Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 300, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 December 1910 — SECRET OF GOOD HOSTESS [ARTICLE]

SECRET OF GOOD HOSTESS

Carefully to Plan Details and Make Guests Feel Welcome and Comfortable. . . The secret of the successful hostess is to make her guests feel welcome and as comfortable as possible, and .to carefully plan out and arrange every detail before the actual day; then should things go wrong it will be by the merest accident. If she is giving an informal tea and the callers are not likely to exceed twelve the tea should be served in the drawing room, pouring It out herself and intrusting the delivery of the cups and small cakes to a girl friend or gentleman visitor, should the husband not be present. If the number increases beyond this it is better to serve tea in the dining room. In any case the best available china should be used, spotless napery and glistening silver. Lace-edged and embroidered doilies should be placed on the plates which hold the cakes and dainty sandwiches. We are told the ideal hostess is born, not made, but even if the little fairy forgot the gift of hospitality at our birth it would r,eem the duty of every woman to cultivate this art. We are also told that "practise makes perfect,” and after a little practise, if her endeavors are earnest, a woman will gain that envied reputation of being a "good hostess.”