A cocktail party is a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

at which

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

s are served. It is sometimes called a cocktail reception. A cocktail party organized for purposes of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

networking is called a mixer. Some events, such as wedding receptions, are preceded by a cocktail hour. During the cocktail hour, guests socialize while

drinking Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely among ...

and eating

appetizers An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or th ...

. Organizers of these events use the cocktail hour to occupy guests between related events and to reduce the number of guests who arrive late. Although it has been said that the inventor of the cocktail party was Alec Waugh of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, an article in the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press'' in May 1917 credited its invention to Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. Mrs. Walsh invited 50 guests to her house on a Sunday at high noon for a one-hour affair. "The party scored an instant hit," the newspaper declared, stating that within weeks cocktail parties had become "a St. Louis institution". Alec Waugh noted that the first cocktail party in England was hosted in 1924 by

war artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

Christopher Nevinson. German author Walter Leonhardt advised readers to observe "three fundamental rules" of cocktail parties, in a 1962 book on culture and customs of England: # It should not last long, an hour and a half maximum, the time one can stand up, even if there are chairs for weaker constitutions. # Guests should enter and leave freely, avoiding elaborate greetings on arrival and departure. # Conversation must avoid passionate subjects (personal, political or religious topics) to keep a harmonious and cheerful ambiance.

References

{{Authority control Eating parties Drinking culture High society (social class) Upper class culture

See also

References