OCR Text |
Show GOOD TASTE 4 TODAY Iemily postA VVorld'j Foremost Authority on Etiquette Emily Post. ( Cutting Wedding Cake Calls for Real Skill DEAR Mrs. Post: I was at a very miniature wedding reception recently. In fact, there were only ten persons present. But it was one of the loveliest after-wedding parties par-ties I have ever known. It was late afternoon and almost dark, the dining table was set with a lace cloth and candelabra, there was a small bride's cake ornamented with the wedding couple's first names and a bride and groom figurine set on top, and there was champagne to drink the traditional toasts. Unlike all other weddings at which I have been, at this one I sat close enough so that I could watch the wedding cake being cut, and I never before be-fore realized that this could be such a task. The bride pierced the cake with the point of the blade but when she tried to bring the side of the blade down through the cake, the slice broke into many pieces. One of the guests took the knife then but her luck was just about the same. I have wondered since the weeding whether there was any right way to cut a wedding cake, or is it, as in this case, just a matter of chance? Answer: Of course you don't tell me whether the cake was not very fresh, or perhaps the knife very dull. In any case, the best way to cut wedding cake is to spear it first and with the knife in this same point down position, continue to stab the slice all the way across. If after the first stab is made, the knife blade is brought down as though it were a lever, the piece invariably crumbles even though the blade is very sharp'. Write Note of Thanks to Sympathetic Friends DEAR Mrs. Post: Is It proper to acknowledge notes sent in sympathy sym-pathy with a thank you card? I believe be-lieve that friends and acquaintances should eventually be thanked by note no matter what the extent of their expressions of sympathy, but my daughter feels that for slighter expressions a printed form could be used. In fact, she thinks that these times, and birthday and anniversary anniver-sary occasions are the only ones when printed cards of thanks would be suitable. Will you give us your opinion. Answer: In return for a card another an-other card is suitable. But thanks for a present or a real favor or anything any-thing as serious as a letter of condolence con-dolence must be answered by a note or at least a handwritten message. Sympathy shown to a family in deep mourning can be answered with fewest handwritten words on a visiting vis-iting card. This limited answer is obviously permitted because of the effort that any longer reply would be to one in sorrow. Moreover, less near members of the family may write in the places of those most nearly concerned. Mourning Husband's Death DEAR Mrs. Post: I have lost my husband and will shortly leave to make my home with a sister on the West Coast. (1) I would like to send a written note of resignation to a local club of which I have always been a member and wish you would suggest what I write. (2) Also, will you tell me whether it would be incorrect in-correct to wear black satin slippers with a black dinner dress while I am wearing mourning? I find it impossible im-possible to get suede ones that are comfortable. Answer: (1) You write to the secretary sec-retary of the club, wording your note more or less like the following: follow-ing: "Dear Mrs. Green: Owing to the changed circumstances in my life and the uncertainty of my ever returning to X-town to live, it is with very deep regret that I must ask you to present my resignation at the next meeting of the board of governors. Sincerely, Mary K. Blank." (2) Black satin is not suitable suit-able for mourning but any dull si 11c would take the place of suede. Birthday Gift Puzzle. DEAR Mrs. Post: My sister and I are invited to the birthday party of a neighbor's son. Mother and this neighbor are dear friends but we hardJy know the son. Are we each supposed to take birthday presents to the party? We always take presents to other birthday par-i par-i ties but in those cases we knew the i hostess or host very well. And yet j we would hate to arrive at the party i th. only ones to be empty-handed, i What do you suggest that we do? Answer: If I were you I would ' take a trifling present from both of i you together not because it is nec-! nec-! essary, or even customary to take i a present to one whom you scarcely know, but because he is the son of ! your mother's friend. Teacher on Telephone. DEAR Mrs. Post: When a teacher announces herself on the telephone, tele-phone, to a student I mean, what is the proper form? Answer: "This is Miss Green" or "This is Mr. Blakely." i; WNU Service. |