Manners: Life of the Party

Readymade for the status-seeking Washington hostess who is worried lest her cocktail party fall flat: the You-Rent-a-Cocktail Party Crowd. Invented by Writer C.D.B. Bryan for the funny crew of a funny supper-club routine at the Captain’s Table in Georgetown, the device is described thus:

“We provide the people who arrive for the first half-hour of a cocktail party, since none of the invited guests come that early. Our people wear decorations, sashes, beautiful evening gowns, saris, and various other native costumes. They talk animatedly about politics. As the real guests arrive, the rented crowd fades away, leaving behind it matchbooks imprinted

FROM THE DESK OF L.B.J., OR THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE . . . The real guests, of course, spend the rest of the party trying to find out who were those fabulous people. The hostess merely lights a cigarette from the special matchbook and smiles.”