Holiday Hosting Guide
The holidays. If you believe the ad wizards and songwriters, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings when friends come to call.
Introverts might have something else to say about that.
Those struggling with entertaining during the holiday season might get a lift from Rose Henniker Heaton, whose helpful Christmas etiquette guide, The Perfect Christmas, was published 91 years ago.
The Perfect Christmas is a nostalgic look at Christmas in the days before World War II. Every aspect of the Christmas holiday is provided, including food, guests, house parties, decorations, and family reunions.
Heaton even gives us a rundown of the guests we ought to include in our party planning in her poem, “The Right People to Invite”:
Cheerful people.
Lots of young people.
The guest with a car.
The Enterprising Girl.
The Elderly Woman who can tell fortunes.
The Elderly Man (if red-faced and jolly).
The Handy-Man (issue invitation early, as he is in great demand).
Anybody good with children.
The Unselfish Friend.
If you’re so inclined, you can pick up a copy of her outdated but quaint handbook, The Perfect Christmas.
Let me know who you end up inviting.
And stay Classy AF.