Beadle's Dime Handbooks: Ball-Room Companion and Guide to Dancing

This 1868 Beadle and Adams Dime Ball-Room Companion is a practical guide to dancing and social etiquette. It details arrangements for public and private balls, emphasizing that the hostess gives invitations in her name with proper written forms sent ten days beforehand. The text prescribes proper parlor specifications, music selection (piano, violin, cornet, violoncello), and refreshment provisions. It discusses ladies' toilettes with guidance on appropriate fabrics—tarlatane, gauze, tulle for young unmarried women; silk for married women—and color selection based on complexion. The work includes a French terms glossary for dancing and outlines multiple square dances (Plain Quadrille, Lanciers, Virginia Reel) and round dances (Waltz, Polka, Schottische, Galop, Varsoviana). A quadrille diagram illustrates head-couple positioning. The guide addresses accessories, jewelry, gloves, and mourning-wear protocols for ballroom attendance.