A “Deb’s Mum” Falls Victim To Procedure

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28362, 22 August 1957, Page 2

A “Deb’s Mum” Falls Victim To Procedure

Mothers who launched theii debutante daughters into adult society this winter, by presenting them at old girls’ balls or at private dances, are probably wondering now if their dutiful enterprise was worth the worry or the financial outlay. Whatever the cost oi ball gowns, admission tickets and dinner parties, they will consider themselves fortunate to have come out so lightly if they read Petronella Portobello’s delightful skit “How to be a Deb’s Mum.” In a series of witty letters to her old friend, Pris, Mrs Portobello tells how she went about : introducing her daughter, Jane, in the top strata of London “debbery” with a flock of other ambitious, competitive mamas. Social Reconnoitre First of all, Petronella sets forth from Scotland on a social reconnoitre to London in November—at that time of the year the first flocking-ground of the “mums.” They meet at cosy little tea parties in the home of a mutual friend to discuss preliminary arrangements and to peruse the lists of the coming season’s debutantes “Names began to be tossed to and fro and second cups of tea were handed round.” says Petronella. “We swapped out scraps of paper (bearing names of prospective debs) and began to realise that between us we really did have some kind of contact or acquaintance with most of the girts who will be ‘coming out next summer. It was no mean effort because all told there were about 80 names of debs. I could detect in the eye of Mrs Charmers the triumphant gleam of a mumhen who has found her way to the corn-bin and is off post-haste to fetch her chicken there.” Finding Partners

The problem of finding suitable young men as partners for the girls is introduced at the tea party somewhat diffidently, because the days have passed of the bachelors' book in which mothers of the previous season wrote such cryptic initials as N.S.I.T. (not safe in taxis) against the names of men. from whom innocent girls must be protected. The girls themselves handled this matter now. Petronella found.

As plans proceed and dates for dinners and dances are fixed, the young widow, wanting to do the best for her daughter, soon begins to realise the truth of her old aunt’s tip that no-one knows how catty women can become until they launch a kitten Into the turmoil of exacting pro cedure, advance arrangements and replanning when unfortunate classes occur, drifts Freddy FitzOsborne and romance for Petronella. Freddy is the answer to a young widow’s prayer and is a pillar of strength when her own Jane becomes mixed up in a highclass escapade with a gang of aristocratic young hooligans. Saving Grace It is the saving grace of Freddy’s affection and Her copy of “A gentlewoman’s compendium on how to present her daughter into society” that prevents Petronella

from “biting all her fingernails away in frustration.” The budget for the outlay? Well, the reader is left to imagine the snowballing of costs as the lists grow for. each entertainment. “Uncle Fushie,” who undertook to help out, must have dipped much further into his pockets than he had expected to as did the impecunious PetroneMa, by the time the last bill was paid. For Petronella the outlay was worth-while. Jane launched successfully and she herself found another husband. The book closes on Petronella, deliriously happy, sporting with the idea of going through it all again for another daughter in about 18 years’ time.

“How to be a Deb’s Mum” is just as enjoyable for a woman who has no daughters to presen I as for next year’s “coming-out’’ hostesses. Published by Victor Gollancz, Ltd., London, the book has 184 pages and an epiloque by Sir Compton Mackenzie. As a pick-me-up after a dose of ’flu or a bout of the miseries, it is highly recommended.