteen or twenty-five guests, counting the
favors, the flowers, the wines and the
vlands, and even then we have not entered
into cost of the china, the glass, porce-
lain, cloisonne, Dresden, Sevres and silver,
which make the table a picture. The jew.
eled goblets from Carlsbad, the knives and
forks with crystal handles, set in silver.
from Bohemia, and the endless succession
OF beautisul plates-who shall estimate the
cost of all this?
As to the precedence Of plates, it is meet
shat China, Oldest of nations, should suffice
for the soup. The oysters have already
been served on shell-like Majoliea. Eng
land and maratims nations, surrounded by
ocean. must furnish the plates for the fish.
faiepce?
For the "Bouchers a la Reine," and all
the entrees, we must have Sevres again.
But do not give US the beautiful head of
Lamballe,' on a plate. I declare l have
mad n NnrfraIf of Maria
to eat of of which has taken away my ap-
petite.
Japanese will do for the "flet aux cham
pigeons" the %venison, the pieces do resist
ance, as we'll as English. Japanese plates
are strong. But here we are running into
dlnner; indeed, these two feasts do run into
each other.
One should not have a roast at q ladies'
lunch, unless it is a roast pheasant.
.n Dresden s china pl(les, painted with fruits
On these choice plates, with perforated
edge marked "a. R." on the back. shonld
lie the ices frozen as natural fruits. We
can scarcely tell the frozsn banana, or
peach before us full of luscious fruit, from
the painted banana on our plate.
And as to the candied fruit. we must
again have Sevres.
Then a gold dish filled with rose water
must be passed. We dip a bit of the nap
kin IN it (for in this country we do have
napkins with our luncheon) and wipe our
lips and fingers.
This is called a Trempoir,
The cordials at the end of the dinner must
be served in cups of Russian gold f!apree
supporting glass. There is an analogy be-
tween their rival luscious richness, the
cordial and the cup.
The coffee cups must be thin as epo
shells. OF the most delicate French china.
Or even American china will do. We
make most delicate china and porcelain
cups, ourselves, nowadays, at Newark.
Trenton and a dozen other places.
There ID a vast deal of waste in OFFERING
SO much wine at a ladies' lunch. Amer
can women cannot drink much wine: tho
climate forbids it. "
We have not been brought up on beer or
on anything more stimulating than ice
water. Foreign physicians say that this ia
the cause of all our woes, our dyspepsia.
our neryour exhaustion, our rhenInatism
and hysterla.
But beliey that climate and constitn-
ton decide these things for us. Weare not
prone to over-eat ourselves, to drink too
much wine, and if the absence of these
Rrosser tastes is visible in pale cheeks and
thin arms, is not that better than the other
extreme?
All entertaining can go on perfectly we'll
without VINE If people 30 decide. IL would
pc impossible, however, to make MANY noat-
lcal quotations without an allusion 10 tha
ruby" as Dick Swiveller called il. Nav
the temperance movement foruive no ~