Society as I Have Found It
features of a London ball, which, though a novelty here, had for years
been done in London; that was to build an addition to one’s house, to be
used but for one night, and to be made large enough to comfortably hold,
with the house, one thousand or twelve hundred people. There was plenty
of energy and talent to carry this out, and reproduce here what
Londoners have always been so proud of--their ability to double the
capacity of their city houses by utilizing their yards, covering them
with a temporary structure, to be used as a supper or ball room. A young
man of an old Long Island family had married a beautiful girl, a young
woman such as Walter Scott would have taken to impersonate his character
of Amy Robsart, who, besides this natural and _naïve_ style of beauty,
possessed great administrative ability, and withal much taste, a great
amount of energy, and a fortune large enough to carry through any
enterprise she conceived. Both of them were devoted to society, and to
each other. Passing their summers abroad, and seeing what vast
conceptions society there undertook, and successfully carried out, they
resolved to repeat here what they had seen on the other side of the
water. In Marcotte they had a great ally, a man of wonderful taste and
ability; planning out the work themselves, with his skillful hand to
execute it, they certainly built up in a night, as it were, a superb
banqueting hall, complete and elaborately finished as if a part of the
house itself; a solid structure, with no appearance of its being
temporary or run up for the occasion. Throwing two houses into one, and
descending from them into this vast banqueting hall by a wide flight of
stairs, you had, to all appearances, a grand palatial residence, whose
rooms the largest crowd could roam through with freedom and perfect
comfort. The houses themselves were so handsomely decorated in the
period of Louis XIV., that it required cultivated taste to add floral
decorations to such rooms; but it was done, and admirably done, and was
a remarkable feature of this superb ball. Garlands of the delicate _La
France_ roses were festooned on the walls, and over and around the doors
and windows, producing a charming effect. There were two cotillions
danced in separate rooms. The approach from the street to the houses was
admirable; the pavement was inclosed the entire length of both,
carpeted, and brilliantly lighted with innumerable jets of gas--a ball
long to be remembered!
What then was there left for one to do in the way of entertaining to
give society anything new and novel? This duty was then imposed on me.
These pages bear evidence that I am blessed with memory, but imagination
was then what I required to conceive and carry out some new enterprise
in the way of a subscription New Year’s ball, to surpass anything I had
ever before given.
The most difficult rooms to decorate are those at Delmonico’s; but this
establishment is unequaled in London or Paris in that it gives under its
roof incomparable balls, banquets, and dinners. So we resolved that
talent, taste, and money should be expended in an effort to design and
give there a superb ball. The house had the advantage of having a large
square room, all that was required for a dance of three to four hundred
people. On this occasion we were to have seven hundred, and for so
large a number we had to provide two _salles de danse_. The upper supper
room we turned into a conservatory. Its ceilings were low, but covering
them with creeping plants, making around the entire room a dado of banks
of flowers and the walls themselves decorated with plaques of roses,
introducing the electric light and throwing its jets through all the
foliage, we had an improvised bower of flowers and plants that tempted
all to wander through, if not to linger in it in admiration of the
artistic skill which produced such a result. One room we converted, with
Vantine’s assistance, into a perfect Japanese interior. Once in it, we
felt transported to that country. Here were served tea and Japanese
confections, and over all shone the electric light with charming effect.
The _salon_ known as the Red Room had its walls decorated with sheaves
of wheat, in which nestled bunches of _Marechale Neil_ roses, the
background of scarlet bringing these decorations out strikingly. This,
with a new floor, was converted into a _salle de danse_. The large hall
into which all these rooms opened was superb, for on all sides of it,
from floor to ceiling, were hung the finest Gobelin tapestries of
fabulous value. To obtain their use we had to telegraph to Paris, and
were required to insure them for a large sum. Servants in light plush
livery, pumps, and silk stockings, with powdered hair, stood on either
side to direct the guests. Having the whole house, we supped in both
restaurant and café, and as we had given an unlimited order had an
elaborate and exquisite supper.
For a small ball of seven hundred people, I have always felt, and still
feel, that this New Year’s Ball, as given at Delmonico’s, was in every
sense of the word the handsomest, most complete, and most successful
thing of the kind that I have ever attempted in New York City, and I
find I am not alone in this opinion. It was as much a feast for the eye
as the elaborate supper was for the palate, being complete in every
detail, luxurious in adornment, as to its rooms--and epicurean in its
feasting.
New York society had now become so large that it seemed necessary to
solve at once what, to us, has long been a problem, i.e. where we could
bring general society together in one large dancing-room; for though you
may have a dozen rooms thrown open, you will always find that all rush
to the room where there is dancing. Where then could we get a room where
all could at one and the same time be on the floor? It occurred to me
that the Metropolitan Opera House had, in its stage and auditorium, such
a room, and if we could only divest it of its characteristics, it would
be what we wanted.
Satisfying ourselves that we could accomplish this, we formed a
Committee of Three and entered on this new enterprise. Artists, who have
with ability painted small pictures, may venture on larger canvas. We
had succeeded in giving balls of seven hundred and four hundred people.
Why not have a similar success on a larger scale? Had our ideas been
properly carried out, this ball would have been twice the success it
was. The defects were evident, but when seen it was too late to remedy
them. The artificial ceiling, cleverly planned to shut out the
galleries, was not completed, the electric lights were not shaded as
they should have been, and the music stands, ordered by the authorities
to be elevated, were unsightly, and marred the brilliant effect we had
studied to produce. All else received more praise than criticism.
The four most striking points of this ball were, first, the reception of
over twelve hundred people as at a private house by three of our most
brilliant and accomplished society ladies; again, what may be termed the
_Quadrille d’Honneur_ of that ball, which was the different sets of the
Sir Roger de Coverly, danced by the most distinguished ladies of this
city, the “nobs” and the “swells” on this occasion uniting; the supping
of over twelve hundred people at one time at small tables, and the
cotillion ably led by one of our distinguished State Senators, a man in
himself representing family, wealth, and political position.
The Sir Roger de Coverly was danced in the auditorium and on the stage,
and before its completion a blast from the _cornet à piston_ was sounded
by direction of the Management, when at once the three members of the
Executive Committee sought the three lady patronesses who had so
graciously received for them the guests of this large ball, and had the
honor of taking them in to supper. A special table in the centre of the
supper room, elaborately decorated with flowers, was arranged for them,
and the handsome and courteous gentleman who so royally dispenses
hospitality both at his house in town and at his ocean villa in Newport
(the handsomest country residence in the United States), at once sought
one of America’s loveliest, most beautiful, and most graceful daughters,
a charming representative of an old Colonial family, and doubly a New
Yorker, representing the historic families of Livingston and Ludlow.
Another member of the Committee, a descendant of one of our oldest
families, whose ancestor was a distinguished General in the Revolution,
had the fortune to have on his arm a most superbly dressed woman, whose
tiara of diamonds could well have graced a Queen’s brow--whose beauty I
have before alluded to when comparing her to Amy Robsart. I had the
honor of leading the way with our leader of society, whom Worth had
adorned with a robe of such magnificence that it attracted and held the
attention of the whole assembly. Her jewels were resplendent--in
themselves a King’s ransom; and placing her on my right, at the supper
table, I had on my left the beautiful woman who had won the hearts of
the American nation.
Before leaving this ball, I must mete out due praise to the man who
could so successfully care for so large a number of people at supper at
one time, and give credit to the good and effective work done by the
three hundred well-trained, liveried servants scattered through the
house, understanding their work and performing it admirably. This ball
was given as a New Year’s Ball on the 2d of January, 1890.
And now, in concluding this book, I beg to say that I have simply
discussed society as I have found it, and only such entertainments of
which I have been part and parcel.
THE PRESENT FASHION IN STATIONERY.
_NOTE._
The originals of the following form of invitations, etc., are on a
double note sheet, size 6-7/8 by 9, folded once to 4-1/2 inches wide by
6-7/8 inches long. The material is a medium rough cream-laid linen
paper, with water mark.
When address and crest are used on notes, they are done in a bright red;
the crest being embossed.
Envelopes used are of same material as note sheet, of a size to take the
note folded once in centre.
ADDRESS ENVELOPES IN EACH CASE TO
_Mrs._------------------------------
OR
_Mr. and Mrs._-----------------------
THE FORMER PREFERRED.