neck-tie sociable (=dinner party, 1870)

[Barnhart]

The Neck-Tie Sociable.  This pleasant affair, which came off at the Brown
House on Monday evening last, was all that the most ardent friends of the
movement could have wished.  The large rooms were literally crowded to
overflowing with the "beauty and fashion" of our village, and the utmost
pleasantry and good feeling seemed to animate the entire company.  _Athens
[Ohio] Messenger_, 12/29/1870, p 3