The Washington herald., 1914-07-19

/ OF course, II would be impossible tc
reverse the case, and give the poor cousin
the value OF the diamond necklace and
send the Presidents daughter the neat
little pie knife and yet. come to think
of II, you would probably be making
wiser use Of your money and giving
more happiness II you arranged II that
way. But then, q great many Of the
things we do at weddings are hard to
explain.
An amazingly large number OF the
cases Of absurd purchases are made
in the cause Of wedding gifts and We
| all OF US have eyesores in our houses
which came in the guise of wedding
presents. That pink porcelain vase that
stood on the mantlepiece in the old home,
you remember, was one OF your mothers
| wedding presents. OF course, no one
liked II and 1t actually made you un-
happy and discounted every effort your
mother made to make the drawing-room
| harmonious; but II seemed to her that
| II would have been ungrateful not to keep
| II in sight when II had been given to
her as a wedding present
And the electrofier that adorns your
| own living room table-the one with the
green and the red and the yellow glass
is the only thing that keeps the room
from looking really artistic-that, and the
brass and onyx jardinier stand by the
window. But then, they. were wedding
presents and probably were very val
liable and so they must remain where
they are until they wear out-and glass
and onyx and brass are exceedingly dur
able.
Such mistakes as this lead many a
prospective bride to dread a formal we'd
ding or make her wish that she could
find precedent for putting on the corner
Of her invitations the words: Kindly
omit presents"
But when II comes to choosing between
having a wedding or avoiding the presents
by being married quietly. most brides
weaken. After all, the game ot getting
wedding presents is an interesting lottery.
There is always the chance that there
will be no unwelcome gifts. And there is
always the assurance that there will be
many welcome ones.
OF course, the best thing to do in case
OF doubt in choosing a wedding present
Is bluntly to ask either the bride or some
friend who knows her taste what she
wants or in what direction her tastes lie.
Perhaps a Japanese print-which might
cost any where from five TO many hun
dred dollars-occurs to you; find out d.
rectly or indirectly whether the bride
appreciates Japanese art A set OF Mol
bein prints which you can have framed
in gray grass cloth frames suggests it.
self, but wait before you buy them to
see whether or not the bride likes this
old German master.
AS a rule, unless you are going to buy
an expensive present. il Is better to select
something outside the scope Of silver and
cut glass-for the simple reason that
there is always a great deal of silver
and cut glass in the list Of wedding
presents and few brides suffer for the /
lack Of pie knives and berry bowls.
An unusual piece Of porcelain in neu-
trail tones-at least not offensive, like the !
pink vase that you know so well-a piece |!
Of brass or copper-candlestickso or Jars
an interesting set Of tea cups. a piece of
odd jewelry-a jade ring or a topaz pend /
ant, IL the bride likes jeweIry-a wicker |
tea tray or flower basket or sandwich
plate, all these things might be safe |
choices
There are SO many things that are at /
the same time individual and unoffensiye
that when we actually have the task of
buying a wedding present before us, We
usually make such a poor choice.