The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-01-06
.CHILDREN'S PARTIES
ARE VERY COSTLY
Simple Holiday Entertaining Is
No Longer In Fashion
ELABORATE LUNCHEONS.
cotillons Are Common and Gifts Are
Always Expected-More Numerous
and Favored Children Show
cred With Invitations.

From the New York Sun
Children 81 parties in New York have
steadily grown more elaborate, more nu-
merous and more costly. Chidren's
parties used to be confined to Christmas
week. Now they last up to January g
and beyond. For two weeks at least chill
dren of the prosperous classes lead as
strenuous social programme as a debu-
tate in. her first season.
Med has more engagements for tho
next ten days than | have, said a Muir
ray Hill matron, pointing as she spoke
to the bureau Of her 14-year-old son. He
had made the most of his invitations by
pinning the cards all over the mirrors
frame.
''IIe must have a party on for every
day. a visitor commented.
More than that" the mother answered.
In some instances he has three and for
every day at least two and in several
instances he expects to attend two par
ties on the same afternoon 1t is the
same way with most of the youngsters
l know. My little niece. aged years,
that she would not be allowed to go to
two or three parties a day.
The 9-year-old daughter of another
mother was allowed to attend a child's
luncheon and two afternoon parties in
one day. At one party there was tree
which held a present for every guest;
at the other party the cotillon was made
the medium for handing gifts to every
child, and at the luncheon every guest
got souvenir.
Roughly speaking the holiday parties
are divided into two classes those with
a tree and no cotillon, and those with
a cotillon and no tree, and the latter are
the more numerous. The guests at them
are usually over years of age.
A grandmother who was planning
holiday party for her motherless grand
daughter told a friend that she would
far rather buy fayors for a grownups
than for a children's cotillon, for the rea-
son that the modern child is very critical
and hard to please.
"If the girls and boys" said she, who
attend my granddaughter party were to
| attend no other cotillon during the holt
| days that would simplify things, but
probably every one of them will attend
at least half a dozen, and every one of
them will compare the presents she gets
| here with the presents she gets at all
| the others"
why have dancing at holiday parties?'
| she was asked.
Because it's the fashion," The accept
! ed and approved schedule of holiday par
ties just now is something like this: In
| Christmas week at many of the parties
| given for smaller children there is a
tree, followed by general dancing and re-
| freshments. In New Year week there
| are fewer trees and a diminution in the
number of parties for children under 8
years For older boys and girls there
| is no falling off in the number of parties
| until school reopens. and the main feat
ures at each of these are dancing and a
dainty feast, and presents must be pro-
vided.
Games? Out of date. Children of to-
| day don't care for quiet games at a
| party and active games are considered
| too noisy and too hard on the furniture.
! One of the favorite holiday entertain
| ments this season is a luncheon followed
| by a theatre matinee; although 1 do not
| find that small people, as a rule, enjoy
| company luncheons And l have known
| children who did not at all care for the
matinee You see there are so few plays
| which interest children
Relatively the cost of holiday parties is
| three or four times what it once was. A
woman who has brought up an unfash-
| ionably large family of children had this
| TO say of the cost:
when my children were young the ex-
| pense comparatively was trifiing. Ages
| were not graded so carefully then. If
there were four or five boys and girls in
one family they We're all asked to the
! same holiday party, the feature of which
was generally tree. Not often was there
dancing, and the collation. was much sim
| pier than 1t is now. | never dreamed
| of having the services of a caterer at one
of my children's parties, and | gave two
or three at least a season. Plenty of
| cake and ice cream seemed to suit the
youngsters better than anything else, and
this is what they got, supplemented with
some thin sandwiches, made like the cake
in my own kitchen, and fruit, candy, nuts
and lemonade. That was ALL Nowadays
the collation. must include salads, a hot
dish of some kind, and the fancy varie-
ties of cake made at the confectioner's
and it must be served with good deal of
Formally.
"There must be favors too, and instead
of a member of the family playing the
piano If the children want to dance or
sing there must be two hired musicians
at least. Maybe the guests at old time
parties got present to carry home and
maybe they did not. The party was con-
sidered present enough by some hostesses
and they were right.
AT one party given last winter for 30
children between the ages of and
know that not one of the presents dis
tributed cost less than s. and some
cost more, and the collation. served at
small tables was as carefully chosen as
though 1t were intended for the guests
mothers and fathers. In another case
there was fve-figure cotillon, with a
handsome favor for each figure and paid
master of ceremonies to put the things
through smoothly
Martins right hand with his own. That's
4, h1sh Ike got fOnrG.'