Evening Star Newspaper, February 16, 1930, Page 98

- 12 e Society s Newest A Single Party Cost- ‘ang $25,000 Is Just an Ordinary Affair Now, for Rival HostessesHave Run Up the Overhead by Trying to Outdo Each Other. BY GILBERT SW AN. IVE HUNDRED DOLLARS a minute for a few topical songs! Five thousand dollars for outlining the decorative scheme of a single . evening's entertainment! . Special trains to bring guests across the con- Sinent! . Airplane fleets to carry guests out to a coun- fry or a beach estate! Three thousand dollars to a composer for writing an “original” number for an exclusive fete! Thirty-five thousand just to “bring out a deb”! A “no limit” bid for popular stage ers who will guarantee to appefir exclusively for a very exclusive affair and turn down all other bids for the social season! : Fabulous offers for the services of famous stage-set artists! Such are but a few budget of New York’s Competition for night club for another $1,500; wailting limousine and hustle Islenad to make another $1,500 utes, and arrive at one of the talking studios for a similar sum the following morning. in’ Low,” also found herself in the heavy bid- ding. And it so happened that Maurice Chevalier, the popular French singer-comedian, was mak- ing & talking picture on Long Island. At the t one of his pictures was playing to mMm-u-Mny. One of the ultra-ultra entertainers decided she could “scoop” her competitors by getting the services of the ex-music hall favorite from Paris. The bidding started at $3,000 for two songs and wound up at $5,000 for three. * But Chevalier politely asked to be forgiven s+ he was very busy . . . « » « and, perhaps, he did not care to appear at such private entertainments for any sum of ALL of which established still another fad. During the current social season all the others have rushed in, calling upon Joseph Urban or Norman Bel-Geddes, or Joseph Men- zies or Robert Edmond Jones, or Lee Simonson or any one of the others who have been recog- nized as outstanding artists of the theater. The fee for furnishing a few theatrical ideas has ranged around $5,000. And that's just for the idea—one can only presume what the cost has been for the suggested settings. Parties which ranged in cost from $25,000 to $50,000 have been frequent. The wedding of Bernice Chrysler to Willlam Garbisch was esti- mated at something like $100,000 or better. There were about 2,000 guests. The Sherry catering can be figured loosely at $20 a person. After which there were all the other costs of entertainment. And the matter of bringing out the debutantes earlier during the “coming out” season saw extravagance reaching a new peak. ‘There was, for instance, the occasion of Vir- ginia Thaw's coming out. ~ This took place during the holiday: period. Mr. and Mrs. William Thaw III had invited some 1,200 guests. One of the swankiest hotels in New ' York turned over several bali rooms and dining rooms for this occasion. The theatrical decorators converted' these rooms into replicas of Per- sian gardens with starlit skies overhead. Bam- boo trees were imported for floor atmosphere, - THE SUNDAY. STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 16, 1930. ays to Lhrow Away Money ‘Time was when hostesses were smart enough to entertain their own guests. Now @ function is turned over to professional artiste whose cxclusive services are so eagerly sought by competing hostesses that the sky has become the limit. and the rarest tropical fruits hung from the branches. Rare mauve butterfly orchids pro- vided the floral contributions and the carnival balloons were not of mere rubber, but had been covered with vari-colored damask by experts in color harmonies and decorative art. Guests came to the party from ‘every part of the country. What did all this cost? Well, your guess, Mr, and Mrs. Constant Reader, is as good as mine? The Drexel “coming out” was another sen- sation. It was upon the occasion of Edith Kingdon Drexel's appearance in society that the special transcontinental train idea made its debut. In order that guests from California to in the most luxurious ‘fashion. Meanwhile, the main ball rooms of the Ritz had been secured for the festivities. Bnter the decorators! They put their heads together! What would be a real New York novelty? Let's see—New York has no forests. Very well, they would have a forest, N So. when the swanky guests arrived they found themselves in a miniature cedar woods, trees having been imported for the occasion from. “up. in the hills.” Ferns and moss were there, too. And a complete garden of the rarest chrysanthemums, roses, poinsettias, Alabama smilax and white heather. Illuminated fountains had been in- stalled and lighting experts from the theaters had been engaged to give the proper illuminat- ing effects to the enchanting scene. Just a short time after that event a num- ber of guests arrived in the Park avenue belt to find a wardrobe of aviation costumes await- to his front door. The novelty was—well, quite novel. The Broadway influence on the parties of the very “ultra” social set has come by process of gradual development. N the very dear old days, the dowagers of lower Fifth avenue took a certain pride in their own capacities as hostesses. The suc- cessful hostess was one schooled in the Euro- pean salon methods. She was presumed to The high cost of fwh When papa shoves his deb daughter into the social : it is whir, likely to set him. back $20,000 or mare. have both wit and talent. Her daughters were presumed to be equally clever. She was called be gay and could pro affairs or almost any 3 . Then came a period when the great artis were hired to entertain. Generally, musicians with international reputations; ers from the Metropolitan and such. Among the oldsters of the social 400, type of talent is still called o visiting pianists and fiddlers able to keep the home fires ha thanks to an income from the Gershwin was, for man most sought-out artists, with “The Rhapsody in Blue.” Meller came to America entertainment circles reached ils But she accepted few, if any, of the offers. Kreisler, Rosa Ponselle, Mme. Alda, Rachman- inoff, Josef H)fmann, Roland Hayes, for private appearances. BUT way back in the giddy nineties, a gayer young set suddenly appeared with such “shockerkies” as made the front pages of the newspapers, To the oldsters they were known as the “fast set” and they started a new pace for the late-lamented Waldorf, and Delmonico’s, and Sherry’s and all the other swanky eme poriums. A few particularly daring social leaders went in for extremes in novelty—creating the “monkey dinners” and other forms of whoopee which shocked an older generation. The drift toward Broadway came with the jazz band and the radio and the cocktail era. At first it was sufficlent that one had a syn- copated orchestra at a function. Today - the highest-priced and most famous bands- are demanded. ' tea S After the war, those “wild youngsters” began to appear in places where the children of ' the very tich had theretfoore never been seen. They literally “took over” certairi night clubs; they learned to drink from the hip; they danced elbow to elbow with rich bootleggers and racketeers. by kT Entertainers who had been mere stage and cabaret figures, suddenly found ' themselves “taken up” ' by society. WIS e aje ey And any mother and daddy who care to bring out their daughters in any sort of style these ‘days can figure on kissing ‘good-by to : (Copyright, 1930.)" A