Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-01
The Old-Fashioned Way
. of Celebrating New Year

no criticism; it was the day consecrated
to the out-in-the-open souse.
- ..
AS the wan wintry sun increased its
westering. the scenes and incidents on
these New. Year calling days of the
Older times were of sort that. If they
Were pulled now. certainly would bring
out considerable portion of the police
department. The eggnogish cut-uppi-
ness of the callers took ugly forms. as
alcoholic gayety, when it's carried to
what Is called a logical conclusion, must
and will
Tut. tut, my boy. don't mention it,
the head of the household OF receiving
women folk would say to the callers who
had to sort of squirm to project their
loads through the vestibule. It's a gay
day. lads-enjoy yourselves'-and then
the privileged ones--by whom IL meant
perfectly respectable fellows. who would
not have dreamt of carrying on so on
any other day except New Year-would
nudge precariously into, the ''parlor,
where the booze urns were waiting, and
hoist in a few more.
There Is no use I'm the world trying to
disguise the fact that many painfully
maudlin scenes used TO be enacted on
these occasions. 1t was no uncommon
thing for young chap, making the New
Year rounds with bunch of mateys.
10 be entirely overcome by the heat or
something while making a call upon
cherished lady friends. i'm which case he
would either manifest a determined dis
position to curl up on the nearest par
Ter lounge and go TO sleep and snore
with his feet resting on the most deli
cate parts of the upholstering: or else
he would burst into sad, oh, such sa-ad
tears, and say that Fate and the Furies
were against him, and his life was dis-
NAL nightmare. whereupon all the folks
would have to jump in and chirk him
up and beg him to refrain from commit
ting suicide, pul-lease, If he didn't want
To break their hearts then and there: or
maybe he would take sudden and vio-
lent dislike to the particular kind OF
haircut of one of his mateys, and man
ifest determined disposition 10 remove
that matey's head. haircut and all. from
his shoulders.
The time came, however. when the hife
light broke upon people who, through .
warped view. or carelessness, or some
thing, had permitted themselves to be-
come used to this sort of thing. Folks
came to kind OF curl up OIL the society OF
herds of solxed jewellers New Year day.
and so the custom of receiving" New
Year callers and loading 'em way above
the Plimsoll line with inebriating juice
eventually tagged and lapsed. and then
went out of date altogether.
Even at that time, the folks who did
not care TO receive" used to tie orna-
mental little baskets. for the cards OF
visitors to their front door knobs. and
thu nootful cnes. on their r"unc$. would
solemnly walk up the steps of these
houses and slam their cards into the
waiting baskets. and then beat it down
the street to where some open house,
with the juice flowing. awaited them. The
folks displaying their card baskets would
count over their cards in the evening and
compare notes the next day to the
number of cards that had been 1icked
into the receptacles.
Crude work all around. not to say rough
stun, and If the cancellation of that GUS
tom doesn't indicate social. progress in
this hemisphere the writer hereof would
like to know what does.
CLARENCE l.. CULLEN.