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Re-create your own version of The Gilded Age for your next dinner party.
Back in the day, a gentleman was assigned to a specific woman during the pre-dinner gathering and his job was to accompany her to the dinner table. You can see this in action in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice or in any of Edith Wharton’s novels. He found his assignment folded into one of these little “escort cards” and tucked it away until Jeeves rang the dinner gong.
These are original Tiffany & Co. cards sold out of backstock ten years ago when they began to clean out the cupboards for the recent fabulous Peter Marino renovation. These cards come from that clearout, bought by me from Tiffany’s and in the original box—50 cards in mint condition. Ward McAllister, society dictator, described the practice as going out of fashion in the 1890's in his book Society as I Found It. It also appears in the novels of Anthony Trollope. But the practice still appears in a 1920's Emily Post. These are probably 100 years old.
So get out your sterling, throw on those over the elbow white leather gloves, call the caterer, and see if Meaghan and Harry might also be available. What fun!
