Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1919-12-26

the receiving line and helped to dispense the hos
pitality of the home. remember one season
when we had more than 200 callers The custom
was to stay few moments only, chat, drink and
eat, and then go on to the next house. One of the
rooms however, was cleared for dancing and in
the late hours the callers would select partners
and whir through waltz, polka or a schottishe.
or perhaps set of the quadrille. Every house
had. band of musicians.
Tie open house function was very elaborate
dress affair-the women wed with one another In
beautiful costuming and the month before New
Years was harvest for the dressmakers
'From 2 o'clock until late in the night the par
Tors filled with guests. The lower portion Of
the house had been previously beautifully deco
rated with flowers and exotics and all who called
were made to feel perfectly at home. In the din
ing room was table with all sorts of eatables
and danties, with wines and punches. At
o'clock. when the reception opened, the blinds
were drawn and the gas lighted. During the day
favored callers invited to return at night for
dance"
With the gradual abandoning Of New Years
calls came in the gradual growth of the eating,
drinking and revelry that before the war and pro.
hibition marked New Years eve in the cities.
Here is a glimpse of Philadelphia in 1894:
after the reserves and the Third district police
men had taken their positions the enormous crowd
began to swell in size. In front of independence
hail. filing the street, jostlfng mob that be-
came noisier the nearer the hands Of the clock
came to the midnight hour. Up Chestnut street
there were two black masses that moved victori-
ously toward the statehouse.
"The gay and comic shooter (mummer) did
not put in appearance to any considerable extent
until about IL o'clock. Then he came from all di-
rections.
"The thousands packed in the roadway sent up
an answering cry to the first stroke Of the big
BELL and the rattle Of pistol shots, despite the po
lice orders against using weapons, was like the
sound of musketry. The screams of whistles added
to the din and side through the miles that
the eyes could pierce fireworks went blazing up
ward"
And here is a glimpse of New York in 1905:
"All New York came out to celebrate the birth
Of the new year. Nothing like 1t was ever seen
before for numbers or for enthusiasm From the
hour after dinner until long after midnight the
celebration lasted. It consisted of noise eating
and drinking, with noise by far the predominating
element. Men born in New York, who have lived
here all their lives looked at the carnival In wide
eyed establishment.
"At least $4,000 men and women packed Broad
way and the side streets near Trinity church from
half past eleven O'Clock until long after midnight
To hear the chimes? Oh no. To blow horns and
whistles and spring rattles and yell and thus
drown out the very pretty chimes Of old Trinity
that welcomed in the New Year. Every table ir
every big restaurant was taken weeks in advance
In 1914 the police in most of the large cities or
dered "sane" New Years celebrations. In conse
quence there was a marked diminuton of the
revelry; in many cities midnight closing and com
munity celebrations marked the occasion.
Thus the celebration of New Years day in noise
drinking, eating and calling-has grown to be
climax and become "sane." What next?