Cocktail party
A cocktail party (sometimes also referred to as a cocktail for short ) - also known as a cocktail reception - is a form of a standing reception . In contrast to the standing reception, guests come and go as they please. In addition there is in any case small canapés , snacks and drinks on the tray or on a cocktail buffet .
The party can take place in private rooms, but also in a hotel lounge or gallery. The name is derived from the cocktails served , but wine and non-alcoholic beverages can also be offered, but usually no beer or pure spirits . The guests talk while standing ( small talk ), the music is rather quiet and subtle and no dance music.
history
In contrast to the ball , the cocktail party does not have its roots in aristocratic or manorial social life, but originated in the 1920s in the USA and is seen by cultural historians in connection with the prohibition of the time , which banned alcohol in public pubs and restaurants and only in private ones Allowed rooms. The cocktails created in illegal so-called speakeasys were served legally at private cocktail parties. Often this was followed by a formal dinner for the guests. Prohibition ended in 1933, but interest in cocktail parties continued - encouraged by literature and movies. It became customary to invite work colleagues and business partners to such parties. The trend subsided in the 1960s and then revived again in the mid-1980s, but mainly outside the home in public spaces. In the 1990s, interest in cocktail parties increased with the emerging retro wave .
Formal
A cocktail reception usually does not start before 5:30 p.m. or after 7 p.m. The duration is usually limited to around two hours. The cocktail party follows normal working hours and takes place before dinner . You are not expected to appear on time, but you are expected to leave on time.
There are cocktails and other alcoholic drinks, with the exception of "ordinary" drinks such as beer, schnapps etc. Non-alcoholic drinks can also be offered. There are no meals, usually just a few canapés . The classic cocktail party drink is the martini .
For official cocktail parties, the invitation is sent in writing one to two weeks in advance. Invitations to less formal cocktail parties are usually only verbal. The informal nature of the event allows the invited guest to inquire whether he or she may bring someone with them, as long as this is acceptable to the host.
As a rule, since the party follows their working hours, the men still wear their normal day clothes (office suits). The same now also applies to working women. For particularly solemn or official cocktail parties, a dark suit is appropriate for men. Ladies wear a cocktail dress .
Others
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, so-called after-work parties became fashionable. Mostly commercially organized, they take place at cocktail party time. Actually, they are cocktail parties with additional dancing.
In the radio plays about the London crime writer and private detective Paul Temple , the author Francis Durbridge had his hero in most cases, such as in Paul Temple and the Curzon case and in Paul Temple and the Lawrence case , host a cocktail party at the end all suspicious persons were invited and in the course of which the perpetrator was exposed.
See also
literature
- HM Stuber: I'll help you cook , blv Verlag, Munich, 1988
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Herrmann, F. Jürgen: Textbook for cooks . Handwerk und Technik, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-582-40055-7 , p. 406 .
- ↑ Article Cocktail party in the Encyclopedia of Food and Culture