Entering the Gilded Age Ball

When a young girl attends a ball with her mother or some matron who has kindly consented to chaperon her, she always allows her elderly companion to enter the room first, and then walks beside her to greet the hostess, who usually stands at the head of the room or in a position not far from the door. – From “Punch” or the “London Charivari” Vol. 158, February 25th, 1920

Making the Correct Entrance

THE gentlemen wait for the ladies whom they have escorted to the dance, in the hall, and they enter the ball room together- not arm in arm, but the lady enters the room first, closely followed by her escort. At very fashionable balls, where the hostesses are great sticklers for conventionality, the name of each guest is announced by a footman just as he enters the door. But this formality is often omitted, and is not in good taste unless the affair is extremely elegant and ceremonious. With moderate means it is always in much better taste to do things simply than to strain after effect, or, as the expressive slang of the day has it, to “splurge.”

When a young girl attends a ball with her mother or some matron who has kindly consented to chaperon her, she always allows her elderly companion to enter the room first, and then walks beside her to greet the hostess, who usually stands at the head of the room or in a position not far from the door. The hostess should offer her hand to each guest, either man or woman, and express her pleasure at seeing them. 

If the dance is given for a daughter already in society or to introduce a debutante, the young lady stands by her mother and assists in receiving the guests. She does not begin to dance, until after the first half hour, coming back occasionally between the dances to the side of her parent to talk to some of the older guests or to greet the late arrivals. – Copyright, 1905, by A. S. Barnes & Co.

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