Cocktail party
Encyclopedia
A cocktail party is a party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....

 where cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...

s are served. Women may choose to wear what has become known as a cocktail dress
Cocktail dress
A cocktail dress or cocktail gown is a woman's dress worn at cocktail parties, and semi-formal, or "black tie" occasions.The length of cocktail dresses varies depending on fashion and local custom. The length ranges from just above the knee to touching the ankle...

.

Although many believe the inventor of the cocktail party to be Alec Waugh
Alec Waugh
Alexander Raban Waugh , was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher...

 of London, who in 1924 found a need for this pleasant interlude before a dinner party, an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington counties, along with western Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County,...

that ran in May 1917 credits Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. Mrs. Walsh invited 50 guests to her house on a Sunday at high noon for a one hour affair. "The party scored an instant hit," the St. Paul Pioneer Press declared. And within a matter of weeks, cocktail parties became "a St. Louis institution".

Alec Waugh noted that the first cocktail party in England was hosted by war artist Christopher Nevinson in 1924. A so-called cocktail hat
Cocktail hat
A cocktail hat is a small, extravagant hat for a woman. It is usually a component of evening wear and is intended as an alternative to a large-brimmed hat. These hats are often decorated with beads, jewels or feathers, as well as a veil...

 is sometimes worn as a fashion statement.

Cocktail hour has been used as a marketing technique by restaurants and hotels as a means of attracting patrons in the hours between 4 pm–6 pm.
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