The Washington times., 1934-10-09

member!
With such a precedent estab-
1ished, women of the diplomatic
group, Congressional hostesses,
and hostesses of the Little
Cabinet" may likewise limit
their reception days. AS the
years go by, the frequent and
exhausting open houses" of
official Washington may be
abolished entirely.
For years the Washington of.
ficial hostess on many days
during the season" receives
anybody who wishes to enter
her door.
Official society goes running
about the town paying its re-
SpectS to those it ranks socially,
and returning the calls of those
Of less Importance.
This whirling of the social
n1erry.go-round is difficult
enough in itself. But it isn't
only official callers who OBJ
serve the t"at homes" Hun.
dreds of people call on the
Cabinet, diplomatic and con.
gressional wives out of curiosity,
or merely for something to do.
In few cases are the calls per.
6onal. Often the hostess on one
Of her days Eat home" shakes
hands with hundreds of people
whom she has never seen before,
and who mean nothing to her
or her husband politically. I'm
speaking, Of course, of the at
homes" for which no invitations
are sent out. those merely an
nounced in the newspapers.
A successful official hostess
often welcomes in a single aft
ernoon 800 or 1000 callers. She
must smile sweetly at each
guest and-sustain her with
elaborate tea-party food! Ices,
cakes, sandwiches are not mex
penSive nourishment, when pur-
chased by the gross.
There are Neutrality-suspicious.
who make a practice OF appear
ing at every "at hcms" of the
season, eating and thinking
heartily as they go. Such social
enterprise undoubtedly saves on
the housekeeping budget of the
caller Last winter saw one
notorious person seated close to
q tea table, as is her custom.
Saw her reach out with her
strong right arm and scoop a
platter of cakes into her big
handbag.
Dozens of stories are told
about Washington "at homes"
Most of them are true.
One sightseeing bus last win
ter stopped before a hospitable
legation. The guide announced
in a loud, encouraging voice:
Ladies and gentlemen, the
Minister of BulOnia and his
wife are receiving this after.
noon. Would any Of you like
to call"
The bus load as a body
| rushed for the Legation doors.
Other diplomatic hostesses
have seen the butler who an
nounces the guests at many
smart winter parties greeted by
his strange callers with an:
"Oh! How do you do, Mr..
Ambassador"
Dolly Madison, Of agreeable
memory, is responsible for
much of the bleak, impersonal
hospitality official Washington
struggles with year after year.
In the early days of the
young republic, however. even
before Dolly Madison brought
her animated red head into
the White House, Washington,
though something of a frontier
town, had weekly evening
''leveeS'' or public receptions at
the White House.
Government officials and their
wives called on each other for
frequent visits. There weren't
many officials then. The ma
ton was small and the job of
: governing not particularly wear
ing.
There was leisure for such
sOciability.
But Dolly Madison was more
enthusiastic about parties and
calls than any of her prede.
cessorS. She had a definite re-
gala for her own receptions
buff. velvet. pearls, and a tur.
ban with a paradise feather
and believed that politics
should not be mentioned once
her drawing room was entered.
She was punctilious about the
new fashion of leaving visit.
ing cards and encouraged it
furiously. Every call made upon
her at the White House by any.
body, Dolly Madison returned in
person.
That was more than a hun
dred years ago. Washington
really isn't the provincial town
It was in the early 1800's, though
some rude critics insist it should
have kept the ideals it had
when it was "the mud flats
along the Potomac"
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