The fourth in a very occasional series of short descriptions of specialty dance events from the pages of the 1890-1891 volume of Demorest's Family Magazine. Like the tidbit about the thé dansante, this short description of a party-opening cotillion (in the dance party game sense) is drawn from the "Chat" column of the February, 1891, issue. The theme, of course, is Valentine's Day!
The original text from Demorest's:
A Valentine Party, for which invitations are already out, promises to be a unique affair. There are but twenty persons invited, ten ladies and ten gentlemen, all well acquainted, and each has been requested to bring an original valentine, which must be included in the envelope furnished by the hostess and already superscribed "To my Valentine." On arriving, the guests will find in each dressing-room a bunch of ribbons of different colors, also a heart-shaped bag. A ribbon is to be tied around each valentine, which is then to be deposited in the bag, through a slit at the top. After all are assembled, two children, dressed as Cupids, will act as postmen, delivering the valentines from the gentlemen's bag to the ladies, and from the ladies' bag to the gentlemen. The valentines are then to be read aloud by the person receiving them (being considered as written expressly for them), and a vote taken to decide on the two best (one by a lady and one by a gentleman) from a literary point of view, the two wittiest, and the two most sentimental, and prizes given to the writer of each. The prizes are to be silver-mounted cushions, photograph frames, and mirrors for the ladies, and scarf-pins, pocket-cushions, and silver-mounted penwipers for the gentlemen, all heart-shaped. The refreshments are to be served at small heart-shaped tables, and afterward there will be dancing, those having matching ribbons to be partners for the first dance.
-- Demorest's Family Magazine, Volume XXVII, No. 4, February, 1891, p. 245
- Twenty people is a very manageable number of people for a small cotillion. While this only provides the opening game and partners for the first dance, it would be easy to continue the event with a Valentine's themed grand march and game of darts or other simple Valentine-themed mixers.
- The conspicuous consumption element of these events in upper-class society is very evident here. While I'm not entirely sure how a cushion can be silver-mounted, and I believe penwipers were normally textiles (there are some cute examples here), the sets of heart-shaped silver frames, mirrors, and scarf-pins for twenty people, even if small, are very ornate for party favors. Plus they had to find heart-shaped tables or have them made!
- The part where people compose their Valentine verses in advance is very practical. Valentine-writing books containing short verses for this purpose (and often suitable replies) were common from the early nineteenth century onward, so guests could find inspiration or even cheat by copying something from a commercial source.
- I'm at a loss as to where one customarily acquires children to dress (or undress) as Cupid to play postmen for one's Valentine party. The children of the house? Servants' children?
- The implication of the column is that this was an actual upcoming event, though there seems to be no follow-up report on how it actually went.
All in all, this seems the sort of event that would be very easy to re-create in a modern setting. It would be easy enough for the host and hostess to do the Valentine delivery if no cooperative children are to be had.
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