Any one of various entertainments may be given to present a young girl to society.  The favorite and most elaborate of these, but possible only to parents of considerable wealth and wide social acquaintance, is a ball.  Much less elaborate, but equal in size, and second in favor to-day, is an afternoon tea with dancing.  Third, and gaining in popularity, is a small dance, which presents the debutante to the younger set and a few of her mother’s intimate friends.  Fourth, is a small tea without music.  Fifth, the mere sending out of the mother’s visiting card with the daughter’s name engraved below her own, announces to the world that the daughter is eligible for invitations.

=A BALL FOR A DEBUTANTE=

A ball for a debutante differs in nothing from all other balls excepting that the debutante “receives” standing beside the hostess, and furthest from the entrance, whether that happens to be on the latter’s right or left.  The guests as they mount the stairs or enter the ballroom and are “announced,” approach the hostess first, who, as she shakes hands with each, turns to the debutante and says “Mrs. Worldly, my daughter.”  Or “Cynthia, I want to present you to Mrs. Worldly.” ("Want to” is used on this occasion because “may I” is too formal for a mother to say to her child.) A friend would probably know the daughter; in any event the mother’s introduction would be, “You remember Cynthia, don’t you?”

Each arriving guest always shakes hands with the debutante as well as with the hostess, and if there is a queue of people coming at the same time, there is no need of saying anything beyond “How do you do?” and passing on as quickly as possible.  If there are no others entering at the moment, each guest makes a few pleasant remarks.  A stranger, for instance, would perhaps comment on how lovely, and many, the debutante’s bouquets are, or express a hope that she will enjoy her winter, or talk for a moment or two about the “gaiety of the season” or “the lack of balls,” or anything that shows polite interest in the young girl’s first glimpse of society.  A friend of her mother might perhaps say “You look too lovely, Cynthia dear, and your dress is enchanting!”

Personal compliments, however, are proper only from a close friend.  No acquaintance, unless she is quite old, should ever make personal remarks.  An old lady or gentleman might very forgivably say “You don’t mind, my dear, if I tell you how sweet I think you look,” or “What a pretty frock you have on.”  But it is bad taste for a young woman to say to another “What a handsome dress you have on!” and worst of all to add “Where did you get it?” The young girl’s particular friends are, of course, apt to tell her that her dress is wonderful, or more likely, “simply divine.”