The Evening Sun, 26 June 1940
The Passing of the Pink Tea
By Sara Wilson
For several years hostesses have talked of the passing of the pink tea party. The sedate “at homes” of other years have not been held for more of a decade. From a woman’s angle, the passing of the pink teas is something to sigh about because no parties were easier to give. The hostess had only to trim her house with a few fresh flowers, stand up a receiving line near the front door and cover the dining room table with punch and little cakes. She could give the tea for as many as four or five people at once; one pink tea paid her social obligations for the year.
There was no problem of what to do with the guests at a pink tea. They stood throughout the afternoon, chatting with each other in select groups. They had a good time, too, for the pink tea was a panorama of fashions. Big garden hats and flowered chiffons mingled with summer straws and silk prints in a pageant of color that flowed from the front door to the dining room and back again. Conversation reached a fine point of perfection; the atmosphere was light and gray.
But the pink tea has gone out of style. There may have been several reasons. In the first place, men never liked them. A man felt out of place in the ultra-feminine atmosphere of the tea party. He was ill at ease through the ordeal of making conversation with a dozen women at once; the juggling feat of holding a fragile teacup in one hand and a party plate in the other disconcerted him.
The young people drifted away. Theirs had always been the task of serving refreshments at the party. Young girls of high school and college age were imported for the afternoon. They used to boast among themselves about the number of teas at which they had been sked to assist during the social season.
The women who once made up the pink-tea picture changed. They no longer had time to spend a half an afternoon in dressing up for a party and the other half in appearing on the scene. Without the frilly dresses and the cartwheel hats, the pink tea lost half its charm. The charm of the conversation became clouded over with serious sentences. A pink tea was never the place to discuss death or taxes, or, for that matter, anything more somber than the possible fate of skirt lengths next fall.
Gone is the pageant and the panorama and in its place has come a new type of afternoon party that is suited to the times. Men are made comfortable by the substitution of pottery mugs for teacups. The younger set is no longer part of the picture, because the hostess needs no help with the refreshments. Fewer guests are invited. Everything is more informal; the pink tea has turned into a picnic.
Gilliandr's Blog
The passing of the pink tea, 1940
The Evening Sun, 26 June 1940
The Passing of the Pink Tea
By Sara Wilson
For several years hostesses have talked of the passing of the pink tea party. The sedate “at homes” of other years have not been held for more of a decade. From a woman’s angle, the passing of the pink teas is something to sigh about because no parties were easier to give. The hostess had only to trim her house with a few fresh flowers, stand up a receiving line near the front door and cover the dining room table with punch and little cakes. She could give the tea for as many as four or five people at once; one pink tea paid her social obligations for the year.
There was no problem of what to do with the guests at a pink tea. They stood throughout the afternoon, chatting with each other in select groups. They had a good time, too, for the pink tea was a panorama of fashions. Big garden hats and flowered chiffons mingled with summer straws and silk prints in a pageant of color that flowed from the front door to the dining room and back again. Conversation reached a fine point of perfection; the atmosphere was light and gray.
But the pink tea has gone out of style. There may have been several reasons. In the first place, men never liked them. A man felt out of place in the ultra-feminine atmosphere of the tea party. He was ill at ease through the ordeal of making conversation with a dozen women at once; the juggling feat of holding a fragile teacup in one hand and a party plate in the other disconcerted him.
The young people drifted away. Theirs had always been the task of serving refreshments at the party. Young girls of high school and college age were imported for the afternoon. They used to boast among themselves about the number of teas at which they had been sked to assist during the social season.
The women who once made up the pink-tea picture changed. They no longer had time to spend a half an afternoon in dressing up for a party and the other half in appearing on the scene. Without the frilly dresses and the cartwheel hats, the pink tea lost half its charm. The charm of the conversation became clouded over with serious sentences. A pink tea was never the place to discuss death or taxes, or, for that matter, anything more somber than the possible fate of skirt lengths next fall.
Gone is the pageant and the panorama and in its place has come a new type of afternoon party that is suited to the times. Men are made comfortable by the substitution of pottery mugs for teacups. The younger set is no longer part of the picture, because the hostess needs no help with the refreshments. Fewer guests are invited. Everything is more informal; the pink tea has turned into a picnic.
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gilliandr
A historian and traveller.
20C, Entertainment, etiquette, Social commentary
Entertainment, Fashion, gender, hostess, pink tea, society, youth