Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-13
BY CYNTHIA LOWRY.


NEW YORK, Jan. S.
Higher education has turned
the once ordered and gracious
custom of the society debut
into a rat race.
The condition of being a
debutante has become a
strange game governed by
rules which no one is willing
to set down. And somewhere
along the way. the winsome
debutante has become the
central figure in an impos-
ingly successful commercial
structure built of hotel suites,
champagne retailers, garment
manufacturers and Schmaltzy
orchestra leaders.
Once upon a time, the So
ciety debut was simply a pri-
vate party given by parents of
a young lady to indicate that,
school over, she was ready to
be treated as an adult. In
other words. she is in the
husband market.
That concept, invented by
the French, borrowed by the
British and inherited by
Americans, has been UNDER
going considerable remodel
ing through the years.
Four Short Periods.
For one thing, where the
"debutante season" used to
run all through the winter.
it now has been boiled down
to four short but furiously
active periods.
Since almost all debutantes
and their friends are college
students. these fall during
school holiday periods-June.
September. thanksgiving and
the Christmas-New Year sea-
son.
June and September have
come to be called the little
seasons" They are periods
at the beginning and end of
Summer vacations when out
door parties at country homes
on Long Island, and in south
ern Connecticut or the huntin'.
shootin' sections of New Jersey
are de, rigueur.
In the little season" con-
nection, it should be noted
that there are certain times OF
the year when it is definitely
Enthusiastically that is
to be in New York. One should
be in the country in early
spring and early fall; at Palm
Beach or certain spots on the
Riviera after the New Year.
1t is permissible. however, to
be at school during the scho-
lastic year.
Author Cleveland Amory.
a student of society mores. re-
calls the debutante who, asked
where she came from, impa-
tiently inquired, "in what sea-
son?"
$50 Bowed
During New York's most re-
cent season, some $50 debu-
tantes formally slipped into
the city's social stream, ac-
cording to the views of those
who make a business out of
tabulating this phenomenon.
But it is the off-the-record
disgruntled opinion of many
of them that the debutante
situation in New York is a
crazy, mixed up mess.
Things, they tell you in
whispers, are much better or
ganized in cities like Boston.
Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Charleston. Better even in st.
Louis and San Francisco,
although some old socialites
insist that the word "debu-
tante" was drowned crossing
the Mississippi.
Apparently, the size and
cosmopolitan complexion of
New York City complexities
things here. For instance. to
arrive at that total of $50
debutantes. it is necessary to
scan THE lists" garnered and
printed by society reporters of
two newspapers. In many
cases, however, the lists don't
agree, but there is a degree of
accreditation where they do.
Cream Of the Crop
If one is determined to pick
the seasons top debutantes
from the ranks, the more
complicated but more accurate
way would be to keep track
Of the girls honored at private
coming out parties which are