Читать книгу Practical Etiquette - Cora C. Klein - Страница 7

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When an invitation to a reception is sent in the name of several women, a guest should leave or send cards for all whose names are on the invitation. A woman leaves with her own cards the cards of those members of her family who are unable to call.

A young woman, when calling upon her friends with a young man who is a stranger to them, should send his card with her own to the hostess and other women of the household.

In making formal calls a visitor invariably hands her cards to the servant who opens the door with a card tray in her hand; when calling informally one may simply give her name to the servant at the door, but then leaves no card later.

A married woman, when making formal calls, leaves one of her husband’s and one of her own cards for the hostess and for every other woman she asks for in the house, and one of her husband’s cards, besides, for the host; but, while this is the rule for formal visiting, it is quite permissible for a married woman, when calling on a number of women who reside in the same house, to leave, besides her own and her husband’s for the host and hostess, only one more of each for all the others.

In making formal visits, and subsequent calls after the first formal visit has been made, a married woman need leave only one of her husband’s cards with her own; and in making a call in acknowledgment of an invitation to an entertainment to which she alone was invited—such as a woman’s luncheon—she should leave only one of her own.

The fashionable visiting card varies in size; but for a married woman it is generally pure white and very thin, with the name engraved in ordinary script. For a woman who lives in the country, it is in good taste to have the name of her country place put just where, if she were in the city, her town address would be, which is in the left hand lower corner.

If a woman receives “at home” cards for “Tuesdays in February,” and is prevented from calling on any of the Tuesdays, she should send her card in an envelope, either by hand or mail, on the first Tuesday, and call on the hostess at the earliest opportunity on some other day.

A man should use a card engraved, as “Mr. George Wellington Smith,” not omitting the prefix, with the address in one corner, if desired. The size of the card varies from time to time, but it is smaller than a woman’s card.

The names of mother and daughter or daughters are often engraved on one card; as,

MRS. JUDSON BROWN.

MISS ANNA BROWN.

MRS. JUDSON BROWN.

THE MISSES BROWN.

The following is the usual form for an unmarried woman’s card:

MISS MAY BROWN,

12 PINE ST.

It is quite proper for a woman to retain her deceased husband’s name on her visiting cards; as, “Mrs. John Smith.” It is equally proper for her to use “Mrs. Jane Smith” for the purpose.

When a caller is met by the hostess at the door, she should drop her card in the card receiver or leave it on the hall table on her way out. The object of such a card is not to introduce people when visiting, but as a reminder of the visit.

“P. P. C.” cards should be left on the occasion of a long absence (of over three months); on leaving town at the close of the season; on leaving a neighborhood where one has resided for years, or where one has resided for months and sometimes only for weeks, but not when changing houses in the same neighborhood, not even when about to be married, unless one’s future home is to be in another city. The words pour prendre congé signify to take leave.

“R. S. V. P.” means “Repondez s’il vous plait,” which is the French for “Answer, if you please.”

Turning down the corner of a visiting card, meaning that the call was made in person, is no longer in vogue. One might leave her card in person, writing on it “With kind inquiries,” when sickness or death has entered the household of a friend, and thus show a delicate courtesy.

It is proper for a hostess to shake hands with a man visitor on his arrival and at his departure.

It is an evidence of very bad taste for a young woman to send wedding cards to a married man without including his wife’s name, even if she has no acquaintance whatever with her.

A young girl who is not “out” does not have visiting cards. If she is the oldest or only daughter and is in society, her cards have upon them “Miss Smith.”

A woman should never ask a man formally calling to take his hat, or a woman to lay aside her wraps.

A card sent to an afternoon reception represents one’s self. It should be sent either by mail or messenger, and never by a friend to deposit upon the receiver with her own card.