Evening star., 1952-11-30

You women who pour over
new recipes to win praises from
your friends, who worry about
the quality of your party linen
and silver for fear it doesn't
stack up with the Joneses-who
shy away from entertaining be-
cause the adequate number Of
servants are beyond your means
listen to what some Of the
best known Capital hostesses
say.
Asked what was the most i'm
portant single factor of a sue
cessful party, all answered with
out hesitation, the people.
Everything else, they thought,
was relatively unimportant COM
pared to the choice of guests.
Each, however, had some def
mite ideas as to what makes a
good party, and. strange to say.
the points most emphasized
are, like the best things in
life. free.
Mrs. Joseph E. Davies, the
hostess Of Tregaron, who is in a
position to give an order
"There1l be so to dinner
and forget about it, probably
gives the most thought to her
parties, except perhaps for
Perle Mesta, who will be enter
tanning here again when she
leaves Luxembourg. Marjorie
Davies thinks every party
should be thought through.
Guests should be selected for
their interests and congeniality
and the party should be tuned
to what they like. (Hostesses
who latch on to an important
honor guest and make him
stand stupidity in a receiving
line for two hours should take
note of the latter. She lays par
ticular stress on the atmosphere
Of a party. The fact that you
wanted to give the party, that
you enjoy people and have made
a plan for q good evening, all
these things she thinks the
guest knows when he enters
your house.
Mrs. Davies is a great believer
in variety, too. Even in the face
of the strict demands of proto-
col. she avoids seating the same
people next to each other q
second time. In order to do this
she has to seat a dinner before
inviting the guests. She keeps
a record of whom she has en-
tertained and what they were
served and how the table was
dressed so as not to repeat the
menu and table decor for the
same people.
Mrs. Dwight f. Davis, widow
of the Secretary of War under
Coolidge, and occasional hostess
to President Truman, goes in
for small parties. She thinks
the ideal party is dinner for
not more than 8 or 10 congen-
ial people. and her beautiful
S street home is the frequent
scene Of such intimate gather
ings. When a dinner is small
enough for general conversa-
ton it's "a fun party" says
Pauline Davis, who wouldn't
think of having any music. gay
or soft, during dinner lest it
make conversing difficult. Hav-
ing had the same good cook for
20 years, the menu is no great
problem. I'm afraid I am very
casual about my parties" she
says, adding that the ones she
prefers best of all are those
whipped up in about three days.
Mrs. Robert M. Guggenheim,
whose dinners at Firenze usual
ly number "a, Immediately
points out the great error of
having too many old friends at
the same time. 1T makes a
party dull" observes Polly, who
invites one or two from one
group and two or three from
another. She keeps a record of
every table seating but she
doesn't mind serving the same
menu, if it's a wonderful one,
to the same guests. "A good din
ner is not the easiest thing in
the world to plan," she says.
Mrs. G. limits pre-dinner cock
failing to 80 minutes unless a
guest is late, in which case the
cocktail period is stretched an
other IS minutes, but never
longer than that. It would be,
Of course, unthinkable to fur
ther delay dinner for % guests
who we're on time for the sake
Of one who was late.
Mrs. Morris Cafritz, noted for