Let's Give a Party: Invitations, Decorations and Menus. What to Wear, What to Do, and How to Do It
New York: Parkchester Hostess Service, 1940. Presumed First Edition. 8vo (8 5/16 x 5 1/2 inches / 212 x 139 mm), 30 pages, in illustrated wrappers and multicolored pages. Some toning to the covers, especially to the rear cover. Otherwise, clean and bright. A Very Good or better copy. A very scarce, amusing guide to how to give a party in the bleak year of 1940, featuring tips on decorations, entertainment, menus, and drinks. Sponsored by the Hoffman Beverage Company, the pamphlet promises "a complete recipe for a gay party for every month of the year...You have only to add your own pinch of personality to have your party end in a blaze of glory at 3 o'clock in the morning." Given who sponsored this booklet, it's perhaps not surprising to find the authors recommending products of the sponsor: "To be the smart host, for your tall drinks use Hoffman Club Soda and Hoffman Pale Dry Ginger Ale." There's plenty of wry humor here, such as this line about Thanksgiving guests: "...the cousin, whom you thought was such a fascinating heartbreaker when you were sixteen, comes in with his large wife." Altogether, a wonderfully quirky pamphlet that provides a fascinating look at entertaining in the U.S. in 1940. This pamphlet is extremely scarce. OCLC WorldCat lists a single copy, at the New York Historical Society Library, (and manages to misname one of the authors as Stoppard rather than Sheppard). No other copies in commerce as of March 15, 2018. SCARCE. Item #1273
Price: $125.00