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Literary
May 26, 1878
Daily Globe
Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota
What is this article about?
A satirical essay critiquing how children's parties mimic adult balls, with young girls displaying precocious social behaviors like flirting, dancing critiques, and avoiding undesirable partners, disappointing parents who expect more elaborate entertainment.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
An old-fashioned notion that the simplest plan is to bring all the young people together, and let them amuse themselves, turns out to be a complete failure. This is not at all what is expected, and even their parents are disappointed with the fiasco. That an elaborate toilet should end in blindman's buff is intolerable; and so a children party only differs from a full-dress ball in the height of the dancers.
The little lady starts for her night's dissipation when she ought to be in bed, and has the cares of maturity early upon her mind, lest her card should not be filled up in the evening. She reproduces the talk of her mother's boudoir in the ball-room, and can criticise the dress of her vis-a-vis after the best models of well-bred disparagement. She distinguishes between the dreamy pleasures of a waltz and the more athletic enjoyment of a "supper set," and can flirt with an air of ingenuous simplicity which might suggest very valuable hints to her elder sister.
She has a poor opinion of square dances, knows that her dress may get torn in the last figures of the lanciers, and finds one of "the bores of dancing a quadrille" is that the figures are always changing.
With sedulous care she is quite up to the method by which an undesirable partner may be courteously avoided, and is careful to see how the gentleman dances before she permits his autograph on her card. When the evening is over, she knows she has utilized her time, and has engaged herself three or four deep for the next children's ball at some neighbor's house. A dance in January is not forgotten in the ensuing month, and her correspondence on the 14th of February has reference to some remembered events in the night's entertainment. She has a fine contempt for her own brothers, and with characteristic precocity affects a terror of schoolboys generally, but finds herself quite equal to sustain prolonged conversation with her eldest sister's admirer. That worshiper having at last withdrawn to the more appropriate shrine of his devotion, she admits to a subsequent partner that all the time she was bored. There can be, she says, no real pleasure in talking to an engaged man.
-London May Fair.
The little lady starts for her night's dissipation when she ought to be in bed, and has the cares of maturity early upon her mind, lest her card should not be filled up in the evening. She reproduces the talk of her mother's boudoir in the ball-room, and can criticise the dress of her vis-a-vis after the best models of well-bred disparagement. She distinguishes between the dreamy pleasures of a waltz and the more athletic enjoyment of a "supper set," and can flirt with an air of ingenuous simplicity which might suggest very valuable hints to her elder sister.
She has a poor opinion of square dances, knows that her dress may get torn in the last figures of the lanciers, and finds one of "the bores of dancing a quadrille" is that the figures are always changing.
With sedulous care she is quite up to the method by which an undesirable partner may be courteously avoided, and is careful to see how the gentleman dances before she permits his autograph on her card. When the evening is over, she knows she has utilized her time, and has engaged herself three or four deep for the next children's ball at some neighbor's house. A dance in January is not forgotten in the ensuing month, and her correspondence on the 14th of February has reference to some remembered events in the night's entertainment. She has a fine contempt for her own brothers, and with characteristic precocity affects a terror of schoolboys generally, but finds herself quite equal to sustain prolonged conversation with her eldest sister's admirer. That worshiper having at last withdrawn to the more appropriate shrine of his devotion, she admits to a subsequent partner that all the time she was bored. There can be, she says, no real pleasure in talking to an engaged man.
-London May Fair.
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
Essay
What themes does it cover?
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Children Party
Precocious Girls
Social Satire
Dancing Manners
Flirting Youth
What entities or persons were involved?
London May Fair.
Literary Details
Author
London May Fair.
Key Lines
That An Elaborate Toilet Should End In Blindman's Buff Is Intolerable; And So A Children Party Only Differs From A Full Dress Ball In The Height Of The Dancers.
She Reproduces The Talk Of Her Mother's Boudoir In The Ball Room, And Can Criticise The Dress Of Her Vis A Vis After The Best Models Of Well Bred Disparagement.
There Can Be, She Says, No Real Pleasure In Talking To An Engaged Man.