SIMPLE RULES

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 135, 29 August 1927, Page 16

SIMPLE RULES

PAYING A CALL. Call, when you’re called upon is a safe guide for the newcomer o>r the newly-married. In fact, it is a very hard-and-fast rule, and although it may seem hard when you are in a strange place and know nobody, you must wait until the older residents call upon you before yOu can visit them or make a move towards getting to know them. But once anyone has called, make a point of returning the call within 10 days or a fortnight at the very most. Four o’clock is a very good time for paying a call, although any time between three-thirty and five-thirty is permissible. No calls of any kind should be made earlier or later than this. Before you set out put ready in your card-case just the cards you’ll need. When you arrive at the house, inquire •‘ls Mrs Blank at home?” If she is, you will be invited in, and the maid will ask for your name. Don’t give her your card; this is only done when you call on business. Pronounce your name distinctly so that she can repeat it when she shows you into the drawingroom. If your hostess isn’t already in the room, sit down in a comfortable chair —and not nervously on the edge of it, please —but don’t choose the chair nearest the door. Rise immediately when your hostess comes in; she will, of course, shake hands with you. Keep the conversation on general topics; don’t volunteer copious information about your own affairs. A first call should only last about 15 or 20 minutes. It isn’t necessary for the hostess to offer tea at a first call, but if there are already other visitors taking tea the natural and graceful thing would be for you to have tea, too. There’s no need for you to stay until other guests make a move to go. At the end of a quarter of an hour or so, when there is a convenient break in the general conversation, rise quietly, shake hands with your hostess (who will rise when you do) and say good-bye. You need not shake hands with anyone else; i bow and a pleasant smile are sufficient. If you are the only visitor youi hostess will probably see you to the door herself. Anyhow’, as you pass through the hall on your way out. leave your cards Don’t put them in the card tray, but place them on the hall table.