ort of social invitation.
Probably some time in the future the typewriter will be used, but at
present it is associated with business correspondence and is supposed to
lack the implied leisure of hand writing.

The forms of many invitations, as I have said, are fairly fixed. But
they are not hallowed. One may vary them within the limits of good
taste, but on the whole it is considerably easier to accept the forms
in use and not try to be different. If the function itself is going to
be very different from usual then the invitation itself may be as
freakish as one likes--it may be written or printed on anything from a
postcard to a paper bag. The sole question is one of appropriateness.
But there is a distinct danger in trying to be ever so unconventional
and all that. One is more apt than not to make a fool of one's self.
And then, too, being always clever is dreadfully hard on the innocent
by-standers. Here are things to be avoided:

Do not have an invitation printed or badly engraved. Hand
writing is better than bad mechanical work.

Do not use colored or fancy papers.

Do not use single sheets.

Do not use a very large or a very small sheet--either is
inappropriate.

Do not have a formal phraseology for an informal affair.

Do not abbreviate anything--initials may be used in informal
invitations and acceptances, but, in the formal, "H. E. Jones"
invariably has to become "Horatio Etherington Jones."

Do not send an answer to a formal invitation in the first
person.

A formal invitation is written in the third person and must be
so answered.

Do not use visiting cards either for acceptances or regrets
even though they are sometimes used for invitations. The
practice of sending a card with "Accepts" or "Regrets" written
on it is discourteous.

Do not seek to be decorative in handwriting--the flourishing
Spencerian is impossible.

Do not overdo either the formality or the informality.

Do not use "R.S.V.P." (the initials of the French words
"Repondez, s'il vous plait," meaning "Answer, if you please")
unless the information is really necessary for the making of
arrangements. It ought to be presumed that those whom you take
the trouble to invite will have the sense and the courtesy to
answer.

In sending an evening invitation where there are husband and wife, both
must be included, unless, of cou