Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1937, Page 44

E—4 SOCIETY. About Well-Known Folk In Books, Art, Politics Mrs. Roosevelt Gets a Compliment in New and Comprehensive Saga of American Society From 1607-1937. BY ROBERT CRAWFORD. T TOOK a polished literateur, a fine discriminating sense of [ humor, good sportsmanship and a keen insight into human nature to throw a monkey wrench into the works of the social vegister and blue book, make an interesting story, adhere to facts and at the same time not be malicious, petty, nor give offense. Mr. Dixon Wecter has accomplished all of this in his “Saga of American Society—A Record of Social Aspiration” through a period from 1607 to 1937, a span of 330 years. Quite some time in a re- public in which to turn overalls into white shirts, for it has been done in one generation—like Dr. Johnson's dog walking on its hind legs and a woman preaching, the astonishment is not that it has not been done well, but that it has been done at all. Mr. Wecter during his 31 years—he was born in Houston, Tex., In 1906—has done no end of worth while things. He was gradu- ated from Baylor University, Texas, with a B. A.; then went to Yale, received his M. A. then his Ph. D, holding while at the latter university, the Sterling research fellowship in English. At the age of 22 he went as Rhodes scholar to Merton College, Ox- ford, where he received a B. Litt, and led the honors school in classics. One might be inclined to%-——— — ‘hink of him as a pale, bespectacled ‘ligger and delver of knowledge, but such was not the case, as he took part {n athletics, rowing in the college boat and playing tennis on the Merton team, which is considered one of the crack teams of Oxford. He is said to be a delightful lecturer or talker and, besides his duties as associate professor of English literature at the University of Colorado, he finds time to write for several of the more conservative and scholarly monthly and quarterly magazines. Saga of American Society Reads Like a Romance. Doubtless, ever since Cadmus or the Phoenicians or whoever invented books. there have been social registers and blue books of one kind or another—always for a price. They are elegant directories for mi-lady's desk and much sought after for other reasons. Of course, the Phoenicians were very snooty to the Greeks and the Greeks looked down upor the Romans as parvenues. In turn the Romans looked with contempt on what they | better.” . . . The late Mr. John D. termed the barbarians. Candace, & | Rockefeller, “I believe the power to reigning beauty and an Ethiopian | make money a gift of God” . . . of Queen of the first century—she may | Buchmanism: “The Rev. Prank Na- have been the ancestress of Haile | than Buchman, who it is reported has Selassie—doubtless thought of CIPO*‘hrolmhi God to Newport, which it patra as an ingenue in the art of fasci- | must be confessed is a somewhat eas- nation and make-up, while the Egyp- | ier achievement than bringing New- tian siren bewitched the Roman war- | port to God” . . . “Charlotte Haxall riors and Jured them from their | Noland—head mistress of Foxcroft, wives without benefit of clergy. born an F. F. V., has now achieved an In his delightfully snappy saga|M. F. H. ... Mrs. Hoover, the peren- which is filled with amusing sub rosa | nial Girl Scout . . . Mrs. Franklin stories, gossip and witty remarks and | Delano Roosevelt, outspoken, spirited, & naive way of relating incidents in | affable, with her early decision to the lives of the now socially promi- | serve beer and wine, her Monday press nent, Mr. Wecter tells the origin of | conference for women only, her syn- the American social registers; their | dications and frank sharing of her life requirements, the story of the quest | with the public, her shrewd business for coronets, the effect of international | sense plus the Roosevelt political flair, society on a newer regime, the influ- | has broken the ice-locked Puritanism ence and power of the society page|and reticence of the White House.” in the daily paper and points the| The chapter on the evolution of gen- difference between “society” and aris- | tlemen's clubs is one of the best in tocracy. the book. Of the Tavern Club of Bos- S 3 ton, of which William Dean Howells Yeashineton Somety was one of the founders and of which 2 Mr. Charles Eliot Norton, Owen Wis- About Washington society he goes | ter, Maj. Henry Lee Higginson and quite a bit into detail and tells of its | other well known Bostonians were evolution from the President Wash- | members, Mr. Wecter Says: “ ¢« o ington and Adams period in official | is so securely Bostonian that in 1905 life down to the present time with | it could well give a dinner in honor malice towards none and charity for | of Booker Washington with a pane- all. He says of the division of protocol of the Department of State “* * * jt- self a sort of club which favors the Boston accent and an independent income . . . the arbiter of official eti- | "a"ressas quette.” He does not, however, dis- | $ Remade $3 criminate between smart and official | STEIN BEDDING CO. society in the National Capital—per- | .1004 Eye St. N.W. ME. 9490 and womén of affairs in the public life of the Nation. Mr. Wecter pro- jects his story more from a sociologi- cal standpoint, showing .the effect of society upon American institutions as well as social and business life. From that viewpoint his chapter on “Planter, Puritan and Patroon” shows deep and painstaking research. His own ancestors settled in the South in Colonial times. | Hollywood Steals the Show from Society, ‘The author of the saga asks: *What, then, is the relation between wealth and aristocracy? If any one is so vulgar &s to believe they are synony- mous. let him go to Charleston, 8. C., the home of the stranded gentry, and then travel on to Palm Beach where every prospect pleases” . . . ““Hollywood nowadays can supply more glitter than a society which has grown a trifle weary of its past magnificence and also a little timorous of its future. Hollywood s strings of pearls are longer, its Cattleyas rarer, its automobiles newer, and its divorces bigger and | haps because, after all, the line is only an imaginary one. Distinguished foreign social lights who come to | ‘Washington usually want to meet men ' AIR-COOLED, 1207 F ST. DARK SHOES Suitable for Fall 585 THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, AUGUST 1 Among the Recent Brides MRS. RUFUS E. WILSON, Who, before her marriage July 17, in Clarendon, Va., was Miss Marjorie Ann Vaughan, daughter of Mr, and Mrs. Asa B. Vaughan. —Ethel Keene Robbie Photo. MRS. GEORGE FRANCIS SCOTT, Formerly Miss Helen Eliza- beth Dietz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Edward Dietz. Her wedding took place in June. MRS. THOMAS S. WOOLERY, Daughter of Mrs. Laura K. Pabst, whose marriage took place June 26. in the Luther- an church in Phillipsburg, Ohio. The bride was, before her marriage, Miss Eleanor A. Pabst. gyric in verse by Le Baron Russellf Briggs.” customs of the dav and a help to fu- ture historians. It is an incentive to Mr. Wecter Pays Tribute the best in social registers and blue To Society Page. books as well as pointing the way to Mr. Wecter's tribute in his saga to | trade and the freer circulation of the society page of the daily paper is | money. Mr. Wecter doubtless fully sincere and appreciative, showing as | appreciates that without the society he does how it has created social con- | columns and social registers of the sciousness in this country; how it is | past. he would have had difficulty in often a record of the manners and 'gleaning many a sidelight that has “(‘(m'rlhmr‘d 50 largely to making his book delightful reading—as well as pointing 32 moral and adorning a tale. The society editor during the season launches manv & one on a social career who could not otherwise arrive On one occasion, when the editor of the soclety department of one of Wash- ington’s oldest evening dailies was asked by a snob hy what right she in' Fur Coat You've Come to Expect at Zirkin's . . . are foremost . in this 52nd » . - Annual Sale now in progress - «~Definite Savings! ~—Highest Quality! ~—Confidence that goes with the Zirkin Label! o © ® The Prominent in . Tuis group offers you 2 . riunity 10 secure for yourself a Zirkin Cont of quality - furs at » grest saving. | that | When he wanted to know by whose , 1937—PART THREE. Social Items Of Interest In Fairfax Supper Given at Mur- ray Home—Miss Richardson Returns. I Murray, Miss Patsy Murray Mr. Girard Lowrey, sons and daughters of Mr. agd Mrs. Douglas Murray of Fairfax, entertained at sup- per 1ast evening for about 20 guests. Miss Randolph Richardson, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Dawson Richardson, who for the past two weeks has been the guest of Miss Betty Marsh at Old Lyme, Conn., will return today to her home, White House, Miss Marsh will accompany Miss Rich- ardson and will be her guest for some AIRFAX, Va, July 31.—Mr. Phillip Murray, Miss Betty S8OCIETY. Robert Dameron, and their son and |Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gormley in daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. John | Rockville. They were en route from Dameron of Fayettsville, Ark Imeir home at Fort Thomas, Ky., to Mr. Frank Young, son of Mr. and | Rehoboth Beach to spend the re= Mrs. N. Peyton Young, has returned | mainder of the Summer. from Birney, Mont., where he passed | i two montha at the dude ranch, Quarter | p Mr®. Wilton Carr has returned fo Circle U, which belongs to his munm,\b T Y claler. i et Mr. and Mrs. John Brewster-Arnold, ~ | DrOWNer-in-law and sister, Mr. an Miss Blanche Grove, Clark County| M'S: George W. Clandaniel, at Den< health nurse, is visiting her uncle and | % Md Mrs. Howard Larcombe and her aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Young, on her | way to Berryville, following & vaca- | daughter, Miss Elizabeth Larcombe, tion spent in New York and Bermuda. | and Miss Mary Kingdon, all of Rock- Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Shaw and their | ville, will leave tomorrow for a stay family of Fayetteville, N. C., arrived | of two weeks at Atlantic City, Thursday to visit Mrs. Shaw's brother- | ADOLF .. in-law-and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Thom- | 5 1024 Conn. Ave. | &s C. Henderson, in their home, Breezy | Hill, near Fairfax. Mr. and Mrs. Lennig Sweet have SPORT SUITS and COATS ‘Social. Activitics Around Rockville| ROCKVILLE, Md, July 31.—An- time. Miss Minnie Foote of Houston, Tex., who 1s spending some time at the Harrington Hotel in Washington, was the guest this week of her cousins, Mrs. James Roberdeau Allison, and her daughter, Miss Roberdeau Allison. Mis\ Elise Bright has returned to Parmville, Va., following a visit to her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis M. Coyner. The Rev. Herbert A. Donovan and his elder son, Herbert, jr.. who for the past month have been at Onteora Park in the Catskill Mountains, are ex- pected to return Tuesday to the Epis- copal rectory. Mrs. Richard M. Kirk of Eutawville, 8. C, is the guest of her daughter, Mrs. Donovan, at the rectory. Mr. and Mrs. C. T. Rice and their daughter, Miss Frances Rice, had as their Juncheon guests Thursday Mrs. Rice's uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. [ had put the address of his Summer cottage in her column, she answered itw Was in the Social Register. authority it was in the register, she with them Mrs. Sweet's brother, Mr. For Foll Weor | Royal Firman of New York. at $25.00 to $45.00 | Mrs. Roberta Everly of Alexandria Formerly $49.50 to $90.00 is staying in Pairfax with her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Fred- erick M. Everly. | For All Occasions | Mary K. D. Brooks. in Rockville { Mr.and Mrs. Lester F. Butler of | at $12.50 to $25.00 | Durbam, N. C, are visiting Mrs. But- | Formerly $25.00 to $49.50 ler's sister, Mrs. William T. Pratt, in Rockville, Mrs. Louis A. Baumann and her little daughter, Carolyn Sue Bau- mann, were guests for a few days of | | nouncement has been made of the en- | gagement of Miss E. Lucille Musgrove ] 1dau;zh|ir of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Z. | Musgrove of Brookeville, Md,, to Mr. | Alton B. Jones. son of Mr. and Mrs | Charles B. Jones of Rockville. | | _ Mrs. Joseph Fouts of Ridley Park | Pa.. has been visiting her mother, Mrs. | Toke odvaontage of these wnusual pnce reductions during this sale. 2nd Anniversary Offer A||s7.50 and 58.50 s PERMANENT WAVES answered doubtiess by his paying his | $7 subscription. The “Saga” Made Its Debut Last Friday. The “Saga of American Society” is copiously illustrated and Mr. Charles Dana Gibson has allowed the author to draw largely from his cartoons in illustrating society in all its phases— humorous, gay and ambitious. The format of the book is particularly pleasing and from cover to cover there is not a dull or tiresome line. The author has touched rather lightly upon | thinking that it | snobbery, evidently has been one of those depiorable in- flictions that polite society has had to suffer since the morning stars sang together and the first family in the Garden of Eden fell out. The “Saga of American Society” made its debut last Priday. THREE is essential in Beauty in Its Entirety Free Consultation 3042 14th St. Adams 6700 Open Evenings Till 8 P.M. e 0 o 528 12th St. Natl. 2028 : Hairdresser | Two Locations | SMA Smart, because they realize that a good appearance 1 GIRLS inviting admiration. 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