The Washington herald., 1920-12-05
coNrINuEp yRoM PACE oNE.

As for Boston. j recall q very
large ball given at the Copley Plaza
in the Hub several years ago. II
was a gala affair and all the high
brows of Boston were in attendance.
There was. however. dearth OF
debutantes- This astonished me
BIT and / asked my hostess the rea-
son. She seemed greatly shocked At
my lack of knowledge on what's
what in Boston and hastened to in
form me. We never allow our first
year girls to participate In the larg-
or affairs. 1t Is not until they reach
their second year in society that
they are admitted to the Assembly
Ball
Having been in Philadelphia sew
a famous Philadelphia Assembly
Ball (the Oldest and most exclusive
social function in the United States)
i was greatly taken back by the
Bostonian's statement.
"In the Quaker City the debu-
tantes simply overran the assembly,
and while there was a large repre-
sentation OF the "old guard" the
Ypunger people one-stepped and
ox-trotted to their hearts delight.
II was only NhC
broke into the strains of the old
tsshioned waltz that the fiappers
and the younger dancing men de-
eided to 'sit out"
Here in New York there are nu-
peRous dances given during the
season for debutantes, and in addi-
non there are the junior assem-
5iies, the former Sherry dances and
a0,hl.rfntiAn aVanfQ
but the large, swagger dinner par
ues and dances given by such prom
inent matrons as Mrs. Hermann
Oelrichs, Mrs John r Drexel, Mrs.
william K Vanderbilt, jr.; Mrs.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mrs Ogden
Goelet, Mrs Hamilton NICK Twom-
hley, and last but not least, the
mighty Mrs. Ogden Mills, all are for
the older people
Tt Is q rare occasion when
debutante Is asked to Mrs. Mills
or Mrs Twombley's for dinner.
Mrs Drexel is the one exception
to the rule. She loves to entertain
The younger people, and before her
daughter Alice eloped with the
spectacular William Barrett who
ssems TO be unable to keep out OF
trouble. Mrs Drexel gave weekly
dfnner parties at which the major
~ Of the guests were young people.
Frrth to tell. y Is the younger
r<arried sets who coatr0l society in
Manhattan foday
~@rhe old guard such as the H.
A c. Taylors. the dowager Mrs.
Vanderbilt. etc. have retired to the
rear of the social procession. and the
guests at the few social entertain
h.
most part confined to friends of
many years standing.
a-By the younger married crowd /
mean the Freddie Frelinghuysens,
the Cornelius H Tangemans, Mr..
and Mrs Jack Mccullough. Mrs.
Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, Mrs.
cordeIia Biddle Duke, Mr.. and Mrs.
s Bryce Wing. the Morgan Bel
monts, etc
They are the people who are oc-
cupying the center of the social
stage at the present time. and the
poor, dear debutantes are merely
understudies In the social-would
one call ii drama or comedy?
we hear much about the 'debu-
tants season However, by the time
January rolls around the little
fappers Just making their bows to
the social world will be forgotten
IN the rush Of older entertainments,
and the much paragraphed deb sea-
son will be placed in the list of
things that might have been
TN Philadelphia-well, that is a
different story.
Even at this time they are hav-
ing q predebutante season over in
the City Of Brotherly Love.
In the past there have been nu-
merous attempts here in the me-
tropolis to make the debutantes the
leading figures Of the social season.
The attempts have never met
with much success and, truth to tell.
there has always been great oppo-
sition from the powers that be- on
the subject
They feel the debutante should
be content with playing a minor
part until she enters the younger
married sets-and up to the present
they have seen to it that the young
women do not overstep the line laid
down for them
New York society and Boston
society rarely agree on social ques-
tions. but in the matter OF debu-
tantes they have something in COM
mon
Philadelphia and Baltimore are
alike, and as for washington-be-
ing a city OF diplomacy-the social
leaders down there have no set rule
40 to how much Of the social sea-
son the debutantes can usurp.
However, q deb In WASHINGTON
never has an overly gay time"
~Heish-Hs' Opened
Grke~frf<.I U>sk
The week opened delightfully."- with
the debut Of the Washington Thea
ter Production Company at the Shu-
sert-Garrtck- Heigh-Ho," the play
seiected to introduce the company to
Warrington. was q charming little
thing / thought, though some of
0e critics were not 20 kind.
The audience on the openinr
light seemed to enjoy II, however,
dssptts the critics, and was gem
esousfy lenient to shortcomings in
separabls with first nights" In
fSet the struggles OF the stage
hends with q recalcitrant curtain
during one act were enjoyed almost
as much BY the audience as though
fe-hAd been . part Of the act-which
it came near to being.
The settings for the various acts
that composed the play-or musical
fantasy, as its authors prefer hav-
ing 1t eaIled-were beautiful and
most unusual, suggesting the ex-
t5emes fn futurist art understand
tHey were designed by Mrs. Glenna
6mith ftnntn. one Of the producers
OF whom ! win speak later, and
Ara Hal Rust jr. Little Mrs. Rust
fg very much interested in things
like that. I understand. and does