The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-11-05
NOW
Giving q Party
Seen As Art
SOME ADVICE
By HELEN EsSARY

upon us. SO-ltS amusing anu
helpful too to read little ad-
dress, both wise and gay, on
"party-giving," given by a famous
Irish woman, Mrs. William
Nolan.
Mrs. Nolan has a fine estate
in Killing County, Dublin, Ire
land (the sound is music to your
ears). During the past summer
Mr.. John Walsh, of Washington,
and his lovely daughter, Mrs.
A. c. Long, who lives in The
Hague with her husband and
their three children, visited Mrs.
Nolan. It is their opinion that
when Mrs. Nolan advises on
giving parties she knows def
nitely whereof she speaks.
"A really great party" says
Mrs. Nolan, quoting Mr.. Comp
ton Mckenzie, should mark an
epoch in the annals of pleasure.
It should be a recognizable date
for the beginning of new love
affairs, reference to the end
of old ones. 1t should be con-
demned as an orgy by people
who are not invited. 1t should
be the betterer of dozen
scandals, the inspiration OF his
torical absurditieS."
1.-THE vast majority Of us re-
gard the occasional parties which
come our way as bright patches
in an otherwise monotonouS ex'
istence." continues Mrs. Nolan.
"A really good party seems to
me, therefore, as much OF an
achievement in its way as good
picture or book or play.
Achievements in party giving
are very rare, but think we can
all remember one or two which
stand out, and the memory OF
them brings warm glow to our
hearts. If we were guests we
think of our host or hostess with
added affection, and if it was our
good fortune to have been the
giver of such a party, each and
every guest is an object Of graft
tude."
st suppose there is technique
in party giving" says Mrs. Nolan,
"but I am sure there is no infalll-
BILE recipe. We have all had ex-
perience of entertainments that
just don't go. No one can say why.
Food and drink may be all that
the most critical could demand,
the surroundings quite perfect,
and vet the guests and hosts have
an indefinable air of waiting tor
something to happen-and it
never does.
"The attitude of a hostess
toward her own party is an enor-
mously important factor in its sue.
cess. There are dozens Of good
reasons for giving party, but the
best of all is because one feels the
urge to collect ones friends to-
eether and give them good time.
"Then there is the attitude OF
the guests. It is such joy to see
people arrive enthusiastically de,
termined to have a good time, and
# is so completely Shattering when
they wander in with an air OF con
ferring a favor for having come
at all, and appear to spend their
time wondering when they can de
part with decency."
Dinner parties are very diff
cult. So many elements must be
taken into consideration" she con,
tinues. THE food, the wine, the
service, the combination of guests
and the mathematical arrange
ment of their places at the table
One Frenchman says that when he
drank absinthe he invariably dis
cussed religion, that certain red
wines made him politically minded
and others, amorouS.
can American friend declares
that he was convinced that the
continual presence of cabbage ano
the off-shootS of the cabbage fam
fly in the British diet was the
cause of every trouble in the Brit
ish Empire from the World Wal
to the Irish question. And I have
seen an Englishman getting gloom
Ter and gloomier over the culinary
triumphs of the famous French
chef and refusing to be comforteC
until a good honest chop was pro
vided for him.
whether a dinner becomes ar
intellectual treat to be remem
bered or merely Qualification over
food and drink, more or less de
ponds on the type of guests one
has invited. There is much to be
said for either result and its rather
a fascinating idea that given the
same group of people one could de
ternine the psychological develop
ment of an evening by the selec
ton of food and wine.
1.-THE cocktail party seems tt
be the most popular form of enter
tainment. From a purely prac
tical point of view it is very easy
method of amusing and feeding
ones guests. Hors d'oeuvres car
be popped into the mouth on thu
end of stick, and cocktail glasses
require neither spoons nor saucers
People become wittier over ;
cocktail than they ever do over {
Continued on Page 81, Col. y
MONEY FOR