The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-10-10
In New York
BY PAUL HARRISON

New YOrk--AS the cocktaii-paFty
 and literay-tea season sweeps into full swing in Manhattan, this cor
 respondent is getting uneasy about
 the hand kissing situation. I guess I'm mot a cavalier, or
 whatever 1t takes to be hand
 kisser. Maybe it's imagination, but already it seems that certain ladies are beginning to eye me q little
 frostily, wondering. perhaps. whetli- CT haven't any manners or whether think I'm too alarmed good to salute them in courEy fashion.
 Ordinary drawing room Bolici..- ianisms don't bother me par. s- larly. I'm not disturbed beeaie each member of one sex at q pi.sy addresses every member of the otil- CT gender as Darling" five min utes after introductions have be performed. Obviously this is an e'l- tirely impersonal term, employed becauce nobody ever can remember the names of the other guests. Equally unimportant is the easy camaraderie in which people lut their arms around their neighbors as they go into conversational hud dles. No emontional significance at all; just device for propping themselves up.
 A Taste of Nail Polish
 But this kissing ot hands is something else again.. Of course, there are many degrees of cervor, and wide variations in technique. One little fellow who gets around | to most of the afternoon soirces does his sa1utations with a sort or military curtness-stif bow, avert ed eyes, brief peck. The whole pro- cess seems much cooler than hearty handshake.
 Quite different is the method or assumptions blade who tries to be the thrill-life of every party. | Warmly seizes each proffercd
 hand, plants a good sound. Kiss thereon, meanwhile gazing boldly into the eyes of the lady. Almost always she's stirred to an exclama- | tion of "Oh, MT Zilch!" A certain literary man takes his hand kissing with sort or acad- emic detachments. Grasps a hand and seems to examine It curiousiy, as though meditating on its lines,
 or when 1t had its last manicure. Then he appears to taste 1t. The ladies don't seem especially pleased. If they got right down to the etiquette of the matter, they'd ind that the hands of unmarried won,. en aren't to be kissed. at least in public. The salute Is supposed to
 be a tribute to matrons of unassai!- able virtue. But there's no stopping the hounds now. suppose. since they've had their first taste of
 nail polish.
 The Style in Parties
 At time when some people be- lieve they recognize a trend toward the old-time social niceties. the tca- less teaparties seem less formal. if possible, than ever. Hosts always leave guests entirely to their own devices Cor vice if you disapprove of guzzling). Usually there's no at tempt at introductions, and many times I've been asked whether I
 knew who was giving the party. Q.
 why.
 Once fell into conversation with a guest of honor and unknowingly asked him who the guest of honor
 might be. Later, taking leave, I
 sought the host with the idea of
 rendering my thanks for an amus- ing afternoon. He said he was glad
 to see me, and that 1t was too bad I hadn't come earlier. Didn't know
 I'd been there for two hours. The New Criticism
 Newcomers to the ranks of about -towners sometimes are a It. tie disturbed by the styles in mixed company swearing. A scorching vo- cabulary seems 10 be a badge of
 capitalization. and indicates that one is at his ease in any company. Cussing also is a great conven- fence to the inarticulate; gives them something to say. Men swear swag- geringly; women cutely, or perhaps wittily. When the conversation turns to a new novel, for example. one person can says I think that
 !?(h Dx book is the best ?x!O!?x story in the ?)(!(!xx ever wrote" Then somebody else can reply. Blank no. That blank novel is the blankety-blankest black ever writ ten." This is called extemporaneous literary criticism.