CHRISTMAS PARTIES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29068, 3 December 1959, Page 19

CHRISTMAS PARTIES

Busy Time For Businessmen The Christmas round of cocktail parties has begun in Christchurch. There will be some businessmen who will have few vacant spaces on their desk dairies on week-days between 5 and 7 p.m. for the next three weeks. Five o’clock Christmas parties have become the fashion for many New Zealanders in recent years, and an increasing number of business firms and organisations take the chance of entertaining friends and business associates at Christmas.

So many parties are held that an unofficial roster system has had to be worked out by the secretaries of several organisations which have some membership in common and similar associates. But some clash of dates is inevitable and there will be some who will have to make brief appearances at as many as three parties on one evening. Supplies of liquor for Christmas are adequate this year. As there is always a table of savouries and sandwiches at Christmas parties, some wives may be complaining that their husbands have little appetite for their meals.

Five o’clock parties have become the time when businesses and organisations say “thank you” to their members and customers and are a goodwill occasion rather than one at which there is salesmanship or promotion.