Page:The art of kissing (IA artofkissing987wood).djvu/49

 several hundred young people of the town and neighborhood of Potsferry, County Down, put on their best attire and gathered at a pleasant walk nearby. The sport consisted in the men's kissing the women, married or single, as often as they cared to. Hardly a single woman returned from the festival without having had at least a dozen good hearty smacks.

For the modern expression of this energy, the petting party, so popular among the flapper generation and young college circles, is the chief outlet. Only, the earlier kissing sports and games consisted only of kissing: and the petting party hardly starts with this. Every variety of kissing is indulged in by the accomplished petter: "necking" is the name given to the osculatory pyrotechnics. The petters stop somewhere short of the complete love experience: but they have usually come so close to the ultimate, that there is, to use Byron's phrase brought up to date, not little mystery left for the nuptial night, but none.

Kissing Devices.—The kiss sent by mail is the constant way that love letters are ended. A row of crosses or x's ordinarily represents the kisses; but the more astute miss has a better way. Lips well rouged, or rouged over cold cream, when pressed to the page of the letter, leave a perfect impression as a token to send to the lover. Kisses are easily transmited [sic] over the telephone; and as easily over the radio.

The kiss for sweet charity's sake is well known. At many charity bazaars there is a kissing booth, where some attractive miss may