The Brown Paper Ball of 1894
When the Panic of 1893 hit Tacoma, the St. Elizabeth Guild defied the mood with a tongue-in-cheek 'Hard Times' dance featuring invitations and programs printed on brown paper.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
A 'hard times' dance was given at the Tacoma on Wednesday evening, and was one of the most delightful affairs of the season. The dance was given by the St. Elizabeth Guild of Trinity church. The invitations were issued on pieces of fresh but every-day brown paper, stating that single tickets for women were 50 cents, and for a man and girl or man alone $1. The programme was also made out on brown paper to carry out the idea. But this was the only thing in the room which put one in mind of anything so disagreeable. Such a misfortune was dispelled from the minds of most present, and all heartily entered into the dances prepared to have a good time. About 150 were present, and it was such a success that it should show that even in these hard times one might have a dance now and then.
“The programme was made out on brown paper, so as to carry out the idea of hard times. But this was the only thing in the room which put one in mind of anything so disagreeable.”
Economic anxiety in 1894 led to social gatherings that poked fun at the scarcity of the era. Today's Seattleites, facing their own cost-of-living crises, might find a grim humor in the idea of printing gala programs on brown paper to acknowledge the budget.
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