The menu for supper at a ball is entirely a matter of the hostess' selection, but whether it is served at one time or continuously, the supper menu at an important ball includes:
1. Bouillon or green turtle (clear) in cups.
2. Lobster a la Newburg (or terrapin or oyster pâté or another hot dish of shell-fish or fowl).
3. A second choice hot dish of some sort, squab, chicken and peas (if supper is served at a special hour) or croquettes and peas if continuous.
4. Salad, which includes every variety known, with or without an aspic.
Breakfast served at about four in the morning and consisting of scrambled eggs with sausages or bacon and breakfast coffee and rolls is an occasional custom at both dances and balls.
There is always an enormous glass bowl of punch or orangeade--sometimes two or three bowls each containing a different iced drink--in a room adjoining the ballroom. And in very cold climates it is the thoughtful custom of some hostesses to have a cup of hot chocolate or bouillon offered each departing guest. This is an especially welcome attention to those who have a long drive home.
A dance is merely a ball on a smaller scale, fewer people are asked to it and it has usually, but not necessarily, simpler decorations.
But the real difference is that invitations to balls always include older people--as many if not more than younger ones--whereas invitations to a dance for a débutante, for instance, include none but very young girls, young men and the merest handful of the hostess' most intimate friends.
Supper may equally be a simple buffet or an elaborate sit-down one, depending upon the size and type of the house.
Or a dance may equally well as a ball be given in the "banquet" or smaller ballroom of a hotel, or in the assembly or ballroom of a club.
A formal dance differs from an informal one merely in elaboration, and in whether the majority of those present are strangers to one another; a really informal dance is one to which only those who know one another well are invited.
=DETAILS OF PREPARATION FOR A BALL OR DANCE IN A PRIVATE HOUSE=
There is always an awning and a red carpet down the steps (or up), and a chauffeur to open the carriage doors and a policeman or detective to see that strangers do not walk uninvited into the house. If there is a great crush, there is a detective in the hall to "investigate" anyone who does not have himself announced to the hostess.