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diff --git a/42863-0.txt b/42863-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33415fb --- /dev/null +++ b/42863-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10581 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42863 *** + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have + been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + + + + BRIGHT IDEAS + FOR + ENTERTAINING + + + Two hundred forms of amusement or entertainment for + social gatherings of all kinds: large or small parties, + clubs, sociables, church entertainments, etc.; with + special suggestions for birthdays, wedding anniversaries, + Hallowe'en, All Fools' Day, Christmas + Day, New Year's Eve, and other holidays. + + + By + MRS. HERBERT B. LINSCOTT + + PHILADELPHIA + GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO. + PUBLISHERS + + + + + Copyright, 1905, by + MRS. HERBERT B. LINSCOTT + Published July, 1905 + + + Thirty articles appearing in this book have been taken from + "The Ladies' Home Journal," to which the author gratefully + acknowledges permission to reprint them. + + + + +Bright Ideas for Entertaining + + + + +ACTING PROVERBS + + +In this game the company may be divided into actors and spectators. The +actors are each given a proverb, which they are to act alone in +pantomime. + +The first player may come into the room where the spectators are +waiting, with a sprinkler in one hand and a cup in the other. He begins +sprinkling the flowers, then he pours water over them, acting the +proverb, "It never rains but it pours." + +The second actor also brings a cup of water. He repeatedly attempts to +drink from the cup, which keeps slipping from his fingers as he brings +it near his mouth. "There's many a slip between the cup and the lip." + +The third brings in a purse containing brass buttons, which he takes out +and counts over deliberately. Then he looks at them closely, and with +seeming distrust, finally flinging them from him in a rage. "All is not +gold that glitters." + +The fourth actor appears with a stone, which he rolls all about the +room. Then he examines it critically and shakes his head dubiously. "A +rolling stone gathers no moss." + +The next actor brings in a bundle of hay and tosses it about with his +fork, which he carries for the purpose, looking up frequently at an +imaginary sky. "Make hay while the sun shines." + +This game is more interesting if spectators are furnished with slips of +paper and pencils, that they may write down their guessing of each +proverb when the actor passes from the room, to be followed by another. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT ITEMS + + +Cut out pictures from advertisements; for instance, from "Quaker Oats," +cut out the Quaker, but nothing that will tell what it represents. Have +a number of them and paste on plain white paper. Number each ad, and +keep a "key" to them yourself. Furnish paper and pencil to each guest +and have them guess what each picture represents. The one who guesses +the most receives a prize. Also request every one to write an +advertisement on some article. + +Still another form of the game is for each person to choose his theme +for an advertisement, and write it without naming the article. He will +read his advertisement, and the company must guess what article he is +advertising. A variation of this game is to distribute papers, allowing +a few minutes for examining them, and then let each player describe some +article as nearly as possible in the language of its printed +advertisement, with, of course, such changes as will serve to divert the +company, and give the rest an opportunity to guess what advertisement he +has been reading. Of course the article should not be named in the +course of the description. + + + + +ALL ABOUT KATE + + +This game will furnish amusement at an evening entertainment, but may +also be played after a ladies' luncheon. The questions, on sheets of +paper with spaces allowed for the answers, are distributed, and fifteen +minutes given for answering them. Each answer is composed of one word +ending with the letters c-a-t-e; for instance: Kate is a good pleader +(advo-cate). When fifteen minutes have elapsed each player signs her +name and passes her paper to the person on her right. The answers are +then read, and the player having the most correct answers wins a prize. + +QUESTIONS-- + + 1. Kate is a good pleader. + + 2. Kate judges judicially. + + 3. Kate is apt to use other people's money wrongfully. + + 4. Kate is very frail. + + 5. Kate sometimes gets out of joint. + + 6. Kate makes everything double. + + 7. Kate loves to teach. + + 8. Kate takes out ink spots. + + 9. Kate helps people out of difficulties. + + 10. Kate is good at constructing. + + 11. Kate gives a pledge of security. + + 12. Kate sometimes invokes evil. + + 13. Kate is perplexing; hard to understand. + + 14. Kate often prays earnestly. + + 15. Kate makes wheels run easily. + + 16. Kate uses her teeth. + + 17. Kate is not always truthful. + + 18. Kate can foretell events. + + 19. Kate makes an affirmative. + + 20. Kate gets smothered. + + 21. Kate points out clearly. + + 22. Kate makes business combinations. + + 23. Kate goes into the country. + + 24. Kate will now move out. + + 1. Advocate. + + 2. Adjudicate. + + 2. Adjudicate. + + 3. Defalcate. + + 4. Delicate. + + 5. Dislocate. + + 6. Duplicate. + + 7. Educate. + + 8. Eradicate. + + 9. Extricate. + + 10. Fabricate. + + 11. Hypothecate. + + 12. Imprecate. + + 13. Intricate. + + 14. Supplicate. + + 15. Lubricate. + + 16. Masticate. + + 17. Prevaricate. + + 18. Prognosticate. + + 19. Predicate. + + 20. Suffocate. + + 21. Indicate. + + 22. Syndicate. + + 23. Rusticate. + + 24. Vacate. + + + + +APPLE SOCIABLE + + +Cards are sent out with the following: + + _Come to the Apple Social and see who gets the_ + + _B--A--P_ + + _L--A--P_ + + _N--A--P_ + + _Social given under the auspices of the East End Connett Y. W. + C. T. U., Monday evening, Sept. 10, 1905_ + +Have cards printed with a letter on each one, forming the names of +various apples; for instance, B-A-L-D-W-I-N and G-R-E-E-N-I-N-G. Have as +many letters of one color made as there are letters in the name of the +apple, and have each group of letters a separate color. These are passed +to the guests, after which each one proceeds to find the rest of the +letters colored like the one he holds, and when the group is complete, +the holders of the letters proceed to spell out the name of their apple. +Each group then composes an original poem on its apple. The poems are +read to the audience, then the prize of B--A--P (big apple pie) is given +to the best poem, L--A--P (little apple pie) to the poorest, and N--A--P +(no apple pie) to the group who composes no poem. All kinds of apples +are served for refreshments. + + + + +APRIL FOOL DINNER + + +The dinner I shall serve will be plain and substantial, but it may be +as elaborate as one chooses. Following is the menu: + + Vegetable Soup Pickles Crackers + + Roast Beef Mashed Potatoes Brown Gravy + + Celery Stewed Peas Tomatoes + + Bread Butter Tea Cheese Jelly + + Cream Pie. + +When the dinner is all ready to serve the fun will begin. Imagine the +surprise of the guests when they sit down to the table, to find the soup +served in teacups, the pickles shining forth from the sugar-bowl and the +crackers in a covered vegetable dish. The roast beef will be cut in +slices and arranged on a silver cake dish, the mashed potatoes in a +dainty glass berry dish, and the gravy in small individual sauce dishes. +The stewed peas will be served from the water-pitcher in glass tumblers, +the celery on the bread-plate, bread in the salad bowl, butter on the +celery tray, and the tea in soup bowls. The jelly will be placed on the +largest meat platter and served with the carving-knife, the cheese in +the gravy dish, and finally the pie on large dinner plates. + +The sugar will appear in the cracker jar together with the gravy-ladle, +and the cream in the china teapot. The salt will be found in the mustard +cup, the pepper alone remaining as it should be. Water must necessarily +be served at the dinner, but even this will not be in the usual manner. +I shall serve it in the after dinner coffee cups. + +The soup must be eaten with teaspoons, as the larger ones will be +reserved for the tea. + + + + +APRIL FOOL PARTY + + +Invitations may be copied after a dance card of a "Comus" ball at New +Orleans, which represents a large-sized gilt folly bell with ribbons +attached. On arriving, each guest is given a favor, which may serve also +as a score marker. These are follies' heads, capped and ruffled and +fastened to a stick, which has ribbons wrapped around it. The colors of +these ribbons, not more than two being alike, determine partners. An +attached tiny square of pasteboard, bearing a painted number, directs to +the tables. Instead of playing one game only, a variety of games are +introduced. At the head, or "Hearts," table is a large-sized tally-ho +horn, tied with a profusion of motley colors. At the conclusion of the +game, the defeated ones blow the horn and the winners at all the tables +are given little brass bells to tie upon the folly sticks or baubles. +The prizes, both head and booby, are fools' caps of white crepe paper +with huge red rosettes. + +The refreshments should be as deceiving as possible. One hostess at an +April first dinner went so far as to serve the entire course backwards, +beginning with ice cream and ending with soup. Or a very suitable menu +may be served in strange and unusual guise: potato salad arranged as +cream puffs; English walnut shells as receptacles for olives; sandwiches +as slices of cake with nut filling; ice cream as croquettes, cone-shaped +and plentifully sprinkled with toasted cake-crumbs; cake as sandwiches, +with ice cream between and tied with ribbon; coffee served in bouillon +cups; bonbons served in exact size artificial fruit. Among the bona-fide +dainties may be "April fool" bonbons--"chocolate creams" stuffed with +cotton, button-moulds covered with chocolate, and round, yellow +pill-boxes filled with flour, iced to represent small cakes. + +After the refreshments the hostess may say that she has a picture to +show which she has just received and which has given her much pleasure. +A curtain is hung before it, which, when withdrawn with grave ceremony, +reveals a mirror reflecting the expectant faces of the guests, while on +its surface, written with soap, are the words "April Fool!" + + + + +AUTHORS' CONTEST + + +Questions to be answered by giving in each case the name of a well-known +author: + + 1. A name that means such fiery things, you can't describe + their pains and stings. (Burns.) + + 2. What a rough man said to his son, when he wished him to + eat properly. (Chaucer.) + + 3. Pilgrims and flatterers have knelt low to kiss him. + (Pope.) + + 4. Makes and mends for first-class customers. (Taylor.) + + 5. Represents the dwellings of civilized men. (Holmes.) + + 6. Is worn on the head. (Hood.) + + 7. A chain of hills covering a dark treasure. (Coleridge.) + + 8. A brighter and smarter than the other. (Whittier.) + + 9. A worker in precious metals. (Goldsmith.) + + 10. A vital part of the body. (Hart.) + + 11. A disagreeable fellow to have on one's foot. (Bunyan.) + + 12. Meat, what are you doing in the oven? (Browning.) + + + + +AUTHORS' GUESSING GAME + + + 1. When we leave here we go to seek our what? (Author of + "Elsie Venner.") + + 2. What dies only with life? (Author of "Phroso.") + + 3. What does a maid's heart crave? (Author of "Handy Andy.") + + 4. What does an angry person often raise? (Author of "The + Christian.") + + 5. What should all literary people do? (Author of "Put + Yourself in His Place.") + + 6. If a young man would win, what must he do? (Author of + "Wandering Jew.") + + 7. How do we dislike to grow? (Authors of "Silence of Dean + Maitland" and "Dawn.") + + 8. What would we prefer to be? (Authors of "Book of Golden + Deeds," "Man Without a Country," and "Under the Greenwood + Tree.") + + 9. What is a suitable adjective for the national library + building? (Author of "The Heavenly Twins.") + + 10. What would we consider the person who answers correctly + all these questions? (Author of "From Post to Finish.") + +The answers to the above questions are: + + 1. Oliver Wendell Holmes. (Homes.) + + 2. Anthony Hope. (Hope.) + + 3. Samuel Lover. (Lover.) + + 4. Hall Caine. (Cain.) + + 5. Charles Reade. (Read.) + + 6. Eugene Sue. (Sue.) + + 7. Maxwell Grey and Rider Haggard. (Gray and haggard.) + + 8. Charlotte Yonge, E. E. Hale, Thomas Hardy. (Young, hale + and hardy.) + + 9. Sarah Grande. (Grand.) + + 10. Hawley Smart. (Smart.) + +Give the most successful contestant a nicely bound copy of the latest +popular book, and the least successful one a gaily colored copy of a +child's primer, or a gaudy poster picture. + + + + +AUTHORS' VERBAL GAME + + +This is an interesting and instructive game. The players seat themselves +so as to form a ring. An umpire and a score-keeper are appointed, and +each player in turn rises and announces the name of a well-known book. +The one who first calls out the name of the author of the book scores a +point; the one who has the largest score when the game ceases is the +victor, and may be given a prize. This game may be varied by the naming +of well-known authors, leaving the titles of books, by these authors, to +be supplied. And it may be played in yet another way. Give each player +a pencil and paper, and instead of calling aloud the title of a book, as +each author is announced, ask the players to write on a slip of paper +the name of the author, the title of a book by that author, and the name +of a character in the book. Thus: + + 1. Oliver Goldsmith--"She Stoops to Conquer," Miss + Hardcastle. + + 2. Harriet Beecher Stowe--"Uncle Tom's Cabin," Miss Ophelia. + + 3. William Shakespeare--"Romeo and Juliet," Tybalt. + +If the game be played in this way the scores will probably be close. + + + + +"B" SOCIABLE + + + Be sure to come to the home of + Brother Linscott next Monday eve, + Because we will insure you a good time + By the enjoyment of our "B" social. + BUSY BEES. + +Busy Bees' bill o' fare: + + Bread. + + Baked beans. + + Beef. + + Baked potatoes. + + Boiled pudding. + + Boston's overthrow. + + Butter. + + Beets. + + Batter cake. + + Bologna. + + Bananas. + + Brown bread. + +This can be changed to suit any other letter and the invitations may be +worded as desired. Have tiny boxes, barrels, bags, and baskets filled +with candy, fruit, or nuts, for souvenirs. + +If it is desired to make money, a price may be placed upon each article +of food, and the souvenirs may be offered for sale. + + + + +BARN PARTY + + + _Miss Gertrude S. Derr + requests the pleasure of your company + at a Barn Party, + Monday evening, August 12, 1905, + on Water Road, + Shortsville, New York_ + + +ARRANGING FOR THE PARTY + +To insure the success of such a party, a moonlight night should be +selected. The barn chosen should be large, the floor space ample, and +the decorations lavish. They may consist of green boughs, vines and +goldenrod, and a number of American flags. + +The two large opposite doors should be thrown wide open for free +circulation of air. The floor should then be cleared, swept and washed. +High up over one door a large flag may be draped, and wires stretched +across from beam to beam, away from direct draughts, upon which Japanese +lanterns may be hung, care being taken that none are allowed to come +into contact with the bunting in case of one's taking fire. Chairs +should also be provided, and a rope stretched across one side of the +open space, on the farther side of which place a table. On this table +place a large bowl of soapsuds, into which a spoonful of glycerine has +been put, and by its side place half as many pipes as there are to be +guests. Prepare half as many cards also as there are to be guests, and +write across the full length of each card the name of an agricultural +implement, as hay-rake, hay-cutter, pitchfork, hoe, spade, scythe, +sickle, mower, plow, reaper, binder, seeder. On the reverse side each +card should be numbered at the top, and a question written concerning +the implement named on it; besides this the number and another query +should be written upon the lower half. Questions like the following will +answer: + + No. 1. What is the true mission of a harrow? + + No. 1. Can you tell a harrowing tale? + + No. 2. What is a hoe used for? + + No. 2. What is a good receipt for hoe cake? + +The cards should then be cut in halves, and the matching of them will +determine partners for the bubble blowing contest. The answering of the +questions will also afford much amusement throughout the evening. + + + + +BASEBALL PARTY + + +A novel party was recently given by a mother to celebrate the sixteenth +birthday of her only son. She had been rather envious of her friends in +their happiness of planning many luncheons and other pretty affairs for +their girls, consequently she entered heart and soul into this party for +her boy, sparing neither expense nor trouble to make it a success. It +was announced as "A Baseball Party," and by enlisting the services of a +niece, who was very enthusiastic over the national game, she was able to +carry out the idea. + +Eight of her son's friends were invited, who, with the boy himself, made +the required "nine." Luncheon was first served. Before going into the +dining-room each boy was assigned a place on the "team," and found his +place at the table accordingly. In place of name-cards were tiny "fans" +bearing the words "catcher," "pitcher," etc., and, of course, each guest +knew just where to sit. + +The menu-cards were booklets with the words "Official Score" written on +the covers. The menu consisted of nine courses, or "innings," as they +were more appropriately termed. It was written in language +unintelligible to the average feminine mind, but the boys guessed what +many of the viands were amid much merriment. The reading of the menu, +and the conjectures as to what the courses would be, broke up any +stiffness that might have resulted from nine boys lunching together. It +read as follows--only in the original the interpretations were, of +course, left out: + + FIRST INNING + + First strike (Oyster cocktail) + + SECOND INNING + + Where the losing team lands (Soup) + + THIRD INNING + + Caught on the fly (Small trout with diamonds of crisp toast) + + FOURTH INNING + + A sacrifice (Lamb chops with potato balls) + + FIFTH INNING + + A "fowl ball" (Chicken croquettes with French peas) + + SIXTH INNING + + The umpire when we lose (Lobster salad with cheese straws) + + SEVENTH INNING + + A fine diamond (Ice cream in diamond-shaped slices. Cakes) + + EIGHTH INNING + + Necessary for good (Preserved ginger with wafers and coffee) + playing + + NINTH INNING + + Everybody scores (The passing of favors) + +The favors consisted of a ticket for a ball game to be played on the +local grounds that afternoon for each boy, and a tin horn with which to +"root," as the boys expressed it. + +As soon as the luncheon was finished the nine boys departed in great +glee for the ball grounds, relieving the hostess of the responsibility +of further entertaining them. + + + + +BEAN BAGS + + +Make twelve or fifteen bags, six inches square, of bed-ticking, and +loosely fill them with beans which have been washed and dried to remove +all dust. + +Appoint two leaders, who choose sides, arranging the sides in lines +facing each other, with a small table at each end of each line. + +The bean bags being equally divided, each leader deposits his share upon +the table nearest him. Then, at a given signal, seizing one bag at a +time with one hand, with the other he starts it down the line, each +player passing it to the next until all the bags reach the last, who +drops them upon the table at his end of the line. When all the bags have +reached this table, the last player, seizing each in turn, sends them +back up the line to the leader, who drops them upon his table. Whichever +side first succeeds in passing all the bags down the line and back, wins +the round. It takes five rounds to make a game, so that three out of +five must be successful for the winning side. + + + + +BEAN SOCIABLE + + +_Have you ever "bean" to a "bean" sociable? If not come to the one the +Connett Y. W. C. T. U. are having Monday evening, September 1st. If you +have never "bean" to one you will enjoy the_ + + _"Bean porridge hot, + Bean porridge cold, + Bean porridge in the pot, + Nine days old."_ + +Supper should consist of baked beans, cold and hot, bean porridge or +soup, brown bread and butter, and pickles, tea and gingerbread. + +Bean bags to go with this sociable. + + + + +BERRY GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. What berry is red when it's green? Blackberry. + + 2. " " " used for making ladies' dresses? Mulberry. + + 3. " " " found on the grass? Dewberry. + + 4. " " " a dunce? Gooseberry. + + 5. " " " irritating? Raspberry. + + 6. " " " used for bedding cattle? Strawberry. + + 7. " " " " " celebrating a great festival? Holly berry. + + 8. " " should be respected for its age? Elderberry. + + 9. " " is melancholy? Blueberry. + + 10. " " " named for a month? Juneberry. + + 11. " " " used in sewing? Thimbleberry. + + 12. " " " named for a bird? Pigeonberry. + + + + +BIBLE CONTEST + + +The game of Bible Contest cards can be played very profitably and is +very instructive. It can be found in any book store in large cities or +can be had of the United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, Mass. +The cost is very little. Or the cards may be written out as follows: + + 1. Give the first and last words of the Bible. + + 2. Whose three daughters were the fairest in all the land? + + 3. How old was Methuselah when he died? + + 4. Who was called "a ready scribe in the law of Moses"? + + 5. Give the names of the three persons who were put in the + fiery furnace. + + 6. Who was the author of the expression, "What hath God + wrought?" + + 7. With how many men did Gideon conquer the Midianites? + + 8. Who was Moses' brother? + + 9. Who went down into a pit on a snowy day and slew a lion? + + 10. Who said "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and + we are not saved"? + + 11. Who was the mother of Samuel? + + 12. Who commanded the gates of Jerusalem to be closed on the + Sabbath? + + 13. Whose flock was Moses tending when he saw the burning + bush? + + 14. What city was saved from famine by lepers? + + 15. Who waxed fat and kicked? + + Name. No. No. + +Have the cards distributed; then on a given signal have the answers +written out; as fast as finished have them handed in to be examined by +the committee who afterward returns them. The first blank for number is +for the order in which the cards are handed in, and the second for the +order of correctness of the answers. + + + + +BIBLE EVENING + + +Here is a well-known alphabet of Scripture proper names, which may be +utilized at a social by ranking the members on two sides, and reading +these lines one at a time, in the same way that a spelling-bee is +carried on: + + A was a monarch who reigned in the East (Esth. 1: 1). + + B was a Chaldee who made a great feast (Dan. 5: 1-4). + + C was veracious, when others told lies (Num. 13: 30-33). + + D was a woman, heroic and wise (Judg. 4: 4-14). + + E was a refuge, where David spared Saul (1 Sam. 24: 1-7). + + F was a Roman, accuser of Paul (Acts 26: 24). + + G was a garden, a favorite resort (John 18: 1, 2; Matt. 26: + 36). + + H was a city where David held court (2 Sam. 2: 11). + + I was a mocker, a very bad boy (Gen. 16: 16). + + J was a city, preferred as a joy (Ps. 137: 6). + + K was a father, whose son was quite tall (1 Sam. 9: 1, 2). + + L was a proud one, who had a great fall (Isa. 14: 12). + + M was a nephew, whose uncle was good (Col. 4: 10; Acts 11: + 24). + + N was a city, long hid where it stood (Zeph. 2: 13). + + O was a servant, acknowledged a brother (Philem. 16). + + P was a Christian greeting another (2 Tim. 1: 1, 2). + + R was a damsel who knew a man's voice (Acts 12: 13, 14). + + S was a sovereign who made a bad choice (1 Kings 11: 4-11). + + T was a seaport, where preaching was long (Acts 20: 6, 7). + + U was a teamster, struck dead for his wrong (2 Sam. 6: 7). + + V was a cast-off, and never restored (Esth. 1: 19). + + Z was a ruin with sorrow deplored (Ps. 137: 1). + + + + +BIBLE NAMES + + +Choose sides as in a spelling match, and let the leader of the first +side give the first syllable of the name of some Bible character. The +leader of the opposite side will then complete the name, if he can. +Failing this, his side loses a member, selected by the leader of the +opposite side. And so the contest goes on down the line, first one side +and then the other proposing the first syllable of some name. + + + + +BIBLE READINGS + + +A good way to promote study of the Bible is a "Bible oratorical +contest," in which four or five contestants recite, or give as readings, +selections from the Bible. If well done, it will prove most +entertaining, and many people will go home surprised that the Bible is +such an interesting book. + + + + +BIRD CARNIVAL + + +The invitations to the carnival had various kinds of birds painted upon +them, and each guest was requested to come representing the kind of bird +designated on his or her invitation. There were two invitations of each +kind, one sent to a lady and one to a gentleman, that there might be a +"pair" of each variety of bird. As the guests arrived, each was labeled +with the name of the bird he or she represented, and in this way it was +easy for them to find their "mates" for refreshments. The house was +profusely trimmed with flowers, vines, and leaves (many of them +artificial, borrowed from a near-by store); every available space was +covered, the banisters, the mantel posts, the door- and window-frames, +the archways, etc., and even the walls of the dining-room were hung with +the trailing vines, so that the place looked like a veritable woodland +dell. All the stuffed birds that could be secured were perched here and +there among the vines and branches, some on nests with their mates +beside them; a large owl was placed high in one corner, and in a cozy +nook in another corner was the nest of a meadow lark, with father and +mother birds teaching their young ones to fly. Besides this canaries in +cages were distributed throughout the house, lending their music to the +general effect. Bird eggs of every description were also used to help +decorate. In the centre of the dining table a nest was arranged, +containing a mother bird and her little ones, while suspended from the +gas jet by gayly colored ribbons and reaching almost to the nest, were +many prettily decorated egg shells, the contents having been "blown" +from them by means of small holes made in each end. Twenty-five rhymes +about birds were pinned about the rooms, the guests being required to +answer them. Following are given the rhymes and their answers. The +hostess kept the "key" and read the correct list at the close of the +contest, when a canary bird in a cage was given as first prize and a +stuffed bird as second to the most successful contestants. At the close +of the contest, the roll was called and each "bird" present responded +by an appropriate quotation, these having been previously distributed by +the hostess. + + +BIRD PIE + +After refreshments were served, an enormous "bird pie" was placed upon +the table and each guest was given a slice. This pie was made of pie +crust, and was filled with tiny trifles wrapped in tissue paper, most of +them representing birds, eggs, nests, etc. On the top of the pie +twenty-four little birds cut out of black paper were perched by means of +pins stuck through their feet. Also pinned to the pie was this verse: + + When this pie is opened + The birds begin to sing? + That is where you all are fooled; + We won't do such a thing! + + + + +BIRD GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. A flash of sky on wing.--(_Bluebird._) + + 2. Oh, shall I call thee bird, + Or but a wandering voice? + Thy note from household clocks is heard, + And children's ears rejoice.--(_Cuckoo._) + + 3. King of the water, as the air, + He dives and finds his prey.--(_Kingfisher._) + + 4. Thy plaintive cry announces punishment, + And warns the luckless boy for whom 'tis sent. + --(_Whippoorwill._) + + 5. You introduce yourself throughout your song, + And tell the world your brief, old-fashioned name.--(_Phoebe._) + + 6. "Bob White!" you call + Along the marshy coast. + Speak not so loud + Or you will be on toast.--(_Quail._) + + 7. Cooing 'neath barn rafters, + Pouting, sometimes, too, + Rippling like child laughter + All the winter through.--(_Pigeon._) + + 8. An English emigrant, bird of the street, + So common that some like thee not at all. + Yet in the Holy Bible we are told + The Father careth if but one should fall.--(_Sparrow._) + + 9. Red-breasted harbinger of spring + We wait in hope to hear thee sing.--(_Robin._) + + 10. Yellow captive of the cage, + Silver notes thou giv'st as wage.--(_Canary._) + + 11. A flash of white upon the sea, + And yet 'tis not a sail. + A "little brother of the air" + Hath dared to ride the gale.--(_Sea-gull._) + + 12. "Jenny" named in children's books, + Bright in spirit, dull in looks; + With Cock Robin as thy mate, + Nothing else I'll have to state.--(_Wren._) + + 13. In Blue Grass regions is thy splendor seen, + Thou flash of flame. + August thy name, + Red-coated pontiff of the green.--(_Kentucky Cardinal._) + + 14. Black robber of the corn-fields, oh, beware! + The farmer can do other things than scare.--(_Crow._) + + 15. We know how long ago + You frightened Mr. Poe-- + Black-coated prophet of adversity.--(_Raven._) + + 16. Named for the animal the dairies need, + Yet, in thy nature, quite a different breed.--(_Cowbird._) + + 17. Black-winged in crimson roses thou art dressed, + Fine feathers make fine birds, it is confessed; + And none more fine than thou, + Oh, brilliant beauty of the bough!--(_Scarlet Tanager._) + + 18. The melody is trickling from thy beak, + And silver whistlings help thy voice to speak. + Oh, singer, famed by thousands, clear the strain + Which ripples from thy pulsing throat like rain.--(_Nightingale._) + + 19. Bird of the night, + Thy round eyes are aglow + With all the learning + Which the sages know.--(_Owl._) + + 20. The mother hen must watch her little brood + Lest thou come down and bear them off for food, + And use them for a dinner, + Oh, prowling sinner.--(_Hawk._) + + 21. You imitate the foe which does you wrong, + And call "Meouw," instead of chanting song.--(_Catbird._) + + 22. Your coat is like the leaden sky + Which drops the feathery snow, + And when that leaves us, by and by, + Still further north you go.--(_Snowbird._) + + 23. A symbol of the perfect Love + Shed from above.--(_Dove._) + + 24. I supplicate + At Heaven's gate + And rest on wing + Where angels sing.--(_Lark._) + + 25. I'm always offered cracker, + And though I like it well + I think some other viands + Would answer just as well.--(_Parrot._) + + + + +BIRTHDAY PARTY + + + _We herewith extend a most kind invitation + To you and your friends or any relation + To come to a party. This little silk sack + Is intended to furnish a good place to pack + As many pennies as you are years old. + We promise the secret shall never be told. + If Methuselah's age would be the right sum + Of the years to which you already have come, + If objections to exposing your age should arise, + One hundred would be a splendid disguise. + A musical program of very rare merit + Will be given to those who will just come and hear it. + We'll give you good cheer for the weak inner man + And a gallery of pictures unique to well scan; + We'll meet young and old with greetings most hearty + As you come, one and all, to your own Birthday Party._ + +These invitations can be given and sent out beforehand, each accompanied +by a tiny silk bag to hold the money. Prepare a nice musical treat and +something good to eat. Have each member of the society giving the +entertainment bring a picture of himself when a baby or small child, and +have a picture gallery. Do not forget to be very social and make every +one feel that he is welcome, not only for the money he brings, but for +himself also. + + + + +BISHOP'S RIDDLE + + +A most eccentric yet interesting man was Bishop Brooks of Brookville; +although not a large or strong man, wherever he went, night or day, he +was always either accompanied by or carrying: + +Two playful animals--calves. + +A number of small animals of a less tame breed--hares (hairs). + +A member of the deer family--hart (heart). + +A number of whips without handles--lashes (eyelashes). + +Some weapons of warfare--arms. + +The steps of a hotel--inn steps (insteps). + +The House of Representatives when a vote is taken--ayes and noes (eyes +and nose). + +Some Spanish grandees to wait upon him--ten dons (tendons). + +Two places of worship--temples. + +Two scholars--pupils. + +What Napoleon wished to leave his son--crown. + +Two coverings of kettles--lids (eyelids). + +Two musical instruments--drums. + +Two established measures--feet and hands. + +Two coverings for the head--caps (kneecaps). + +Several articles that a carpenter cannot do without--nails. + +A couple of fish--soles. + +A number of shell-fish--mussels (muscles). + +Two lofty trees--palms. + +Two kinds of flowers--tulips and iris. + + + + +BOX PARTY + + +A box party can be made very enjoyable if every one enters into the +contest. + +Each lady should pack a box with lunch for two and at the party the +boxes can be auctioneered off to the highest bidder. + +Or, if there is any objection to that, the ladies' names can be placed +on slips of paper and the papers put into a hat and passed to the +gentlemen; the slip each draws contains the name of the one with whom he +is to eat refreshments. + +If this party is to make money for some society the wisest way will be +to sell the boxes. + +The same plan may also be followed for a Sunday-school or other picnic. + + + + +CAKE SALE + + +Probably the description of a cake sale that was held for the benefit of +a library fund may not come amiss to show just how attractive and +successful such an affair can be made. The principal feature of this +sale was the cake contest--a game, with cake prizes. This game was +devised to take the place of raffling, which was voted out of date. It +was played by groups of ten, who on paying a fee were given printed +lists of questions to be answered. Each list had to be signed with the +player's name and put in the "post-office" by a certain time in the +evening, and later the names of the prize-winners in each group were +announced. To promote sociability and fun, a lady's and a gentleman's +first prize, and a lady's and a gentleman's booby were given in each +group. The prizes were cakes, iced and fancifully decorated with colored +candies, and each cake was put on a wooden plate, covered with a frill +of crepe paper. The boobies were ginger and sugar horsecakes. Below is +the list of questions and answers used in the contest, which may be +lengthened or shortened at will: + +Which cake did the society woman buy? Reception. The schoolgirl? +Composition. The grocer? Sugar. The artist? Exhibition. The farmer? +Harvest. The mean man? Sponge. The tramp? Loaf. The minister? Scripture. +The milliner? Feather. The maiden aunt? Tea. The dairyman? Cream. The +champion? Cup. The pretty girls? Ribbon. The jockey? Horse. The +shoemaker? The last. The sculptor? Marble. The small boys? Snowballs. +The gossip? Spice. The Bryan man? Silver. The young man for his +sweetheart? Angel. The fond mamma for her daughter? Wedding. The +candidate for office? Election. The politician? Plum. + +Then there were cakes for sale, whole or cut. Small tables were placed +at one end of the hall; and here cake was served with tea, coffee or +chocolate. The cake booths were attractively decorated with crepe paper +and flags. Posters announced the specialties and prices at each. +Watermelon cakes were the novelty at one booth; apple lemon cakes at +another; a plentiful supply of cookies, dominoes, horsecakes, +gingerbread dolls, and little patty pan cakes, containing a prize to +attract the patronage of the children, at another. Little china dolls, +marbles, china dogs, cats, vases, etc., were put in the dough when the +little pans were filled. These china toys were not injured by the baking +and delighted the children beyond measure. + + * * * * * + +At a cake sale recently held for the benefit of a church, a novel +feature was introduced in the sale of "Scripture cake." + +The cakes were baked in several different sizes, and sold for from +twenty-five cents to one dollar. With each cake sold was given a copy of +the recipe by which it was made, which was as follows: + +SCRIPTURE CAKE + + 1 cup of butter Judges 5:25 + 3½ cups flour I Kings 4:22 + 3 cups sugar Jeremiah 6:20 + 2 cups raisins I Samuel 30:12 + 2 cups figs I Samuel 30:12 + 1 cup water Genesis 24:17 + 1 cup almonds Genesis 43:11 + 6 eggs Isaiah 10:14 + 1 tablespoonful honey Exodus 16:21 + A pinch of salt Leviticus 16:13 + Spices to taste I Kings 10:10 + 2 tablespoonfuls baking-powder I Cor. 5:6 + +Follow Solomon's advice for making good boys, and you will have a good +cake. Proverbs 23:14. + + + + +CAKE WALK (Novel kind) + + +I hope this will not shock any of my readers, and I don't think it will +after it is read. It can be held in a church or Sunday school room +without any qualms of conscience on any one's part. Have each one come +to represent a cake. For instance, sponge cake can be represented by +having sponges all over the body; batter cake, by young man wearing +baseball suit of clothes and carrying bat; cup cake, by wearing cups +around the neck and waist; fruit cake, by carrying baskets of different +kinds of small fruits; angel cake, by wearing pictures of angels on the +dress and hair; one, two, three, four cake, by wearing the figures 1, 2, +3, 4 pinned on dress or coat; cooky, by wearing chef's cap and apron and +a large letter E making that person cook-e; plain cake, by dressing very +plainly; orange cake, by carrying orange in each hand; nut cake, by +carrying nuts. Any other cake can be represented by carrying out the +same idea. All should keep moving around so that the people can see what +each one represents. A prize of a cake can be given to the one guessing +the greatest number of cakes correctly. Refreshments should consist of +every variety of cake served with cocoa or coffee. + + + + +CALICO CARNIVAL + + +The society who gave it had the oddly written announcement given below +published in the local papers a week in advance. They also used it as a +handbill: + + CALICO CARNIVAL + + "Consider yourself cordially invited to be present at the + correctly constructed and considerately combined calico + carnival to be held at ---- Hall, Friday night, February --, + 1905, admission fifteen cents. + + "Conspicuous courses served in confused compactness: One + conglomerated compound circle; one cup communicative cordial + (containing no chickory), or one cup of Chinese cheer, or + one cup of choice churned cream; one cider cured cucumber; + and one cup of cold comfort. + + "Rules and regulations: All ladies to wear calico gowns, + also requested to bring half a pound of carefully cut carpet + rags each. All gentlemen to wear calico ties and requested + to bring thimbles. + + "Fines will be imposed for the following: Any lady who fails + to wear a calico gown, ten cents; any lady who fails to + bring half a pound of carefully cut carpet rags, ten cents; + any gentleman who fails to wear a calico tie, twenty-five + cents; any gentleman who fails to bring a thimble, five + cents. + + "P. S.--There will be for sale, cheap, cunning calico + conveniences that will be a constant comfort. + + "N. B.--Any person who sits in a corner and refuses to + converse will be fined five cents. + + "The sale of calico conveniences will begin at ----." + +Of course, everybody came. The fines and admissions alone would have +paid the ladies for the trouble of getting up the carnival. + +The "conspicuous courses" consisted of cake; coffee, tea, or buttermilk; +pickles; and ice water. + +Among the "calico conveniences" which sold readily were the following +articles: Dusting caps, button bags and bags of every description, chair +cushions, aprons with bibs and aprons without, and, in fact, everything +that could possibly be manufactured from calico. + +The carpet rags were given to the gentlemen to sew. An inexpensive prize +was given to the one who first finished his task. + + + + +CAN FACTORY + + +The words to be guessed all begin with CAN--the definitions of the whole +words being here given. Booklets with tiny pencils attached, and +containing the verses, may be distributed among the guests and, after +the contest is decided, returned as souvenirs of the occasion. + + 1. Though this can _is_ a can, you all will agree, + The can is termed thus because it holds tea. + + 2. This long, narrow can holds so precious a stock, + That oft you will find it has more than one lock. + + 3. The most wick-éd can, tho' safe from police, + Should you search for its heart you will find it in grease. + + 4. This can is a can that delights you and me, + It always is "open" and likewise is "free." + + 5. Where breezes blow and surges roll, + With swelling form and manner proud, + This can in triumph rides the waves, + The sailor's living and his shroud. + + 6. Here's a can, which, bear in mind, + Lives on others of its kind. + + 7. They say empty cans will produce the most noise, + But, if properly filled, this will startle the boys. + + 8. Most cans are hardly fit to eat, + Yet you'll like this kind, nice and sweet. + + 9. The waltz or the glee or the bold martial strain, + Each one, as his favorite, endorses; + But for those who prefer oratorio style, + This can sweetest music discourses. + + 10. Now who would elect in a can to reside, + Yet this as a shelter is known far and wide. + + 11. A can of most sagacious mind, + 'Tis "frugal, prudent, shrewd," you'll find. + + 12. That a horse should use cans seems indeed strange to say, + Yet if pressed to have one he'd not utter a nay. + + 13. To put cans in poems no one is inclined, + Yet cans of this sort in some poems you'll find. + + 14. In tubs and in bowls men have ventured from land, + And in cans of this kind, so I understand. + + 15. Now, here is a can that is yellow and round, + 'Twould seem little prized, for it grows on the ground. + +KEY + + 1. Canister. + + 2. Canal. + + 3. Candle. + + 4. Candid. + + 5. Canvas. + + 6. Cannibal. + + 7. Cannon. + + 8. Candy. + + 9. Cantata. + + 10. Canopy. + + 11. Canny. + + 12. Canter. + + 13. Canto. + + 14. Canoe. + + 15. Cantaloup. + + + + +CAT GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. I wonder what Tabby the ---- to now? (Catsup) + + 2. We will buy some ---- for puss. (Catnip) + + 3. We all should learn our ----. (Catechism) + + 4. Both are in the same ----. (Category) + + 5. See the ---- grazing on the hillside. (Cattle) + + 6. The artist's name is not in the ----. (Catalogue) + + 7. It is very distressing to have the ----. (Catarrh) + + 8. Be sure to visit the ---- in Rome. (Catacombs) + + 9. See the ---- crawling on the ground. (Caterpillar) + + 10. What does the ---- to? (Catamount) + + + + +CHESTNUT SOCIABLE + + +First procure a good quantity of chestnuts. Plain and roasted chestnuts +may be sold at one table. They should be measured into pint and +half-pint paper bags, ready for customers. + +A second table will be needed for bonbons. An excellent taffy is made by +stirring chopped chestnuts into plain molasses candy when ready to take +from the fire. Caramels are improved by adding chopped chestnuts. +Chopped chestnuts and figs added to crisp sugar candy make a good +sweet-meat. Shelled chestnuts are glazed by dipping in hot sugar candy. +A variety of candies can be made from this receipt: One pound of +confectioners' sugar, well beaten white of one egg, one tablespoonful of +cold water, one teaspoonful of vanilla. Mix well together and mould on a +board. Mix it with chopped chestnuts and cut into cubes. Small balls of +the cream can be rolled between the hands, and a whole chestnut +(shelled) pressed on one side. The cream can be colored with fruit +coloring and different shapes can be made from this. Shelled chestnuts +dipped in melted sweet chocolate are delicious. + +Old "chestnuts" are prepared by putting old jokes in chestnut shells and +glueing them together. These will cause much fun and merriment for the +young. Have a large bowl of water with three chestnuts in it and let +each guest be given two toothpicks to try to get the chestnuts out of +the water with the toothpicks, without getting the fingers wet. + + +PROGRAM FOR CHESTNUT SOCIABLE + +Have some one recite "Curfew Shall Not Ring To-night" and "Over the +Hills to the Poor House." Let some one sing "The Old Oaken Bucket" and +"Annie Laurie." Have some one read "The Sword of Bunker Hill" and +"Bingen on the Rhine." Any variety of entertainment can be gotten up +with a little forethought. + + + + +CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY FLOWERS + + +Each month has a flower or plant appropriated to it, and to each a +meaning is attached. The list is as follows: + + January--Snowdrop. + + February--Primrose. + + March--Violet. + + April--Daisy. + + May--Hawthorn. + + June--Wild rose. + + July--Lily. + + August--Poppy. + + September--Morning-glory. + + October--Hop. + + November--Chrysanthemum. + + December--Holly. + +The snowdrop means consolation; the primrose, the freshness of early +youth; the violet, modesty; the daisy, innocence; the hawthorn, hope; +the wild rose, simplicity; the lily, purity; the poppy, the consolation +of sleep; the morning-glory, contentment; hops, joy; the chrysanthemum, +cheerfulness; the holly, foresight and protection. + +The morning-glory is such a perishable flower that it is almost useless +for the purpose of decoration, consequently it will be wise to +substitute goldenrod, symbolizing stateliness, in its stead. + + + + +CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAY PARTIES + + +A birthday is an important event in a child's life, and should not pass +unnoticed. + +A small party for little children is usually more enjoyable and more +easily managed than a large one. With many mothers it is the custom to +invite as many little guests as correspond to the number of years of the +child whose birthday is celebrated. + +Make the table look as attractive as possible with flowers. A pretty +arrangement for a fifth birthday is to have a round table, with vines, +or a rope of wild flowers or leaves, arranged over it to represent a +five-pointed star. The sandwiches, confectionery, etc., may be placed +within the star, the birthday cake in the centre, and the five guests +seated between the points of decoration. + +For a sixth birthday, a pretty arrangement would be a six-pointed star, +the points to be made with the long fronds of the sword fern. So many +people have pots of these ferns growing in their houses, and the foliage +is so abundant, that some of the older fronds of the plant may well be +spared. The money myrtle is also effective for this decoration, and, in +summer, the little partridge vine with its red berries, to be found in +every woods, makes very pretty trimming. The cake should be in the +centre, and the other viands placed within the star, the children's +plates between the points. Either a round or square table may be used as +preferred. + +For an eighth birthday, a square table may be used with walls of Troy +decoration arranged for two children at a side. If the birthday comes in +December, a rope of evergreen is appropriate and very effective for this +decoration, with branches of holly or other red berries at the corners, +the "goodies" to be placed in the centre. + +For a tenth birthday, quite a long table is needed, and a pretty +arrangement of vines in scallops, with a small bunch of flowers at each +point may be carried out, the viands being placed in the centre, and a +child's plate in each one of the scallops. + +In all these arrangements due prominence must be given to the birthday +cake, the principal feature of the feast. It is placed usually in the +centre, is round, decorated with frosting, and as many tiny candles as +the child is years old. These are placed in toy candlesticks, made so +that they can easily be thrust into the frosting, and the candles are +lighted just before the children go to the table. The candlesticks may +be purchased at a toy store. It is an excellent idea to place some +little souvenir in the cake for each child, tiny china dogs, cats and +goats being desirable for this purpose. + +A candy house will also make a novel and attractive centrepiece for a +children's party table. Build a log house of red and white sticks of +candy, and form the roof of cocoanut strips. For a rail fence use sticks +of chocolate candy or straws and make the grass of spun candy. + + + + +CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY + + +There in the library stood the most perfect snow-man. He wore a fur cap +and long white whiskers, and on the floor behind him lay his pack, which +had just slipped off his back. He held a doll on one arm, and over the +other was hung a line of tiny sleigh-bells. This snow Santa Claus was +made of cotton batting, but he looked exactly like the snow-man in the +yard, and the children greeted him with cries of delight. Two sticks, +wrapped in many thicknesses of cotton to form the legs, had been nailed +to a block of wood to make a foundation for this snow-man; the other +parts of the body were made like snowballs and sewed in their proper +places. + +Each child was allowed to throw a soft rubber ball twice in attempting +to hit the string of bells which Santa held. Those who were successful +were told to take some article out of the pack as a reward. Fancy +cornucopias and small boxes filled with nuts and candy were found by the +lucky contestants. + +The children were then asked to guess the number of berries on a large +piece of mistletoe which hung from one of the chandeliers. The one +guessing nearest the correct number received a stick-pin bearing a tiny +enameled spray of mistletoe. + +Then came old-fashioned romping games, after which a Christmas carol was +sung and the children marched in to supper. A star-shaped table had been +arranged for the occasion. In its centre was a small but handsomely +decorated tree. The refreshments consisted of turkey sandwiches, cocoa, +lemon jelly with whipped cream, sponge cake, bonbons and nuts. The +sponge cake was baked in small star-shaped pans, and ornamented with +red and white icing. + +In the parlor an immense snowball was hung from the chandelier. This had +been made by fastening four barrel-hoops together so as to form a round +frame, over which was sewed white cambric. Then the ball was covered +with batting and sprinkled with diamond dust. A slit was made in one +side, and each child put in his hand and drew out some article wrapped +in tissue paper. These proved to be dolls, balls, and toys of all sorts. +Some drew out tiny boxes inside of which were slips of paper with +directions like these: "Look under the divan and you will find a +steam-engine," "Look beside the radiator and you will find a doll's +kitchen," etc. + +In the dressing-room they were softly pelted with a mysterious shower of +snowballs, which they endeavored to catch. The balls were packages of +marshmallows wound loosely with white crepe paper. + + + + +CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS TABLEAUX + + +Build a cave-shaped box on a raised platform, drape inside and out with +white muslin, fasten evergreen boughs about the entrance and at the +back, draping all of these with loose tufts of cotton like new-fallen +snow, and sprinkling them with mica. Sprays of red berries can be +introduced with splendid effect. White covered steps must lead up to the +cave, about the mouth of which may be spread white fur rugs. Let the +candles be fastened plentifully around the cave, but have the rest of +the room very dimly lighted. In the cave arrange the gifts, wrapped and +properly marked, being careful to have one for each person present. +Dress a pretty, golden-haired little girl as a fairy, with wings and +spangles to enter the cave and bring out the gifts, and a couple of +little boys as imps or brownies to deliver them. Low music should be +played in some concealed corner, with now and again a song or chorus by +a band of children dressed as fairies. The presentation of the tableaux +may either precede or follow the distribution of the gifts. + +BOY BLUE.--A little boy in a blue suit stands on a pile of hay, side to +the audience, with a tin trumpet to his lips. Piano music, "Little Boy +Blue." If the song is sung softly, it is an addition. + +BO PEEP.--A little girl in a white gown, with a shepherd's crook, in +pursuit of a woolly lamb on rollers, being drawn across the stage by an +invisible string. She stands as if she were running, with one foot out +behind her, while the lamb disappears and some one reads the rhyme: + + "Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep + And can't tell where to find them; + Let them alone and they'll come home + And bring their tails behind them." + +MISS MUFFET.--A little girl sits on Boy Blue's pile of hay, eating +something from a saucer. A small boy steals up behind her, with an +artificial spider on a string attached to a pole, which he slowly lowers +into her plate. Appropriate music is played, and Miss Muffet screams as +the curtain is drawn. + +CINDERELLA.--A little girl, with torn calico dress and unkempt hair, +stands at the right of the stage, her hands clasped and uplifted, +smiling in wonder. Before her stands a very small boy in a smart +military suit, with a white cotton wig on his head, indicating the coach +in which she is to go to the ball. The coach may be a pumpkin hollowed +into the proper shape, and drawn by a small dog harnessed to it with +ribbons, or a go-cart, or baby carriage, drawn by a larger dog. Some one +behind the scenes plays a waltz very softly. Plenty of red fire. + +LITTLE JACK HORNER.--For this a boy with a mischievous face should be +chosen. He sits on the floor in the centre of the stage, with a huge pan +covered with white paper between his feet. Some one behind the scenes +reads the nursery rhyme: + + Little Jack Horner + Sat in a corner, + Eating a Christmas pie; + He put in his thumb + And pulled out a plum, + And said: "What a great boy am I!" + +Little Jack Horner, of course, suits the action to the words, pulling a +prune, date or raisin out of a hole in the paper pasted over the pan. He +puts it in his mouth as the curtain is drawn. + +FOLLOWING THE FLAG.--In one corner of the stage a tent is erected--a +white sheet over a centre pole. All the small boys who have military +suits, drums, trumpets and muskets, stand about, and one in the very +front holds the flag. In front of the tent, on a pile of hay, lies +another small boy, in a military suit, with his eyes closed, and behind +him stands a little girl in a big white apron, with the symbol of the +red cross on her left arm. Music behind the scenes is either "Tenting on +the Old Camp Ground," or "The Star Spangled Banner," and all the rest of +the red fire is ignited. When it dies down, the curtain is drawn, the +lights are turned up, and the pianist plays "Home, Sweet Home." + + + + +CHILDREN'S EASTER PARTY + + +The little guests when they arrive will be made happy by giving them +small baskets to hunt for the eggs which the mother has a few days +before blown and colored and hidden all over the house. + +In a room where there is a hardwood floor have little yellow chicks +arranged as tenpins at one end and give the children each an egg and let +them roll the eggs and see how many chicks they can knock down. While +they are doing this take some of the eggs they have found, run ribbon +through them and suspend in different lengths from a chandelier. + +Among these suspended "eggshells" have Easter eggs filled with good +things. You can buy the eggs, and fill some of them with candy and some +with peanuts; put tiny dolls in some and small toys in others, so that +no two eggs will be filled alike. Then blindfold one child at a time; +give him a small cane and let him make one strike and see what he can +bring down. It is a good idea to spread a sheet under the chandelier on +the floor, so that the shells can be gathered up quickly. Then announce +refreshments. + +In the centre of the supper-table upon a mound of smilax place a large +rabbit on his haunches, and in his front paws an Easter egg. From this +mound to each plate run a different-colored piece of ribbon, with a card +attached. Upon the card have the child's name who sits at that place. + +At one end of the table have an Easter cake with lily decorations, and +at the other end place something that looks like a large white frosted +cake, with one little downy chick in the centre, and five or six in a +row around the edge. This is not a cake but a baking-pan turned upside +down, covered with white paper and frosted white. + +Have all the refreshments upon the table--thin slices of bread and +butter, sandwiches, nuts, tiny cups of chocolate, cake and ice cream. + +After all have finished eating and are ready to leave the table the +little ones may be told that at the count of three they are to pull +their ribbons, first removing Bunny from his nest to avoid breaking any +dishes. Then every child will find attached to the ribbon an egg, the +color of his or her ribbon, filled with candy or a small gift of some +sort. + +These eggs, a little yellow chick, and the baskets may be given to the +children to carry home. + + +EASTER SALAD + +A delicious and most attractive salad for Easter may be made by building +a nest of narrow strips of cold boiled potatoes upon a few very crisp +lettuce leaves. Fill the nest with eggs made of cream cheese rolled in +grated yellow cheese. Serve on individual plates with a well-made +mayonnaise dressing, and plain crackers, or thin slices of brown bread +and butter. + + +EASTER GELATINE + +Pour gelatine flavored with unfermented grape juice into egg shells and +set them upon the ice. When the jelly seems to be firm remove the +shells, and you will have as many pretty clear violet eggs as you have +had shells. Arrange them around a mould of Bavarian cream, and serve. +Gelatine flavored with chocolate, orange or cranberry juice would make +equally pretty eggs, and probably please the children better than the +violet ones. + + +EASTER BASKETS OF DESSERT + +Little baskets of puff paste were filled with yellow "_eggs_" made from +a rich custard which had been thickened with cornstarch, cooked until +stiff and poured into egg-shaped moulds. When cold the custard "eggs" +were removed from the moulds, placed in the pastry baskets and +surrounded with whipped cream, which was dotted with white grapes cut in +half and the seeds removed. The effect was very pretty and the dessert +delighted the eyes of the guests as well as their palates. + +This dessert might be utilized for any other occasion by pouring the +custard into different-shaped moulds and dotting the whipped cream with +candied cherries or fresh berries. + + + + +CHILDREN'S SOUVENIRS + + +Souvenirs at a children's party should be very inexpensive. Candy put up +in some pretty form is the most suitable thing that can be given. The +dainty Japanese confections that may be purchased at any large store +where Oriental goods are sold are novelties, and always please the +little people. + +It is always a great pleasure to children to have something to take home +with them from a party, and very inexpensive souvenirs will give +happiness quite out of proportion to their value. Japanese trifles make +pretty gifts, little boxes, bags or baskets filled with candy. Tiny +kites are appropriate for boys, and fans for girls. Japanese dolls may +be dressed with the lower part of the skirt prolonged into a bag and +filled with candy. Only candy of the simplest kind should be used. + +Candy boxes in various fanciful forms, as banjos, drums, tambourines, +watering-pots, pails, caps, helmets, fish, etc., may be purchased from +any dealer in such wares. They are also made in the shape of birds and +animals, as peacocks, canaries, turtles, alligators and elephants. +Hollow oranges and apples, fruit baskets, with realistic cherries, +grapes, etc., on top, and room for candy underneath, are very pretty. If +these are thought too expensive ornamented cornucopias to hold bonbons +may be procured at various prices, beginning at fifteen cents a dozen. +Mottoes containing paper hats and caps may be procured as cheaply as ten +cents a dozen, and a package of these, holding as many as the child is +years old, tied with the birthday color, makes a dainty souvenir. Little +cradles filled with candy and ornamented with bows are also appropriate +gifts. + +A SOUVENIR PUDDING.--A common wash-tub, filled with bran or sawdust, +will make a nice pudding for a child's party by putting the souvenirs in +a layer in the bottom of the tub, then a layer of sawdust, then more +presents, and so on until the tub is filled. Have a large wooden spoon +and let each child make a dive with the spoon until he gets one +souvenir. This will please the little ones. + + + + +CHILDREN'S SWEET PEA TEA + + +The invitations to this tea read like this: + + _Prepare yourself for a Sweet Pea Tea, + The 'bus will call for you at three._ + + _July 19th._ + +In one corner of the card a sweet pea was painted in water colors. These +cards were sent by mail. Of course, the recipients of these invitations +had no idea where the party was to be, and waited in great expectation +for the appointed day. Two 'bus men were engaged and furnished with a +list of the invited, and at three o'clock, or as nearly that hour as +possible, called for the guests, and after a short and misleading drive +arrived at last at their destination. + +After being received by the hostess, the guests were given cards and +pencils and ranged around a long table in the centre of the room, on +which were strewn leaves of many kinds of plants. Five minutes were +given for guessing the plants to which the leaves belonged. At the +expiration of that time, the cards were taken (after names had been +signed), and a prize given to the best guesser. + +The guests were then seated, and cards on which was the following list +of questions passed around: 1. What field flower is something to eat and +a dish we drink from? 2. What did the soldier say when he bade his +sweetheart good-bye? 3. The name of what flower is used every day in a +slang expression? 4. The name of what flower did Johnny's mother use +when she told him to rise? 5. What hotel in New York city bears the name +of a flower? 6. What flower is most popular in April? 7. The name of +what flower means comfort? 8. What is the saddest flower? + +The answers are: 1. Buttercup. 2. Forget-me-not. 3. Daisy. 4. +Johnny-jump-up. 5. Aster. 6. Easter lily. 7. Heartsease. 8. +Bleeding-heart. + +The prize for this was a book of flowers and verses. + +A basket of sweet peas was then passed to the girls, a different color +of flower for each one. A similar basket was passed to the boys, and the +search for partners began. The boy with the yellow sweet pea became the +partner of the girl with the yellow flower. The boy with the white found +the girl with the white, etc. The table was strewn with sweet peas, a +cut-glass bowl of sweet peas graced the centre, and on each napkin was +pinned a small bunch of the flowers. + + + + +CHILDREN'S TOM THUMB ENTERTAINMENT + + +For a children's party try the following device: Place four chairs in +one end of the room and throw over them a large blanket or shawl to +cover them completely down to the floor. Have some one double up his +hands into fists, and on the back of the hands, with a piece of +charcoal, paint eyes, nose and mouth, and on one of them paint a +moustache. Put dolls' dresses on the arms, reaching down to the elbows. +Put hoods or caps on the hands. Let the person thus prepared crawl in +between the chairs, and resting the elbows on the floor, hold his +forearms perpendicular, so that the backs of the hands will be facing +the audience. All the rest of the person's body should be concealed, of +course, under the shawl. Call these two little people Tom Thumb and his +wife. Have some one for their manager, who should stand in front of the +chairs and tell them what to do. The manager should explain why Tom has +a dress on. He can have them perform a number of clever tricks, such as +bowing to the audience, kissing each other, pushing each other, etc. +They can answer questions in a little, fine voice, or say, "How do you +do?" + +It will be found that this entertainment will please the little folks +immensely. + + + + +CHILDREN'S VALENTINE PARTY + + +From sheets of pink and creamy tinted paper, cut the requisite number of +hearts--two for each invitation--and form into envelopes by pasting a +pink heart and a creamy tinted one together along the edges, except at +the large end, which must be left open to hold the written invitation. +On a slightly smaller heart of thinner paper, write the following +doggerel: + + "From half-past six to half-past nine, + I pray you to be guest of mine. + With Valentine, their patron Saint, + Sure all good lovers are acquaint; + So in his honor kindly spend + A pleasant evening with a friend." + +Slip this in the envelope formed by the two hearts, having first glued +to the indentation at the larger end of the small heart a loop of baby +ribbon by which to pull it out. On the white side of the envelope write +the name and address; on the pink side, an older sister may draw cunning +little Cupids, or hearts transfixed with little arrows. + +Cut from pink paper as many hearts as there are to be boys, but no two +of these hearts must be of the same size; cut from gilt paper the same +number of hearts, one for each girl, matching in size those cut from the +pink paper. + +When the guests arrive, give each boy a pink and each girl a gilt heart. +When a boy finds the girl who holds a gilt heart matching in size his +pink one, they are partners for the evening. In this search all +formality will have worn off. + +Cupid's Darts will pass a jolly half hour. Make a large heart of +several layers of pink tissue paper, and fill it loosely with bonbons; +encase this in a slightly larger heart of open-meshed bobinet; hang on +the wall on one side of the room by two loops sewed to the large, upper +part of the heart. Provide a toy bow and arrow, and let each child in +turn shoot at the heart. The arrows will remain sticking in the lace and +paper, and the one whose arrow comes nearest the centre receives the +first prize--a heart-shaped box of candy. + +Also provide small heart-shaped boxes filled with candies for each child +to take home. + +For refreshments, make sandwiches from heart-shaped pieces of bread cut +with a cake cutter; bake the cakes in heart-shaped tins, and have the +ices frozen in the same design. + +As red and pink are the proper colors for decoration on this day, it +will be a pretty idea to have the lemonade colored pink with fruit +juice. + +Pretty favors can be made from crepe tissue-paper. Flowers, bonbon +boxes, handkerchief-cases, and many another trifle, will please the +young folks, more especially if they are the work of their little +hostess's own hands. + + + + +CHINESE PARTY + + +Invitations should read as follows: + + _Come to the Chinese Tea Party + and help eat + Rice and Rats + Prepared and Served by Chinese Girls + at ---- Church + Monday Evening, Jan. 4th._ + +You can stimulate interest in the heathen wonderfully by inviting them +to come, with all their bag and baggage, and pay your society a visit. +Have booths in the room representing the countries in which the church +is doing missionary work. Let the attendants be costumed like the +natives, and all the appointments of the booths suggest the life of the +countries represented. When curiosity is thus piqued, information about +these mission lands may be circulated by the help of questions on cards +to be passed around. Write the questions in black ink, and underneath, +in red ink, the answer to one of the other questions. It will require a +pretty lively interchange of cards for each one to find the answer to +his question. + +The committee should try to make this evening as attractive as possible, +and if it can be arranged all the members should appear in Chinese +costume. In the centre of the church room, fit up a booth, covered with +a large Chinese umbrella, and around it place small tables on which to +serve refreshments. This can be made to look like a Chinese garden. Rice +and rats can be served as follows: Boil rice until rather stiff and turn +it into cups to cool. After ready to serve turn upside down in dishes +and serve each dish with a _candy rat_ on top. The rice should be served +with cream and sugar. Also have tea and wafers. A small fee can be +charged for refreshments to go to missionary purposes. Of course no one +but the committee should know what the "rice and rats" is to be, as it +would spoil the fun. A nice idea would be to give chopsticks as +souvenirs. + + + + +CHRISTMAS COSTUME PARTY + + +The invitations for a Christmas party of this sort should be enclosed in +white envelopes decorated with holly and should read as follows: + + _Master ----, as "Winter," + and Miss ----, as "Christmas," + will be glad to receive the "Months" + on Thursday evening, + December the twenty-fourth._ + +In the lower left-hand corner of each, above the address, should be +indicated the character which the little guest is to represent, as, for +instance: "Please represent July." Have the little host and hostess +represent "Winter" and "Christmas." + +When the children arrive let them find a throne built of dry-goods +boxes, covered with Canton flannel with the fuzzy side out, well +sprinkled with diamond dust and tufts of cotton, and above the throne a +canopy made of evergreen boughs. Dip some of the boughs first in a weak +solution of gum-arabic and then in flour, and sprinkle them with diamond +dust; hang others in alum water until crystals form over the foliage. + +Dress the little host in a suit of white cambric well bespangled with +crystal beads and glass pendants. Let him wear white slippers and +stockings, and over one shoulder a white shawl covered with artificial +frost. On his head place a jaunty white beaver hat decorated with a long +white plume. + +The little hostess should wear a white dress of soft, fluffy material, +trimmed with holly and mistletoe, and red stockings and slippers. + +Seated upon the throne, beside one another, they should receive their +guests, who should appear in the characters indicated upon their +invitations. After all the children have been welcomed let them form in +line, with "Winter" and "Christmas" leading, and march up-stairs and +down to the music of piano and violin. + +The children might then be shown some views of Bethlehem and the +Christ-Child and told or read a Christmas story. Just before going-home +time some "grown-up" person, dressed to represent Santa Claus, might +come in and deposit his pack in the dining-room and distribute some +little gifts. Then some simple refreshments should be served before the +children go home. + + + + +CHRISTMAS MENU AND TABLE DECORATIONS + + + Ottoman Country Roasted and Gorged. (Roast Turkey) + Red Swamp Fruit Sauce. (Cranberry Sauce) + Hibernia's Pride Crushed. (Mashed Potatoes) + Cucurbita Maxima Crushed. (Mashed Squash) + Stalks of Kalamazoo. (Celery) + Bivalves Nestled. (Escalloped Oysters) + Dough Baked. (Bread) + Cream Churned. (Butter) + Lover's Test. (Pickles) + Curd Pressed. (Cheese) + Arabian Nectar and Bossy's Best. (Coffee and Cream) + Rosy Cheeks and Bossy's Best. (Peach Sherbet) + Cherub's Diet. (Angel's Food) + Nature's Food. (Fruit) + Squirrel's Dependence. (Mixed Nuts) + Sweet Compound. (Candy) + +Select for your color scheme red and green. Set the dining-table in the +centre of the room directly under the chandelier. To the latter fasten a +large bunch of holly with plenty of red berries, and make garlands of +evergreen to reach from the chandelier to the four corners of the table, +fastening each one to the tablecloth with a bow of red ribbon. Have +plenty of holly berries in the garlands of evergreen. If holly is dipped +in a strong solution of alum water and dried in the sun, it will have +the effect of being frosted. Have a red carnation with a sprig of green +laid at each plate. Red and green paper napkins should be used. Have +pretty side dishes of red and green things, such as red apples, red and +green grapes, and all kinds of red and green bonbons. The first column +of the menu as given should be printed or written and laid at each +plate, for the guests to study while the courses are being served. + + + + +CHRISTMAS UMBRELLA GAME + + +Take a large umbrella--an old one will do--wind the handle with bright +yellow ribbon and line the body with red percaline as near the color of +holly berries as possible. Be sure to shape the lining so that it will +not sag. Cover the outside with green percaline and finish the top with +sprigs of holly and a bow of red and green ribbon. Trim the edge of the +umbrella with a row of tiny bells and wind the ribs with crepe or tissue +paper the same color as the lining; do this the last thing so that it +will not come undone. + +Select small appropriate gifts for the young guests; conceal them within +dainty wrappings and tie them with ribbon to the ribs of the umbrella. +When ready for the game let the children form a circle and choose one of +their number to stand in the centre and hold the umbrella. The children +may then dance around singing: + + "Merrily 'round this Christmas ring, + Dancing gayly as we sing. + What would this umbrella bring + If we changed to hippetty-hop + And our hostess called out 'stop'?" + +When singing "hippetty-hop" let the children hop around instead of +dancing, and when the hostess calls out "stop" the child with the +umbrella raises it over his head and the present which sways longest +belongs to him. He unties it, and as he does so he hands the umbrella to +another child, whose place he takes in the circle, and so on until all +the children have had a chance to hold the umbrella and receive one of +the gifts which hang from it. + +After the game the umbrella may be given to the child who receives the +largest number of votes as a souvenir of the evening. + +If one does not wish the trouble of trimming an umbrella as described +above, a Japanese umbrella may be purchased for a small sum, and will be +equally appropriate. + + + + +CHURCH BAZAAR SUGGESTIONS + + +FOR AN ORANGE GROVE.--Evergreen trees should be procured and placed +about the hall to make it resemble a grove. The oranges may be made of a +wad of cotton, inclosing a trinket, covered with orange-colored tissue +paper. Hang them on the trees and let each purchaser select the one he +wants, paying a nominal sum for it. + +Other attractions may be a booth where real oranges may be bought; a +well from which orangeade is dispensed; a booth for articles of +fancy-work made in shades of orange, and one for orange-flavored cakes +and candies. + +The booths should, of course, be draped in orange color, relieved by +touches of white, the attendants' costumes being of the same shade. +Orange blossoms, made of tissue paper, will add daintiness to the +decorations. + + * * * * * + +An unoccupied house is a most convenient place to hold a fair. Each room +may be devoted to some special attraction; one for the supper, one for +the evening's entertainment, one for the fortune-teller, and so on. This +idea is admirable for an affair of the nations, devoting one room to +each country and its characteristics. + + * * * * * + +Seats should be provided in the grove where the visitors may be +refreshed with orange ice, or orange gelatine and cake at a moderate +price. + +If there is a small room adjoining the hall in which the fair is held it +may be fitted up to represent a tropical scene. This would be the place +to sell rubber plants, palms, ferns, etc. Long clusters of bananas hung +amid the foliage will make the scene more realistic. + + * * * * * + +A tulip bed is one of the prettiest ways of hiding surprise packages. A +portion of the floor should be marked off in a square and enclosed with +boards one foot high, painted green. Fill this bed with sawdust and +plant paper tulips in all colors. Have a package tied to the end of +each tulip, making the flower stand firm when planted. Each purchaser +pulls up any flower he chooses. + + * * * * * + +Although brown seems a sombre color for a fair booth, it may really be +used most effectively. Have the booth made oblong with a counter across +the front and have each end covered with brown crepe paper with frilled +edges; have also a brown curtain below the counter hanging to the floor. +Have the roof, and the posts supporting it, covered with the russet +leaves of the chestnut-tree, while around the roof a fringe of chestnut +burrs is hung. At one end of the booth serve hot chocolate with whipped +cream; at the other have all kinds of nuts on sale; and in front have a +display of chocolate and nut cakes and candies. In arranging for any +sort of church entertainment remember that elaborate accessories are not +of so much importance as the display of cleverness in the carrying out +of the ideas which form the basis of the entertainment. + + + + +COBWEB SOCIABLE + + +First, wind strings all over the house before the arrival of the +company. Suspend a rope diagonally across one corner of the room, over +which the ends of the strings can hang, each one numbered: Numbers are +to be given each one of the guests, and each is to hunt the string that +has his number on it. A sheet can be hung across this end of the room +hiding everything from view until time for winding. Have some games +ready to play for the amusement of guests until all have arrived. As +soon as all the company gathers, the sheet can be removed and all +commence hunting their numbers at once. They are told to go wherever the +string leads, but they may not succeed as the strings should be through +keyholes, under beds, out of doors, around the house, in at the windows, +and every place where they can be put. + +Plenty of fun can be had if every one enters into the game and keeps it +up until finished. Bananas and cake can be served at this sociable or +any other light refreshments desired. + + + + +CONUNDRUM TEA + + + 1. A survivor of the flood (Ham). + + 2. Woman of grit (sandwich). + + 3. Cattle in a railroad disaster (dried beef). + + 4. Impertinence (apple "sass"). + + 5. Spring's offering (water). + + 6. For old maids and bachelors (pickles). + + 7. Tabby's party (cat sup). + + 8. Boston's overthrow (tea). + 9. What all people need (bread and butter). + + 10. New England brains (baked beans). + + 11. Young man's sweetheart (honey). + + 12. An unruly member (tongue). + + 13. Sahara (dessert). + + 14. Tree cake (cocoanut cake). + + EXTRAS + + 15. Love's symbol (doughnuts). + + 16. What I do when I mash my finger (ice cream). + + 17. A mass of types (pie). + +_Note._--Each society can use their own judgment about the price to be +charged. A certain amount may be charged for the entire supper, or each +article may have a price affixed, such as two cents, four cents, three +cents, and so forth. + + + + +COOK BOOK SALE + + +Every lady in the church was asked to make, from sheets of brown +wrapping paper, ten paper books of uniform size, four and one-half by +six inches, sewing them to confine the leaves. The paper was two cents +a sheet, and five sheets would make the ten books. + +In each book, clear and explicit written directions for ten of the best +miscellaneous recipes that she used in cooking were to be contributed by +each one, the same recipes to be in the ten books furnished, and signed +by the one contributing them. + +The ten recipes included one soup, one salad, one made-over dish, one +cake recipe, one cooky recipe, two muffin or gem recipes, and three +dessert recipes. + +One week was allowed for this work, then the books were sent where the +sale was to take place. There were five hundred books in all, fifty +ladies having responded to the request. + +In the meantime, invitations had been sent to the members of the other +two churches in the town, and to the summer visitors, and the +vestry-rooms were crowded the evening of the sale. + +The books were offered for sale at five cents each, and in less than an +hour all were sold, those contributed by housekeepers famous for their +cooking being in great demand, while all were of more or less interest +in a town where every one is well known. + +After the sale of the recipes, the real sport of the entertainment +began. Each lady who contributed recipes also brought a sample of cake +made from the cake recipe she had given. These samples were of all +sizes, wrapped in waxed paper and tagged with the maker's name. They +were auctioned off without being undone, the name attached to the tag +being read by the auctioneer, and much merriment was occasioned by the +witty, bright way in which he drew attention not only to the cake, but +to the one who made it. + +If desired, such an auction sale may be held without the cook book sale +preceding, whole and cut cakes, cookies, doughnuts, etc, being used. As +the cakes are wrapped and no one knows what he is buying, much amusement +results. + + + + +COOKY SOCIABLE + + +Cut paper into pieces the shape and size of a cooky. Write a proverb on +each one, then cut each paper cooky into two parts, each in a different +manner, so that no two cookies will be cut alike. One set of halves is +to be given to the ladies, and the other to the gentlemen. Each person +present then proceeds to match the half cooky he has; when found, the +proverb should read correctly. The couple who match halves eat +refreshments together. It is very nice to have some one play a march on +the piano while the matched partners form in line two by two and march +to the supper-room. For refreshments serve all kinds, shapes, and sizes +of cookies with coffee or lemonade. + + + + +CORN-HUSKING BEE + + +Late in October, when the corn has matured and been stacked in the barn, +the following informal invitations may be sent out to all the +neighboring young people: + + _You are cordially invited + to a Corn Husking to be held in + Martin Mattice's Barn + On the evening of October the thirty-first + at eight o'clock._ + +Previous to the evening mentioned the ears of corn are stripped from the +stalks and formed into two huge piles upon the barn floor. Lanterns +should be hung here and there upon the beams to give the necessary +light, and stools provided for the workers. The company, on arrival, is +divided equally, one half being assigned to one pile, the other half to +pile number two, and the contest begins, each division striving to +finish its pile first. The husks must be entirely removed from each ear, +and whoever first discloses to view a red ear is considered especially +fortunate, as the first red ear shown is supposed to bring good luck to +its possessor. + +After all the ears have been husked the winner of the red ear is +escorted in state to the house, where a warm fire (always an open one, +if possible) and a supper are waiting. + + +Corn Supper + +Decorate the walls of the room in which the supper is to be served with +as much green as can be procured at this season of the year. Procure a +dozen pumpkins, remove the pulp, cutting a hole at the top of the shell; +cut also four stars in the sides of each pumpkin, cover with light +yellow paper and place candles inside. These lanterns, being set in +various convenient spots about the room and lighted just before the +supper is served, shed a corn-colored glow over the room. In the centre +of the table arrange a vase filled with any late autumn yellow +flowers--dahlias, chrysanthemums or marigolds; place candles at each end +of the table screened by yellow crepe paper shades. The refreshments may +consist of egg and lemon-butter sandwiches, cornbread, chicken salad, +sponge cake, gold cake, lemon ice cream and lemon water ice, cup +custards, honey in the comb, lemonade and coffee. + + + + +DUTCH PARTY + + +For decorations: Holland's national colors, blue and red; Dutch flags; +tulips; crepe paper in Delft designs, etc. Instead of tally cards each +guest may be furnished a little wooden shoe on a Delft-blue ribbon. Tiny +pretzels are slipped on the ribbon for games won, the shoe keeping them +from slipping off at the other end. Large wooden shoes may be used for +bonbons and nuts at the tables. For prizes: handsome steins and pipes, a +pair of burnt wood Holland shoes, Delft plaques, Dutch pictures, +novelties decorated with quaint Dutch figures, a poster of Queen +Wilhelmina, etc. + +The supper table may have for its centrepiece a large blue stein with +red tulips tumbling out of it. Delft china and paper napkins are +appropriate, and a _menu_ of Dutch dishes: + + Oysters Omelet + Smoked Herring + Creamed Codfish or Finna Haddie in Chafing Dish + Cold Meat, in very thick slices + Pickled Eggs, Pickled Beets, Pickled Onions + Cucumbers, Lemons and Prawns + Cold Slaw + Fish or Potato Salad Cheese Sandwiches + Rye Bread, in very thin slices + Cheese + Honey Cakes Oval Cinnamon Cakes + Pancakes, size of a silver quarter + Coffee and Chocolate + + + + +EASTER EGG HUNT + + +An Easter egg hunt will furnish plenty of amusement for an Easter party. + +The nests are made of paper moss. In them are placed eggs of different +varieties, some genuine hard boiled eggs, some of china or wood and some +of candy. The wooden eggs should contain tiny ducks or chickens. The +nests are hidden in every nook and corner of the house. The guests are +then bidden to go nest hunting, and a half hour is given for the hunt. +Each guest is given a little fancy basket in which to gather his eggs. +The one securing the greatest number of eggs is given a prize of a large +fancy egg. + +The baskets and eggs may be retained as souvenirs. + + + + +EASTER LUNCHEON + + +Of course, silver and glassware must be sparkling, and the white cloth +spotless, or, if one wishes, luncheon scarfs and mats or doilies are +equally popular, and a highly polished table is a bit less formal than +the regular dinner cloth. A centrepiece of gold cloth or of any yellow +silken material is effective--the edges may be quickly overcast by heavy +rope silk in long and short stitch. A bunch of Easter lily sprays in a +bowl or gold and white vase crown the whole. If one can arrange to have +the china gold and white it is very pretty; but every hostess must +consult her own china store and plan accordingly. + +Napkins stiffly folded at each place can hold an artificial lily, which +carries in its heart a tiny candy box. These lilies can be bought at +some caterer's or made at home very easily. Stiff wire--yet not so stiff +as not to bend in any desired shape--can form the skeleton. The stem is +made of five wires woven together, green paper being twisted over them +and at the top; each separate wire is bent out to form a foundation for +each white petal, made of white crepe paper, easily shaped and pasted in +place. A little practice will show the amateur that this is not at all +difficult. A pill box covered with gold paper can be pressed down in the +heart of the lily, the top being covered with stamens made of gold paper +shredded and twisted. + +Lilies of the same type, only larger with larger boxes having no covers, +can form the bonbon boxes. These must be even more conventional, as they +have no stems, resting directly on the table. The menu should be simple. + +When the luncheon is over and the guests have left the dining-room for +the drawing-room, a new edition of the old cobweb game makes merry fun +and is arranged as follows: A huge flower-pot is placed on the centre of +the table, in which are planted some artificial lilies to carry out the +idea, and under the flower-pot are gathered the ends of many strings, +each one of which must be appropriated by a guest. These strings cross +and intercross about furniture and corners of course, and give +opportunities for many tête-à -têtes. Here and there some little verses +may be tied if it is wished to add fun to the quest. + + "Do not faint, oh, maid, I beg, + You shall find a golden ----" + + "Gather roses while you may; + Gather them--the livelong day." + +And many another nonsense couplet to suit the company and occasion. + +At the end of each string must be found a candy Easter egg, or a hollow +egg containing some little trinket. + + + + +EASTER SOCIABLE + + +Have printed programs sent out with the following announcement (any name +can be substituted for the East End Connett Y): + + _An eggs-ellent plan has been adopted by + the East End Connett Y, to eggs-haust the + eggs-pence of sending a delegate to the State Convention. + We shall hold an_ EGG SOCIAL. + _The eggs-pence of admission is eggs-actly ten cents. + We mean to have an eggs-ellent time. + You are urged to eggs-ert yourself to come and + eggs-amine for yourself. + You can eggs-pect to have lots of fun at small eggs-pence. + An eggs-ellent committee will wait upon you. + Plenty of eggs will be served. + Eggs-it at your pleasure. + N. B.--Plenty of Easter Egg novelties will be sold._ + +A fruit-stand covered with moss and twigs, and arranged to represent a +nest filled with eggs and placed upon a bed of moss should form the +central decoration for the table. Around the nest four large rabbit +bonbonnières should be placed, with pieces of baby ribbon of all colors +fastened to their forepaws and running out to or below the edge of the +table, each ribbon being strung with eggs. Between the four large +rabbits four smaller ones should peer out from under the nest between +the ribbons. + +Provide each person present with a dime, lead-pencil, and sheet of +paper, upon which the following list is printed. + +Find upon the dime the following articles: + + 1. Fruit of a tropical tree. (date) + + 2. What the Siamese twins were. (United) + + 3. What a lazy man seldom gets. (ahead) + + 4. The division of a country. (states) + + 5. The cradle of liberty. (America) + + 6. Something a schoolboy makes. (figures) + + 7. An instrument to catch sound. (ear) + + 8. The number a miser takes care of. (one) + + 9. What makes the forest green. (foliage) + + 10. Something a bootblack likes to give. (shine) + +Of course the answers are not printed, but are kept by the committee for +reference. A prize of one dime can be given the one with the most +correct answers. Any kind of Easter novelties can be sold for a dime. +For refreshments serve eggs in every form, with bread and butter and +coffee, for one dime. + + + + +FAIRIES' GARDEN + + +A clever scheme for a church fair is the "Fairies' Garden," which is +nothing more than the old grab-bag in a new dress. One seen recently was +set up near a booth trimmed with evergreens, with a fence made of +"cat-tails," planted about four inches apart, enclosing it in front. To +this the people who were present flocked, and were free, on the payment +of a small sum, to pull a flower or vegetable as they should see fit. +Within and at the back of the inclosure was a trellis made of wire +netting with the largest holes procurable, covered with vines, among +which nestled pink paper roses. In each rose a small present was hidden +from view. + +Then there was a "pond," made of a tin boiler banked with stones and +moss, and filled with water, on which floated water lilies and leaves. +To each lily was tied a weighted present, such as the water could not +injure. + +A bed of real goldenrod planted in a box of sawdust, with the presents +tied to the stems of the flowers and buried in the sawdust, completed +the flower garden. + +The vegetable bed fully repaid for all the time and trouble spent upon +it. It was an enclosure of four boards, filled with sawdust, the +vegetables being made of paper and filled with cotton and the presents. +After the vegetables and flowers were planted the beds were covered with +moss. + +A few signs added to the effect, such as "Great South-Sea Bubble" for +the cabbage bed, and "Please do not pull the cats' tails. By order of +the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," for the cat-tail +fence. + +Carrots, beets, onions and cabbages answered the purpose well, being of +convenient shapes and very easily made. The carrots were made on a +cornucopia of stiff brown paper, in which the present was put, and then +the cornucopia was covered with plain carrot-colored tissue paper, +closed at the top, painted to imitate the creases in a carrot, and +ornamented with a small tuft of leaves cut from green tissue paper. The +beets were stuffed with cotton, in which the present was concealed, and +then covered with the proper colored tissue paper. The onion bulbs were +covered with crinkled cream-white tissue paper, and the tops were made +of stiff white paper spills, or lamp-lighters, covered with dark green +tissue paper. The cabbages were of pale green and yellow--almost cream +color--crinkled tissue paper, wound around the central ball of cotton; +the paper was cut and pulled out in the shape of leaves, or twisted to +form the stalk. + +There were four little girls dressed as "flower fairies," who kept the +garden in order, and helped in many ways, looking very effective in +their costumes of a "morning-glory," a "daffy-down-dilly," a yellow and +white "daisy," and a "wild rose." + + + + +FEAST OF SEVEN TABLES + + +This feast if well planned and carried out is most pleasing in its +results. There are seven tables. These tables are set in white, with +centrepieces and other decorations to carry out the color scheme. Have +first table near the door, and others arranged according to the menu, +which can be changed to suit the seasons. It is necessary to have two +sets of waiters, the first to clear away, and the second to furnish +fresh supplies. All must dress to harmonize with the colors of their +tables. Serve food in small quantities and in small dishes. At the +ringing of a bell seven guests are seated at the first table. At the +expiration of seven minutes, the bell again rings, and those at the +first table pass to the second table, and seven other guests are +permitted to enter the room, and to be seated at the first table. Here +is where the waiters will have to hurry and reset the tables. At the +close of every seven minutes the bell rings, signaling all to pass up +one table. Seven persons pass out every seven minutes, and forty-nine +are fed in as many minutes. A novel idea is to charge seven cents on +entering the dining-room, seven cents when through at the last table, +and seven cents as they pass out the door, making twenty-one cents for +each guest. They will not object after they are through with the menu at +the seven tables. + + WINIFRED M. SIMONDS. + + DECORATIONS AND MENU FOR SEVEN TABLES + + _Decorations_ _Menu_ + + _White Table_ + + White Centrepiece Shredded Potatoes + White Dishes White Bread and Butter + White Napkins Cold Roast Pork + White Flowers Milk + + _Brown Table_ + + Brown Centrepiece Brown Bread and Butter + Brown Dishes Brown Coffee + Doilies Worked in Brown Boston Baked Beans + Brown Leaves Pressed Brown Pickles + + _Green Table_ + + Green Bordered Centrepiece Wafers Tied With Green Ribbon + Green Flowered Dishes Lettuce + Green Paper Napkins Olives + Green Foliage Green Tea + Pickles + + _Red Table_ + + Old Fashioned Red Table Cloth Red Cake + Cranberry Sauce + Red Flowered Dishes Wafers Tied With Red Ribbon + Red Napkins + Red Flowers + + _Orange Table_ + + Orange Bordered Centrepiece Orange Wafers + Orange Paper Napkins Sliced Oranges + Orange Colored Flowers Orange Cake + + _Yellow Table_ + + Yellow Centrepiece Lemon Pie + Yellow Figured Dishes Cheese + Yellow Paper Napkins Lemonade + Yellow Flowers + + _Pink Table_ + + Pink Bordered Centrepiece Pink Cakes + Pink Flowered Dishes Pink Pop-corn + Pink Paper Napkins Pink Candies + Pink Flowers + Pink Carnation for Each Guest + + + + +FEAST OF NATIONS + + +The following is a description of a church supper which was recently +given with great success: + +The Japanese table was decorated with chrysanthemums. At each place was +a Japanese tray on which a Japanese napkin was folded in a fanciful +manner. Little dishes of rice, hard-boiled eggs, cabbage chopped fine, +and small cups of tea comprised the first course. The second course was +a turkey dinner. The waiters were in Japanese costume. The favors were +small Japanese umbrellas tied with the Japanese colors, red and white. + +At the Chinese table the first course was rice prepared with curry, +followed by chicken pie with the usual accompaniments. Chopsticks were +in evidence, though the guests were not compelled to use them. The +waiters were in Chinese dress. The table was adorned with curios, and +the favors were ancestral tablets in tiny boxes, tied with yellow, the +national color of China. + +The Hindustani table was resplendent with red and yellow tulips, the +colors of India. Handsome bowls of beaten brass loaned by a returned +missionary ornamented the table. Four young men in the costume peculiar +to India waited upon this table. The special dish was chicken with +curry, and the favors were genuine Indian bracelets. + +Some rare old Welsh china was used on the Welsh table, and the menu +cards, written in Welsh, were in the shape of Welsh hats. A Welsh flag +was given as a souvenir to each guest. + +The Irish table was served by lassies gowned in green. The menu cards +were in the form of shamrocks. "Potatoes with their jackets on" and +buttermilk were the dishes characteristic of this country. The +tablecloth was of bright green denim and the decorations were all of +green leaves. + +The table representing bonnie Scotland had menu cards decorated with the +thistle. Jam tarts were among the delicacies. + +The English table was decorated in the English colors, with the English +standard as a centrepiece. Roast beef, of course, was an essential part +of the dinner, supplemented by plum pudding, caraway cakes and tea. The +favors were red and white roses. + +White-capped waitresses served at the French table which was bright with +candelabra, asparagus ferns and pink ribbons. The menu cards bore the +fleur-de-lis. Peas, olives and candied walnuts were distinctive dishes. +The color scheme was pink and green. + +At the table representing Holland the girls wore Dutch peasant costumes +and served coffee and chocolate, carrots with cream sauce, so commonly +used among the Hollanders, sausage, rye bread and pickles, cake and +gingerbread baked in fancy shapes. + +The German table was gay with flowers. Noodle soup, German cheese and +anise cakes were added to a generous dinner. The menu cards were in the +form of corn-flowers and were written in German text. The favors were +pretzels. + +At the Italian table macaroni and fruit were the dishes. The favors were +menu cards with the Italian flag painted on each. + +The Mexican table was decorated with palms, and a dinner very similar to +one a traveler would get in that country was served. The favors were +menu cards written in Spanish, to which tiny Mexican _tamales_ were +attached by red and green ribbons, the Mexican colors. + +Dainty arbutus graced the New England table and menu cards. The repast +was a bounteous Thanksgiving dinner such as New Englanders know how to +provide. Baked beans and brown bread were on the menu, as were also +several kinds of pie and apple-sauce. + +The Western table was waited upon by a boy and girl dressed as Indians +with the ornaments they admire. The table was ornamented with flowers. +The dinner cards showed paintings of Indian heads and the favors were +little paper canoes. The cakes, fruit, etc., were served in Indian +baskets. + +The Southern table had a menu different from all the others. Among the +good things were a whole roast pig, corn bread, warm biscuit and sweet +potatoes. There were colored waiters in conventional white linen suits. +The favors that stood by each plate were little Dinah dolls. + + + + +FISH MARKET + + +A rustic bridge was built out from one side of the platform forming a +square space in one corner of the room that was used for a fish pond. +Rocks and ferns were grouped along the edge of the platform, the floor +was covered with green carpet, and a pretty meadow scene painted on +coarse cotton was hung at the back, making a very picturesque setting +for the pond. Steps led up to the bridge, and at the foot was a rustic +lodge where, on payment of a fee, the prospective fisher was given a +pole and a circle of cardboard, upon which was marked the number of +times he was entitled to fish. Thus equipped, he went up on the bridge +and fished in the pond. Additional fishing tickets were sold by the +bridgekeepers. Articles of all description and varying values were +fished forth from the pond, which made it all the more exciting. +Refreshments were served in the hall and there were a candy and cake +table and two stalls where fancy articles were sold. One of these stalls +bore the sign, Fish Market. Here fish of many brilliant colors and +quaint shapes were for sale; they were blotters, shaving cases, +pincushions, sachet bags, needle-books, housewives, pen-wipers, spool +and veil cases, emeries, court-plaster cases and kites. They were made +of inexpensive materials, but their novelty caused them to sell rapidly. +The fish market was well patronized. At the other stall, pillows and +lamp-shades were sold. Red linen pillows shaped like Japanese fish and +worked with black attracted a great deal of attention; other pillows had +poster fish swimming across them, and still others were adorned with +borders of fishes and anglers' maxims. Fish lamp-shades--scarlet, yellow +and delicately tinted--found a ready sale among the young people, and +caused much mirth. On the cake and candy table there were many toothsome +fishes--chocolate and clear candy fish, boxes of candy decorated with +fishing scenes in water-color and pen and ink, sandwiches cut out with +fish-shaped tin cutters, also fish-shaped cookies and small iced cakes. +The tops of the large cakes were ornamented with fish designs done with +contrasting colors of icing. + + + + +FLAGS OF NATIONS + + +Secure as many cards as there are to be guests, and paint or paste on +each of them some five or six small flags of different nations, +numbering each flag. Sometimes one can obtain small buttons with these +flags on them, and these answer quite as well. It is better to have each +card different, and to assort the flags, so that every card may contain +some not very generally known. The United States flag might be omitted, +as every one would be familiar with that; but the flag of Liberia could +be used on several cards, as its resemblance to our flag would be apt to +deceive many. Plates showing the various national flags in colors may be +found in the front of almost any unabridged dictionary. + +Hand a card and a pencil to each guest. The pencil may be made quite +attractive by covering it with a strip of crepe paper in some bright +color. This can be easily accomplished by cutting the paper into +lengths a little longer than the pencil, pasting one side, and rolling +the pencil in the paper, then tying with a bow of narrow ribbon. After +the guests are supplied with cards and pencils let each one write +opposite the flags the names of the countries whose emblems they are. +This will be found no easy matter, unless the guest should be a sailor +or a globe-trotter, and many amusing guesses will be recorded. + +The one who succeeds in guessing the countries correctly, or in guessing +nearest, might be rewarded with a United States flag pin or a pretty +silk flag. For making awards the hostess should have a list of the flags +that are on each card, which should be numbered, and compare the list +with the guesses handed in by the company. + + + + +FLORAL LOVE STORY + + + 1. The girl's name and the color of her hair (Marigold). + + 2. The color of her eyes (violet). + + 3. Her brother's name and an adjective that just describes + her (Sweet William). + + 4. Her brother's favorite musical instrument (trumpet). + + 5. At what time did he awaken his father with it (four + o'clock). + + 6. With what did his father punish him (goldenrod). + + 7. What did the boy do (balsam). + + 8. What office in the Presbyterian Church did her father + fill (elder). + + 9. Being a farmer, what was his occupation in spring + (plantain). + + 10. Her lover's name and what he wrote it with (jonquil). + + 11. What, being single, he often lost (bachelor's buttons). + + 12. What confectionery he took to her (peppermint). + + 13. What he did when he proposed (aster). + + 14. What ghastly trophy did he lay at her feet (bleeding + heart). + + 15. What did she give him in return (heartsease). + + 16. What did she say to him (Johnny-jump-up). + + 17. What flower did he cultivate (tulips). + + 18. To whom did she refer him (poppy). + + 19. What minister married them (Jack-in-the-pulpit). + + 20. What was wished with regard to their happiness + (live-forever). + + 21. When he went away, what did she say to him + (forget-me-not). + + 22. With what did she punish her children (lady's-slipper). + + 23. What hallowed their last years (sweet peas). + + + + +FLOWER BAZAAR + + +Six booths, if properly planned, will mean a small but picturesque +bazaar. Five of these booths may represent flowers, and many of the +articles sold from them may be made at home by members of the society +which the sale is designed to aid. + +Drape the Lily booth in white, decorate it with Easter lilies and light +it with fairy lamps with white shades. Little novelties for Easter gifts +may be sold here--the pretty trifles which are easily made. + +The Violet booth may be almost self-decorative if Easter cards and +dainty booklets bearing the flower are displayed. Many choice bits of +verse and short paragraphs of uplifting thought may be found in the +religious publications of to-day, and if these are carefully mounted on +white cards and tied with violet ribbon to a bunch of the fresh flowers +they will make the most cheering of Easter messages. Provision should be +made at the booth for the cards to be autographed with the names of the +senders. + +The Tulip booth may be the gayest of the gay, and there the children +should find Easter eggs in all colors of the rainbow. The booth should +be lighted with gay lanterns. Those in charge should appear in Oriental +costumes. + +The choice of decorations for the Pansy booth is a wide one. Light green +would make a good background to set off the bowls of different colored +blossoms adorning the table. At this booth flower seeds, bulbs and +plants of all kinds might be on sale. Seedlings are always ready +sellers. + +A booth which would prove very popular with housewives would be the one +where Daffodils are in evidence, and there the egg delicacies for Easter +menus might be on sale: stuffed eggs, pickled eggs, egg salad, custards, +and angel and sponge cakes. Over this booth place a large yellow +umbrella, fringed with daffodils. On a card fastened to the handle have +the familiar quotation: + + "Daffodils, + That come before the swallow dares." + +Butterflies fluttering over the Candy booth, as if attracted by the +sweets there, will induce others to come for the same sweets. The +butterflies may be made of crepe paper and suspended above the booth by +invisible wires; the vibration of the air will make them appear very +real. The little maid who presides should be gowned to represent a +butterfly. + +Care should be taken that the attendants at the different booths are +dressed in colors to harmonize with the decorative scheme. + + + + +FLOWER GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. My first wears my second on her foot. (Lady's slipper) + + 2. A Roman numeral. (IV-Ivy) + + 3. The hour before my English cousin's tea. (Four-o'clock) + + 4. Good marketing. (Butter and eggs) + + 5. A gay young man and a ferocious animal. (Dandelion) + + 6. My first is often sought for my second. (Marigold) + + 7. A young man's farewell to his sweetheart. (Forget-me-not) + + 8. Her reply to him. (Sweet William) + + 9. The gentler sex of the Friend persuasion. (Quaker ladies) + + 10. Its own doctor. (Self-heal) + + 11. My first is as sharp as needles, my second is as soft as + down. (Thistledown) + + 12. My first is a country in Asia, my second is the name of + a prominent New York family. (China Aster) + + 13. My first is the name of a bird, my second is worn by + cavalrymen. (Larkspur) + + 14. A church official. (Elder) + + 15. A very precise lady. (Primrose) + + 16. A tattered songster. (Ragged Robin) + + 17. My first is sly but cannot wear my second. (Foxglove) + + 18. The color of a horse. (Sorrel) + + 19. A craze in Holland in the seventeenth century. (Tulip) + + 20. My first is an implement of war, my second is a place + where money is coined. (Spearmint) + + 21. A disrespectful name for a physician. (Dock) + + 22. Fragrant letters. (Sweet peas) + + 23. My first is a white wood, my second is the name of a + yellow Rhenish wine. (Hollyhock) + + 24. What the father said to the son in the morning. + (Johnny-jump-up) + + 25. My first is a facial expression of pleasure, my second a + woodsman's means of livelihood. (Smilax) + + 26. An animal of the jungle is my first, my second is the + name of a tall, fair lady. (Tiger Lily) + + 27. My first is made in a dairy but is seldom served in my + second. (Buttercup) + + 28. My first wears my second on his head. (Coxcomb) + + 29. A close companion. (Stick-tight) + + 30. A fashionable shade for evening dresses. (Heliotrope) + + + + +FLOWER LUNCHEONS + + +DAISY LUNCHEON.--Just before luncheon the hostess may crown each guest +with a wreath, which she has prepared by tying the blossoms on circles +of fine wire. + +In the centre of the luncheon-table have a large bunch of blossoms and +also a few scattered carelessly over the table. Trim the edge of the +table with a chain of daisies, looped up here and there. At each corner +have a large bow of ribbon, either white or of three colors, yellow, +green and white. + +Serve only light refreshments. Yellow and white ices served together +would be pretty. By all means have your cakes cooked in patty-pans. Ice +the little cakes with chocolate, and on top of each have a life-size +daisy. Any amateur can make this decoration successfully. Boil your +icing thick and squeeze it through a small funnel made of thick +writing-paper in order to make the long, narrow, white petals of a +daisy. Reserve a small portion of the icing and tint it bright yellow +for the centres. The effect will be quite pretty. + +After refreshments are served supply each guest with a sheet of paper +and a tiny pencil with a ribbon bow at the end (these pencils can be +purchased for a cent apiece). Announce that the guest who draws the most +natural daisy will be awarded a prize. Distribute the blossoms for +models. Pin all of the papers upon the wall and let the guests decide +which is the most lifelike flower. Award a pretty book to the one who +succeeds best and a booklet of pressed flowers to the second best. + +BUTTERCUP LUNCHEON.--A very effective arrangement of buttercups for a +luncheon is here suggested. It must be remembered that this flower +closes at night and therefore is not suitable for an evening decoration. +In the centre of the table arrange a circle of large rock ferns, and in +the circle thus made place an inverted round pudding-dish, surrounding +it with a large wreath of buttercups. Place the wreath so that half of +each fern leaf will project beyond the buttercups. On the pudding-dish, +the sides of which are hidden by the wreath, place a fern-dish full of +growing ferns, and almost hidden among them a green glass vase filled +with buttercups and grasses. This same idea may be carried out with +daisies. + +OX-EYED DAISIES may be used for a luncheon-table decoration very +effectively. In the centre of a round table, arranged to seat eight +people, place a mound of daisies and mountain ferns and have a rope of +daisies running from each plate to the centre. The ends of the ropes may +be hidden in the mound. + +VIOLET LUNCHEON.--In the centre of a table stand a large cut-glass bowl +on a violet embroidered centrepiece. Fill this bowl with smilax and pink +carnations. In the centre of the bowl place a tall green glass vase and +make it secure by passing four lengths of ribbon crossed over the top of +it, fastening the ends on the edge of the centrepiece with little bows. +In the green vase place eight bunches of violets. From each bouquet run +violet baby-ribbons ending in a little bow at each place. This will make +a number of ribbons resembling a May-pole. After the luncheon each guest +may unfasten the little bow at her place, give the ribbon a jerk, and +draw a bunch of violets. The ribbons passing over the top of the vase +will hold the vase firmly in place. + +APPLE-BLOSSOM LUNCHEON.--For this use blossoms which are but half blown. +Place branches of them in glass bottles full of water and fasten with +wires to the backs of the pictures in the dining-room. The sideboard +should be covered with great branches put in tall cut-glass vases and +low silver bowls; the mantel banked, and in the corners of the room tall +Japanese jars filled with great spraying branches. In the centre of the +table may be placed a vase filled with pure white cherry blossoms. The +candlesticks should be shaded with white and silver. Back of a screen at +each end of the room a lamp may be set to give a brilliant light to the +flowers on the wall, without the glare of the lamp being visible. + +PANSY LUNCHEON.--A pretty and an original way to decorate a table with +pansies when one has quantities of these flowers is to place in the +centre of the table upon a glass salver an old-fashioned glass +fruit-bowl on a pedestal. Fill the fruit-bowl and salver with white +cornmeal which has been well soaked in cold water, and in this insert +the pansy stems. They should be placed as thickly as possible. Around +the outer edge of the salver have a border of maidenhair fern. An oblong +glass dish arranged in a similar manner may be placed at each end of the +table. If desired little dishes arranged in the same way may also be +used. + +"RAINY-DAY LUNCHEON."--This is certainly an original idea. Place an old +umbrella frame vertically in a fernery and twist smilax around the frame +and down each spoke. At the base of the fernery make a bed of violets as +large around in circumference as the umbrella. At the luncheon hour hide +a small lump of ice in the smilax at the end of each spoke, allowing it +to melt and drip on the violets. This makes a pretty decoration for a +luncheon, particularly if wild violets can be procured. + + + + +FLOWER PARTY + + +When the guests have assembled, each one is given a tiny flower-pot. +These are easily made out of red paper--a long strip and a round, with +the aid of the mucilage pot. In these tiny pots the following list of +flowers to be guessed is tucked away: + + MAKE THESE HIDDEN FLOWERS SPROUT + + 1. An amiable man. (Sweet William) + + 2. The pulse of the business world. (Stocks) + + 3. A title for the sun. (Morning-glory) + + 4. A bird and a riding accessory. (Larkspur) + + 5. A pillar of a building and a syllable that rhymes with + dine. (Columbine) + + 6. A flower between mountains. (Lily of the valley) + + 7. A farewell sentiment. (Forget-me-not) + + 8. A dude and an animal. (Dandelion) + + 9. A part of the day. (Four-o'clock) + + 10. The result of Cupid's arrows. (Bleeding heart) + + 11. The place for a kiss. (Tulips) + + 12. A yellow stick. (Goldenrod) + + 13. A product of the dairy and a drinking utensil. + (Buttercup) + + 14. One of the Four Hundred. (Aster) + + 15. What Cinderella should have advertised for. (Lady's + slipper) + + 16. A wild animal and a bit of outdoor wearing apparel. + (Foxglove) + +The list of answers is of course kept in hand by the hostess. When the +first part of the game has been played and the answers verified, a +continuation of the fun is a contest of all as to who can write the best +verse containing in any way whatever all the above flowers. Judges must +be appointed, and, of course, prizes awarded for the verse contest as +well as for the guessing game. This last contest may be omitted, if +wished, but it adds fun and calls forth much ingenuity and cleverness. +The prizes might be little potted plants, so many of which grace the +florists' windows at this time of year; these for the women, and +scarf-pins in the shape of flowers for the men. + +To select partners for refreshments, give to each lady a flower of a +different variety; if it is impossible to secure a sufficient quantity +of natural blossoms, paper ones will do quite as well, and these may be +made at home. To the gentlemen hand cards bearing quotations referring +to some flower, but inserting a blank where the name occurs. Each +gentleman may claim his partner when he finds the flower that fits his +verse. + +The following are a few suggestive quotations: + + "A (violet) by a mossy stone + Half hidden from the eye." + + "As the (sunflower) turns on her god when he sets + The same look which she turn'd when he rose." + + "Gather ye (rosebuds) while ye may, + Old Time is still a-flying." + + "And there is (pansies); that's for thoughts." + + "Pale fear oppress'd the drooping maid-- + And on her cheek the (rose) began to fade." + + "And the blue (gentian-flower), that, in the breeze, + Nods lonely, of her beauteous race the last." + +For the supper have a salad served in little paper boxes decorated with +strips of pink tissue paper cut either in narrow slashes like the +chrysanthemum petals, or in broader ones to represent the rose. Ices can +be obtained in many flower forms, and if to these be added real stems +and leaves, the service will be as dainty and attractive as possible. + + + + +FLOWERS ILLUSTRATED + + + 1. Buttercup. + + 2. Daisy. + + 3. Sunflower. + + 4. Trumpet vine. + + 5. Lily of the valley. + + 6. Morning-glory. + + 7. Violet. + + 8. Dandelion. + + 9. Lady's-slipper. + + 10. Bachelor's-button. + + 11. Aster. + + 12. Tulip. + + 13. Goldenrod. + + 14. Cat-tail. + + 15. Sweet William. + + 16. Sweet peas. + + 17. Ragged sailor. + + 18. Bleeding heart. + + 19. Poppy. + + 20. Black-eyed Susan. + + 21. Foxglove. + + 22. Queen's lace handkerchief. + + 23. Bluebell. + + 24. Everlasting. + + 25. Marshmallow. + + 26. Solomon's-seal. + +They are illustrated in this way: 1. A cup of butter. 2. The picture of +a book, cut from a magazine, having the title blotted out, and showing +only the words, "by Charlotte M. Yonge" (the author of "The Daisy +Chain"). 3. A colored illustration of the solar spectrum. 4. A tin +trumpet. 5. A picture of a valley. 6. A card upon which is printed "6 A. +M." 7. A picture of a book upon which is written, "by Julia Magruder" +(author of "The Violet"). 8. The picture of a lion, to which has been +added, with pen and ink, a silk hat, collar and cane. 9. A pair of +slippers. 10. A variety of buttons, poorly sewed upon a piece of cloth. +11. A card upon which is written, "A well-known hotel and library." 12. +Photograph of a part of a face. 13. A slender stick, gilded. 14. A +picture of cats. 15. A card with the words "Dear Will." 16. A few peas +in a saucer of sugar. 17. A Brownie sailor, torn and dilapidated. 18. A +red paper heart. 19. The written words, "Sleep, sweet sleep." 20. A +picture of a girl, the eyes having been painted black. 21. A pair of +gloves. 22. A dainty handkerchief. 23. A small bell, painted blue. 24. A +leather advertisement under which are the words, "Never wear out." 25. +A box of marshmallows. 26. A large seal with the letter S. + +To the one who succeeds in finding the greatest number of flowers can be +given a beautiful basket of roses. + + + + +FOURTH OF JULY MUSEUM + + +The invitations, gay with the national colors, stated that Miss Blank, +in order to encourage patriotism in her native town, had made a museum +collection of curios connected with noted Americans, and bade a choice +selection of her fellow-townsmen to meet and view the rare objects. + +The booklets passed around among the guests upon their arrival were +attractive enough, a tiny flag being painted in one corner of the cover, +which also contained the legend: + + The Fourth of July Museum + At Miss Blank's + July the Fourth + Nineteen hundred and blank. + +A red, white and blue ribbon held the booklet together, and at the end +of this was a small white pencil. + +We found it best to pair off the players, for two heads are so much +better than one, and it is a great satisfaction to give help to one's +neighbor without fear and without reproach. Each of the booklets +contained a date or an event in United States history, and the man who +drew the booklet containing "1492" became the partner of the girl who +held "Discovery of America." + +The museum specimens were arranged on tables or mounted on cards, and +each one was numbered conspicuously. The following list of twenty-two +names was used. It can be lengthened, or the celebrities may be +otherwise represented, according to the resources of the hostess. +Magazine pictures of the articles may be substituted for the real +thing, to simplify preparations. Here is the list, which may be greatly +extended: + + Paul Revere--a toy horse with rider, labeled "The Horse + Travels Best by Night." + + Abraham Lincoln--two small darkies, labeled "All Free." + + Washington--a bunch of cherries, labeled "Our National + Fruit." + + Carrie Nation--a toy hatchet, labeled "You Think You Know. + Guess Again." + + General Grant--a chocolate cigar. + + Theodore Roosevelt--a doll's Rough Rider hat. + + Richmond Hobson--a confectioner's "kiss." + + Barbara Frietchie--the national flag. + + Theodore Thomas--a bar of music and a street-car + _conductor's_ cap. + + Benjamin Harrison--his grandfather's hat. + + Mark Twain--_Two_ pencil-_marks_. + + P. T. Barnum--a hippopotamus, labeled "The Greatest Show on + Earth." + + Harriet Beecher Stowe--"Uncle Tom's Cabin," represented by a + toy negro cabin. + + Priscilla Alden--a picture of a Puritan at a spinning-wheel. + + Jefferson Davis--a Confederate dollar bill. + + William J. Bryan--a silver dollar (number _sixteen_ in the + collection). + + Miss Stone--the _stone_ figure of a woman, labeled + "Kidnapped," or a copy of Stevenson's "Kidnapped." + + Joseph Jefferson--a little dog, labeled "My Dog Schneider." + + Nathaniel Hawthorne--"The Scarlet Letter," represented by a + medium-size red envelope. + + Eli Whitney--a cotton-gin, represented by a branch of + cotton, and a bottle, labeled "Pure Holland Gin." + + Robert Fulton--a toy steamboat. + + Benjamin Franklin--a kite and a key. + +The national colors may be used effectively in the decorations of the +rooms or of the table, and the prizes for the winners may be silk flags, +photographs of historic places or other souvenirs suggestive of the day. + +Appropriate place-cards for a Fourth of July luncheon or dinner may be +made by covering small glass bottles about the size of a firecracker +with red tissue paper, and filling them with little candies. By cutting +the corks even with the bottles and drawing a small piece of twine +through for a fuse, a clever imitation of a cracker is made. The names +of the guests may be put vertically on the bottles. + + + + +GAME OF NATIONS + + +Provide each guest with a list of questions, with spaces left for the +answers. The answers consist of words ending in "N-A-T-I-O-N." Here are +the questions and the answers: + + 1. A popular flower. 1. Carnation. + + 2. Unruliness. 2. Insubordination. + + 3. A gift for charitable purposes. 3. Donation. + + 4. The installation of a king. 4. Coronation. + + 5. Resolution, or "grit." 5. Determination. + + 6. The murder of an eminent person. 6. Assassination. + + 7. Fancy, or mental representations. 7. Imagination. + + 8. Making anything clear. 8. Explanation. + + 9. A small surgical operation legally enforced. + 9. Vaccination. + + 10. The giving up of an office. 10. Resignation. + + 11. A joining or putting together. 11. Combination. + + 12. The choosing of a candidate. 12. Nomination. + +The prizes should then be awarded. A pretty silk banner will be +acceptable to a man, while a big bunch of red and white carnations tied +with a blue ribbon, or a pound of confectionery in a box decorated with +flags and other patriotic emblems will make a pretty gift for a lady. + + + + +GEOGRAPHICAL GAME + + +Seat the players in a ring. Let the first one say aloud the name of a +city, mountain, river, lake, etc., located in any part of the world; the +next player give a name beginning with the final letter of the +previously said name, and the third supply one beginning with the final +letter of the second, and so on around the ring. Thus: America, Athens, +Santiago, Ohio. Each player is allowed thirty seconds in which to think. +If, by the end of that time, he has failed to supply a name, he must +drop out of the game. The one who keeps up longest is the champion. Any +player, at any time, may be challenged to give the geographical location +of the place he has named. If, on demand, he cannot do so he must pay a +forfeit. + + + + +GEORGE AND MARTHA TEA + + +The walls should be hung with red, white and blue bunting, relieved at +regular intervals with shields and small hatchets made of flowers in the +national colors. + +Have George and Martha receive the guests, and there may be also a +number of men and women attired in colonial costumes to introduce +strangers and see that all have a good time. + +Behind a bower of foliage an orchestra might play the national airs, and +as the object of the evening should be to promote sociability, it would +be well to have a number of interesting games in which all can join. + +One of these might be a list of the presidents in anagram form, written +on a large blackboard; the names in parentheses, of course, are not +written out, thus: + + 1. L m jak pokes (James K. Polk) + + 2. Yatch lazy roar (Zachary Taylor) + + 3. Lord film rill a me (Millard Fillmore) + + 4. Knife lancer rip (Franklin Pierce) + + 5. Jamb haunce ans (James Buchanan) + + 6. Berth your she fad (Rutherford B. Hayes) + + 7. C H hurt a rare set (Chester A. Arthur) + + 8. Jasmine in horn bar (Benjamin Harrison) + + 9. Willie m mink clay (William McKinley) + + 10. O shogging rantwee (George Washington) + + 11. Jam nod has (John Adams) + + 12. Oft John fear mess (Thomas Jefferson) + + 13. Mard jess moan (James Madison) + + 14. Jo means more (James Monroe) + + 15. Jay chins Quon dam (John Quincy Adams) + + 16. Son rack and Jew (Andrew Jackson) + + 17. A rum Tannin verb (Martin Van Buren) + + 18. Harsh iron aim will (William H. Harrison) + + 19. If gales mead jar (James A. Garfield) + + 20. Carver delve long (Grover Cleveland) + + 21. Man in cab or hall (Abraham Lincoln) + + 22. Yes glass turns (Ulysses S. Grant) + + 23. Holy rent J (John Tyler) + +At the end of half an hour present to the most successful guesser a +George Washington hat of violet candy, filled with red and white +bonbons. + +But let the main feature of the evening be a small room fashioned into a +portrait-drawing studio, the lads and lassies in charge and everything +about the room having an old-time look. + +Above the door have printed in the quaint spelling of long ago that all +who wish can have a silhouette picture of themselves for only five +cents, and doubtless a goodly sum will be realized, as people are +always interested, not only in their own, but in their friends' +physiognomy, and much fun will follow in exchanging shadow pictures. + +Have ready a quantity of large sheets of paper, black on one side and +white on the other, also white cardboard; a sheet of paper is to be +fastened to the wall, white side out, and a lighted candle placed about +three feet from the paper. Then the one having his picture taken is +seated between the candle and wall, so that a strongly defined profile +falls upon the paper; the shadow is to be traced with a steady hand, cut +out, and then pasted on the cardboard, with the black side of the paper +out. + +An old-fashioned candelabrum, surrounded by a wreath of blue violets and +red and white carnations, might grace the centre of the dining-table, +and at either end tall silver candlesticks with candles burning under +shades of a rosy hue might be placed. + +Let the bonbons be held in boxes imitating the cocked hat of the +Continental Army; have sandwiches of different kinds and sorts, with +tiny silk flags bearing the name of the sandwich. Besides these the +eatables might consist of good old-fashioned gingerbread, crullers, +doughnuts, and coffee, followed by apples and nuts. + + + + +GIRLS' NAMES CONTEST + + + 1. What an army would do if it found a river too deep to + ford. (Bridget) + + 2. An admirable quality in a young woman. (Grace) + + 3. The most prominent of Easter flowers. (Lily) + + 4. The time for violets. (May) + + 5. A gem. (Pearl) + + 6. What papa does with the baby. (Carrie) + + 7. How to write a postscript. (Adaline) + + 8. The flower of June. (Rose) + + 9. What a scissors-grinder and a locomotive have in common. + (Belle) + + 10. A virtue. (Patience) + + 11. An article. (Ann) + + 12. First steps in music. (Dora [do-re]) + + 13. Two consecutive letters of the alphabet in transposed + order. (Effie [F-E]) + + 14. The night before. (Eve) + + 15. A little valley. (Adelle) + +The slips are to be collected and the one having the greatest number of +correct answers may be rewarded with some inexpensive souvenir. + + + + +GOLF LUNCHEON + + +When our golfing enthusiast desires to entertain her golfing friends, +she cannot do better than bid them to a luncheon set to the keynote of +their favorite sport. + +Naturally, the table decorations will be red and green--deep red roses +or scarlet geraniums laid in flat bunches upon the "fair field" of snowy +cloth and encircling the dishes, caught together by "links" of smilax. +Perhaps, too, pale green candles, beneath ruby-hued shades, might still +further carry out the scheme of color. + +The table may be arranged with a "putting green" in the centre made of a +square of sponge cake frosted with pistachio. A little hole should be +cut in the centre. Miniature caddy bags made of red satin and filled +with red geraniums and ferns are pretty decorations. A little golf ball +for the "putting green" can be made by covering a preserved cherry with +white icing. "Bunkers" can be made across the corners of the table by +using fine wire netting. At each place a small caddy bag can hold the +knives, forks, and spoons of the service, and in the bottom of the bag +can be placed a "Jackson ball"--one of those hard, striped red and +white, old-fashioned candies. + +The bread sticks and cheese straws should be fashioned like golfing +sticks, and the ices be in the form of balls, small and white. Lastly, +with the coffee and bonbons, are passed souvenir cards on which are +daintily painted bags of golfing implements, heads of pretty girls in +outing hats, or bits of rural landscape. + + + + +GOLF PLAYERS' GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. A coachman. (Driver) + + 2. An oriental herb. (Tee) + + 3. A receptacle for the herb. (Caddie) + + 4. What an impudent fellow is apt to be. (Brassie) + + 5. A rustic expression for aimless working. (Putter) + + 6. A bazaar, and a color. (Fair-green) + + 7. The point of a pen and a lap of the tongue. (Niblic) + + 8. To crush and two letters. (Mashie) + + 9. A chance. (Hazard) + + 10. A large social function. (Ball) + + 11. A definite and an indefinite number. (Foursome) + + 12. Parts of a chain. (Links) + + 13. A bed and to mistake. (Bunker) + + 14. Number twenty. (Score) + + 15. Little pits. (Holes) + +The two who, within a given time, answer the most of these fifteen +questions should be rewarded with appropriate prizes, as one of the +handy little score books to be slipped upon the belt, containing the +official score; a picture of the typical golf girl; or some volume on +the popular and fascinating game. + + + + +GOOD LUCK PARTY + + +This was given by a clever maiden to a departing girl friend, but the +idea could be utilized in various ways. + +Each invitation took the form of a cordial note which was written on +white note-paper bordered with pen-and-ink sketches of horseshoes, +wishbones and four-leaf clovers. + +Enclosed with each invitation was a guest card with the name of the +person receiving it written in gilt at the top. Below this was a row of +horseshoes, also done in gilt. Each guest was requested to write on this +card a toast, in rhyme, to the departing friend, and to bring it to the +party on the appointed evening. + +The decorations of the rooms upon the evening of the party were +appropriate to the occasion. Horseshoes gilded or covered with tin-foil +hung over the folding doors and window-curtains, and depended from the +chandeliers, which were draped with festoons of ribbon ornamented with +wishbones and horseshoes of all sizes cut from gilt paper. + +A large screen standing in front of the dining-room doors was decorated +with artificial clover blossoms. In the dining-room similar decorations +prevailed. In the centre of the dining-table, upon a centrepiece +embroidered with the emblems of good luck, stood a candelabra bearing +green and white candles. Encircling the centrepiece was a large +horseshoe of cardboard covered with green paper. Outside the horseshoe +outlining it were small glasses resting on green paper clover leaves. + +At each corner of the table was placed a plate of delicious sugar +cookies baked in the shape of four-leaf clovers; each one was topped +with a gilded wish-bone. + +The chairs were arranged around the room in the form of a horseshoe. + +The main feature of the evening was the hunt for four-leaf clovers. +These leaves, which were cut out of green glacé paper, had been hidden +by the hostess in every nook and corner of the down-stairs rooms, and +much amusement was afforded the young people as they eagerly sought +them. At the conclusion of a given time the signal to stop hunting was +given and each guest counted the leaves he or she had found. The one +having the greatest number was presented with a dainty stick-pin in the +shape of a four-leaf clover. + +The refreshments consisted only of ginger ale and cookies, and as her +guests partook of them the hostess read aloud the toasts which had been +handed to her. She presented them at the conclusion of the evening to +the guest of honor. + +Each guest was next asked to tell "the biggest piece of good luck which +ever came to you." The numerous recitals given created no end of fun. + +When the party broke up and the good-nights were said each guest carried +away as a souvenir of the occasion a bright new penny for a "luck +piece." + + + + +GYPSY FORTUNE-TELLING + + +Added to the charm and mystery of having one's fortune told is the great +pleasure which may be derived from having it told by a gypsy, even +though she may be an amateur. + +An hour of amusement may be passed very delightfully in this way, +provided the hostess can make the necessary arrangements with some +quick-witted, bright young girl, who will be willing to take the part of +the gypsy. Several days before the evening's entertainment the hostess +should give her friend a list of the expected guests, with a few notes +concerning their traits of character, environment, etc., and these +suggestions, in addition to the knowledge of the persons which she +possesses, and her own inventiveness, will give her an excellent +opportunity apparently to look back in the past, and forward to the +future--especially if she happen to discover that any engaged couples +are to be present. The gypsy should arrive at the house of the hostess a +little early on the evening of the entertainment, and be shown to an +up-stairs room to don her gypsy attire. She should then descend to the +dimly-lighted parlor and seat herself in readiness for the guests when +they shall arrive. + +As the guests arrive and remove their wraps they should be received and +greeted in the library or reception-room, and the hostess should then +announce that a gypsy is in the parlor. Having learned in some way that +there was to be a large party there, she has begged the privilege of +coming in to tell fortunes for the pretty ladies, so that she might earn +a few pennies. The guests repair to the dimly-lighted parlor, where the +gypsy is seated. As each guest advances and seats himself, the gypsy +takes the extended right hand and reads the lines--improvising as she +does so in broken English. + + + + +HALLOWE'EN BOX CAKE + + +The newest fashion in Hallowe'en supper-table decoration is a cake made +of white pasteboard boxes, in shape like pieces of pie, which fit +together and give the appearance of a large cake. Each one of the boxes +is covered with a white paper which resembles frosting. At the close of +the feast the pieces are distributed, each box containing some little +souvenir suitable to Hallowe'en. One box, of course, contains a ring, +another a thimble, a third a piece of silver, a fourth a mitten, a fifth +a fool's cap, and so on. Much fun is created as the boxes are opened, +and the person who secures the ring is heartily congratulated. The +unlucky individual who gets the fool's cap must wear it for the evening. + + + + +HALLOWE'EN GAMES + + +Have a card and a candle for each guest, the candles in as many +different colors as possible, and one corner of each card turned down +and tied with baby ribbon--one color for ladies, and another for +gentlemen. On the cards have couplets written foretelling future events, +such as: + + Who gets the candle colored red + Will have long life, but never wed. + + If you choose the candle green + You'll have the prettiest wife e'er seen. + + For you the kind fates have a plan + Whereby you sure _will_ get a man. + +Let each guest take a card and a candle (if the base of the candle is +warmed it will stick to the card), read the couplet aloud, then light +the candle, and holding it at arm's length blow it out. If it is blown +out upon the first trial the person will be married within a year; if +upon the second trial, within two years, etc. + +Write rhymes of four or six lines on thin paper, and place in chestnut +shells. Tie together with ribbon, the ladies' in one color, the +gentlemen's in another. If there are personal hits in the rhymes, tie +the name of the person for whom each one is intended on the outside of +the shell. + +Hide a ring, a thimble and a penny in the room. To the one who finds the +ring speedy marriage is assured; the thimble denotes a life of single +blessedness; the penny promises wealth. + +Have one of the young ladies who knows a little palmistry be the witch +of the evening. A short, bright-hued skirt, a gay plaid shawl crossed +over her shoulders, a scarf bound about her head, will make a very +striking costume, and, with the aid of a little paint and powder, quite +an effective disguise. If she is enough acquainted with the guests to +give some personal history she can produce some very "telling" fortunes. + +After the witch has exhausted her ingenuity as palmist, let her offer to +disclose the name of the future bride or groom of each one present, by +means of the fairy mirror. The room she uses should be dimly lighted. +She writes the name on a mirror with French chalk, rubs it off lightly +with a silk handkerchief, and calls in the person for whom the name is +written. + +Prepare a basket of rosy cheeked apples, each with the initials of a +name pricked in the skin, which names must be used in counting the apple +seeds. + +After the supper table has been cleared of all except the decorations +and candles, have a large dish filled with burning alcohol and salt +brought in and placed in the centre. Seated around this ghostly fire, +all other lights except the candles having been extinguished, let the +guests tell stirring stories rigmarole fashion; that is, some one +starting the story and stopping short at its most exciting point and +letting his neighbor continue it, etc., each one trying to make it as +interesting as possible. + + + + +HALLOWE'EN PARTY + + +All formality must be dispensed with on Hallowe'en. Not only will quaint +customs and mystic tricks be in order, but the decorations and +refreshments, and even the place of meeting, must be as strange and +mystifying as possible. + +For the country or suburban home a roomy barn is decidedly the best +accommodation that can be provided. If this is not practicable, a large +attic, running the entire length of the house, is the next choice; but +if this also is denied the ambitious hostess, let the kitchen be the +place of meeting and of mystery, with the dining-room, cleared of its +usual furniture and decorated suitably for the occasion, reserved for +the refreshments. + +The light should be supplied only by Jack-o'-lanterns hung here and +there about the kitchen, with candles in the dining-room. + +The decorations need not be expensive to be charming, no matter how +large the room. Large vases of ferns and chrysanthemums and umbrella +stands of fluffy grasses will be desirable; but if these cannot be +readily obtained, quantities of gayly tinted autumn leaves will be quite +as appropriate. Festoons of nuts, bunches of wheat or oats, and strings +of cranberries may also help to brighten the wall decorations, and the +nuts and cranberries will be useful in many odd arrangements for +ornamenting the refreshment table. + +Have the table long enough (even if it must be extended with boards the +whole length of the barn or attic) to accommodate all the guests at +once. Arrange huge platters of gingerbread at each corner, with dishes +of plain candies and nuts here and there, and pyramids of fruit that +will be quickly demolished when the guests are grouped about the table. +No formal waiting will be desirable. + + + + +HALLOWE'EN SUGGESTIONS + + +Have mirrors everywhere: big mirrors, medium-sized mirrors, and little, +wee mirrors, all reflecting and multiplying countless candles that burn +in candlesticks of every description (most novel are those made from +long-necked gourds and tiny squashes). + +Across the top and down the sides of each doorway hang festoons of +yellow and white corn and turn the husks back to show the firm, +glistening kernels. Each window can be garlanded in like manner as well +as the tops of mantels and picture frames. Clusters of red ears may +depend from the chandeliers. Here and there, in the most unexpected +corners, can be placed Jack-o'-lanterns, smiling or gnashing their +teeth, amid great shocks of corn. The great hall and stairway can be +draped with fish-nets through the meshes of which are thrust many ears +of corn. A stately Jack must point the guests up the stairs where two +other individuals will usher them to the dressing-rooms. + +Drape one doorway with a portière of apples--apples strung on strings of +varying lengths. As the guests pass through, the tallest stoop for those +suspended on the longest strings and the shortest reach for those on the +short strings. Those who succeed in throwing three tiny apples through +the horseshoe, which is hung in the midst of these apples, are assured +of phenomenal luck for the ensuing year. + +In another doorway hang a big pear-shaped pumpkin, on whose shining +surface all the letters of the alphabet have been burned with a hot +poker. Keep this rapidly twirling while the guests, in turn, try to stab +some letter with long meat-skewers. The letter that is hit will +establish beyond question the initial letter of one's fate. + +Place in a tub of water red, yellow and green apples. Provide each guest +with a toy bow and arrow. The young man or maiden who succeeds in firing +an arrow into a red apple will be assured of good health; plenty of +money is in store for those shooting arrows into yellow ones; and good +luck is in store for those hitting the green ones. + +Blindfold each girl present and, presenting her with a wand, lead her to +a table on which have been placed flags of the different men's colleges. +The flag her wand happens to touch will indicate the college of her +future husband. + +Browning nuts, popping corn, roasting apples, and toasting marshmallows +will add a great deal to the pleasure of the evening. + +The dining-table should be draped in pale green crepe paper, the lights +above being shrouded in gorgeous orange. Pumpkins of various sizes +should be scooped and scraped to a hollow shell and, lined with waxed +paper and filled with good things to eat, should be placed in the centre +of the table. Lighted candles and quaint oriental lanterns will add +greatly to the decorations. + +The menu should include bannocks, scones, and other Scotch dainties. If +desired, droning bagpipes might accompany the feast. + +After listening to ghostly tales related by white-draped figures, the +guests may receive all sorts of amusing souvenirs from a large pumpkin +placed on a table at the door. + + + + +HANDKERCHIEF BAZAAR + + + Of all our friends, both far and near, + We beg the kind attention; + So please to lend us now your ear, + While we a subject mention. + + To carry on our C. E. work, + In the country and the city, + We need more money very bad, + And hope you'll help us with it. + + The committee intend to hold + On a day not distant far + A sale for both the young and old,-- + A handkerchief bazaar. + + So this, then, is our plea in brief: + To aid our enterprise + We beg of you a handkerchief, + Of any kind or size. + + _Please send by mail before April 5th to_ + +The above invitation, which should be printed on a neat card, explains +itself. The details of the bazaar may be arranged as desired. + + + + +HATCHET PARTY + + +If the Hatchet Party is given at home appropriate invitations can be +issued in the form of a hatchet, bearing the words in quaint letters: + + "_Ye Young Women's Christian Temperance Union extends ye + invitation to meete ye Hatchet Familie of ye anciente tyme at + ye home of Miss May Caspel, 236 Bell Avenue, on Wednesday + evening, ye 22d of Februarie of ye year of our Lorde 1905, at + eight of ye clock._" + +The decorations should conform to the spirit of the evening. A large +hatchet covered with white curled tissue paper may be hung in the hall. +Plaques of little red, white and blue hatchets may take the place of +flowers, and in the hall or reception room there should be a little +table of "Souvenirs." These should be little bronze hatchets with the +letters Y. W. C. T. U. on one side. Their handles should be tied with +narrow ribbon--red, white and blue--and each guest should be allowed to +select his color. Thus everybody has the opportunity offered to him of +becoming a member by selecting the white ribbon, and in this way +everybody is compelled to "show his colors." + +If simple refreshments are served, let the Japanese napkins have a big +hatchet gilded on them, and let there be some plates of hatchet cookies, +formed by the cutter that any tinsmith will make from a pattern. + +Have old-fashioned candy--peppermint, wintergreen, sassafras and +molasses--instead of bonbons. Play the old games--hunt the slipper, +blind man's buff, hide and seek. + +Names for the members of the Hatchet Family who are to receive the +guests: + + Johanna Adams Hatchet, + + Tomazine Jefferson Hatchet, + + Jamesina Madison Hatchet, + + Jemima Monroe Hatchet, + + J. Quinciana Adams Hatchet, + + Andrewsia Jackson Hatchet, + + Wilhemina Henrietta Harrison Hatchet, + + Johnesetta Tyler Hatchet, + + Marty Van Buren Hatchet, + + Jinny Keturah Polk Hatchet, + + Zacherina Taylor Hatchet, + + Millarella Fillmore Hatchet. + +Ask the girls who impersonate these characters to come in Martha +Washington dress, a flowered chintz or silk overdress, opening in front +to show a silk or sateen skirt of a plain color, which may be quilted if +desired. The waist is made to open over a white neckerchief and has +elbow sleeves. A little round mob cap of muslin or lace, with a frill, a +band of ribbon around it, and a coquettish bow complete the costume. + + + + +ICE FESTIVAL + + +To step from midsummer into winter was a surprise, when the admission +ticket was dropped in the box at the door on the night of the festival +and its erstwhile owner passed into the hall. Small tables stood by pine +and cedar trees that were covered with alum icicles and sifted over with +diamond dust. Here groups of friends ate their cream and cake together, +served by snow spirits in white tarletan gowns that sparkled with +diamond dust, or ice fays whose white costumes glittered with glass +beads. On the stage, white canton flannel and diamond dust, heavy gray +wrapping paper folded into rocks, trees and a rustic bridge made a +realistic representation of a snowclad landscape. The pleasing program +consisted of dainty dances by children dressed as snowflakes, a pretty +ball game played with snowballs, recitations and songs appropriate to +the winter season. Another novelty was a tree covered with raw cotton +snowballs, with numbers attached. These were sold for twenty-five +cents--each purchaser choosing a number--and contained the small fancy +articles usually sold at fairs--pincushions, needle-books, cups and +saucers, etc. The windows were all screened and electric fans hidden by +evergreens kept the hall from getting overheated. In one corner was a +large pond, made of a shallow wooden tank surrounded by more gray paper +rocks and white cotton snow, in which real cakes of ice were floating, +and from which any one was at liberty to dip as much ice water as he +cared to drink. This festival was a great success. + + + + +INAUGURATION DAY LUNCH + + +The guests at this luncheon are to represent the Vice-President and the +eight members of the Cabinet, but if the hostess wishes to entertain a +larger number, she can introduce one or two of the foreign Ambassadors. +Give to each guest, as she arrives, a card bearing the title of one of +the Cabinet, as the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, and, if +necessary, the English Ambassador. While waiting for luncheon, each one +must guess the name of the man she represents, in order to know her +place at the table, where only the proper names, not the titles, will be +used. It will be surprising to discover how few of the members of the +Cabinet are known by name to the majority of persons. + +Pink carnations will be appropriate for all decorations. Have a large +bowl of these in the centre of the table, and at each corner lay on the +cloth as a doily a spread eagle cut from gilt paper, the pattern for +which can be taken from a revenue flag or a ten dollar gold piece. Make +the distance from tip to tip of the wings about twelve inches, and from +the head to the tail seven inches. Place upon the eagles dishes of +olives, nuts, and pink candies. + +From the chandelier to the corners of the table have sound money +festoons, which are made by cutting out of gilt paper a number of disks +the size of a twenty-five cent piece. Paste these together in pairs, +first laying between them a long thread which connects them through the +middle and forms a chain. + +For favors have cards of water-color paper painted around the edges with +a festoon of pink ribbon, in which, at intervals, are knotted scrolls +and documentary envelopes upon which are printed some of the principles +of the Republican party, such as "The Monroe doctrine reaffirmed," +"Reduction of war taxes," "Allegiance to the gold standard," etc. At the +top of each card write the name of the person whom each guest is to +represent. + +In the centre of the card will be the menu, which is as follows: + + Post Office Soup + The Army + The Navy Small Shot + Agricultural Salad + Cabinet Pudding + Ices Philippine Cakes + Coffee + +A clear soup, with noodles for letters, fills the requirements of the +Post Office. The second course is creamed sweetbreads served in small +paper boxes, which stand upon large pilot crackers, or, in army +language, "hard tack." A sheet of paper folded double, like an army +tent, rests upon the crackers, covering the box; wooden toothpicks stuck +through the sides of the tent into the paper box will prevent the former +from slipping out of place, and can easily be removed after serving. On +the outside of the tents paint in large, clear letters U. S. A. The +crackers are to be eaten with the sweetbreads. + +The navy is represented by having the chicken croquettes formed in the +shape of a ship, flat, and having one end pointed, the other somewhat +rounding. From a druggist get two or three straws, such as are used for +soda water, cut them into short lengths, and just before serving, stand +two or three in each croquette to represent smokestacks. If these straws +cannot be obtained, toothpick masts with paper sails will be quite as +effective. The croquettes should be served with green peas--small +shot--and scalloped potatoes. + +Agricultural or vegetable salad, served in beets, makes a most +attractive looking dish. Beets of medium and uniform size are first +boiled until tender, then peeled and placed on the ice. When cold cut +off a slice at the bottom, so they will stand firm, scoop out the +insides, leaving only thin walls. For the filling use peas and apples, +celery and beets, cut into small pieces, and mixed well with mayonnaise; +fill the beets, serving them on lettuce leaves. The cabinet pudding is +that which is to be found in any cook book, baked in individual forms, +and served with foamy sauce. + +The ices are in the form of horseshoes for good luck, and with them are +the Philippine cakes. These are small cakes having in the centre of each +a tiny black china doll, two of which can be purchased for a cent at any +toy shop. These are put in after the cake is baked and before icing, +leaving them just far enough out to show the arms. + +The "coffee which makes the politician wise," may be served at the table +or after returning to the parlor. + + + + +INDEPENDENCE DAY NECESSITIES + + + 1. A powerful submarine weapon of offense. + + 2. A destroying element, and an accompaniment to an + oyster-stew. + + 3. An ancient civilization, and a feeble means of light. + + 4. A woman's toilet necessity, and part of a wagon. + + 5. A color, and the means of warmth. + + 6. The chief implement of warfare. + + 7. A two-wheeled vehicle, and the peak of a house. + + 8. Where Nature's wealth is stored. + + 9. A kind of stone used in paving. + + 10. Bardolph's companion in King Henry IV. + + 11. One kind of headgear. + + 12. What a wise mother does not do to her baby. + + 13. A carnation with u instead of i. + + 14. A musical organization, and a long lapse of time. + + 15. An Irishman's name, a disorderly uprising, and an + intellectual fad. + +The answers are held by the hostess, of course, and are only divulged +after all the guesses are in. They are as follows: + +ANSWERS + + 1. Torpedoes. + + 2. Fire-crackers. + + 3. Roman candles. + + 4. Pinwheels. + + 5. Red fire. + + 6. Guns. + + 7. Cart-ridge. + + 8. Mines. + + 9. Flag. + + 10. Pistol. + + 11. Caps. + + 12. Rock it (Rocket). + + 13. Pink P(u)nk. + + 14. Band-ages. + + 15. Pat-riot-ism. + + +INDEPENDENCE DAY MENU + + Soup a la Americaine (Potato) + Colonial Pot Roast + Baked Tomatoes Stewed Corn + Butter Beans + Columbia Salad, with Star-shaped Wafers + Virginia Corn Bread + Independence Pudding, Hard Sauce + Washington Pie Election Cake + Nuts Fruit + Coffee + + + + +INDIAN DINNER PARTY + + +Invitations may be printed or written on birch bark or paper imitations +of same, or on paper cut into the shape of tomahawks, tepees, etc., and +may be hand-painted if desired. Decorations should be Indian blankets +(as portières, couch covers, and mantel draperies), Indian rugs, +baskets, tomahawks, bows and arrows, war clubs, chromos, colored +photographs, clay or papier-mâché Indian heads, plaques and busts, etc., +any of which would make suitable favors. A miniature wigwam made of +blankets in an out-of-the-way corner, adds effectiveness. Footman and +maids may be dressed in Indian costumes made of burlap with bright +colored trimmings and fringes; or the guests may be invited _en +costume_. + +For table decoration a skin should be placed over table cloth through +the centre of the table and upon it an Indian basket filled with any red +or yellow common flowers, such as marigolds or nasturtiums (red and +yellow), or better still with wild flowers, red or yellow. + +The menu cards and name cards, of stiff ecru paper, have Indian +decorations in brilliant red, green and orange; the candles are also +striped in the same vivid colors and the candle holders are made of corn +husks. The canoe, designed for the entree, which is the chicken, is made +of heavy brown paper. + + MENU FOR INDIAN DINNER + + Squaw Soup + (Bouillon) + Wigwam Croquettes + (Fish) + Chicken a la Canoe + Saddle of Mutton + Choctaw Peas Apache Gravy + Arrowhead Potatoes + Calumet Squabs + Pappoose Rolls Wickiup Salad + (Romain) + Prune Sioux + (Feather Cream) + Hiawatha Cakes Indian Punch + Grasshopper Cheese Tomahawk Coffee + + + + +INDOOR LAWN PARTY + + +Our social committee, of which I was then chairman, wanted very much to +have a lawn party; but the season for such things was quite over, as the +evenings were too cool. However, a bright idea occurred to one of our +number, and we decided to have an indoor lawn party. + +The Saturday afternoon before it was to take place, four of the +committee took a team, went out into the woods, and secured a lot of +pine boughs, autumn leaves, etc., and Monday evening, which was the +evening before it occurred, we increased our force of workers, and went +to the vestry to turn it, as far as possible, into an outdoor scene. We +trimmed the chandeliers, posts, and every available spot with boughs, +strung Japanese lanterns all across the room, made a beautiful bower in +one corner for the orchestra, for which we had three pieces, a piano, a +violin, and a cornet. In the opposite corner of the room we had a canvas +tent where fortunes were told at five cents each (by palmistry) by one +of our young lady gypsies. Hammocks were swung from the large stone +posts, and a standing double swing was placed on one side of the room, +where the younger people enjoyed themselves hugely. + +Small tables were put into odd corners of the room, where ice cream and +cake were served by ten young ladies in pretty summer costumes. Lemonade +was served from an old well, which was a large square box or packing +case, covered with canvas, painted to represent a stone wall. To this we +attached a well-sweep made from a branch of a tree, tied on a large new +tin pail, and served the lemonade in small glasses at two cents a glass. +During the evening we had a male quartette gather around the well and +sing "The Old Oaken Bucket," and other selections. The orchestra played +the whole evening with very short intermissions. On one side of the room +was arranged an artistic corner where peanuts were sold at the usual +price of five cents a bag. + + + + +INITIAL CHARACTERISTICS + + + 1. Popular Bishop Phillips Brooks + + 2. Fought Every Wine Frances E. Willard + + 3. Serio-Comic Samuel Clemens + + 4. Fearless Navigator Fridtjof Nansen + + 5. Won England's Greatness W. E. Gladstone + + 6. Little Misses' Admiration Louisa M. Alcott + + 7. Military Suitor Miles Standish + + 8. Rollicking Bard Robert Burns + + 9. United States General U. S. Grant + + 10. Moral Light Martin Luther + + 11. Eulogizes Antipodes Edwin Arnold + + 12. Tamed Ambient Electricity Thomas A. Edison + + 13. A Cunning Delineator A. Conan Doyle + + 14. Handles Christians Hall Caine + + 15. Rabid Iconoclast Robert Ingersoll + + 16. Histrionic Interpreter Henry Irving + + 17. Serpentine Belle Sara Bernhardt + + 18. Equality Benefits Edward Bellamy + + 19. Just Mother's Boy James M. Barrie + + 20. Frames Many Chronicles F. Marion Crawford + + 21. Lord High Celestial Li Hung Chang + + 22. Original, Witty, Humorous Oliver Wendell Holmes + + 23. Nipped Bourbonism Napoleon Bonaparte + + 24. Surgeon, Writer, Metrician S. Weir Mitchell + + 25. Intelligent Zealot Israel Zangwill + + 26. Collected Delectable Writings C. D. Warner + + 27. Curiosity Depicter Charles Dickens + + 28. Cuba's Benefactor Clara Barton + + 29. Eminently Zealous Emile Zola + + 30. Character Revealed Charles Reade + + 31. Caused Revolutionary Discussion Charles R. Darwin + + 32. Joyous Lark Jenny Lind + + 33. Fearless Nurse Florence Nightingale + + 34. Conspicuous Senator Charles Sumner + + 35. Ever Frolicsome Eugene Field + + 36. Suffrage Brings Advantages Susan B. Anthony + + 37. Pens Lyrical Dialect Paul Laurence Dunbar + + 38. Always Loyal Abraham Lincoln + + 39. Great Deed George Dewey + + 40. Won Recent Surrender W. R. Shafter + + + + +JACK-O'-LANTERN PARTY + + +The little guests at this particular party were invited from three +o'clock until seven, and when they arrived they found the rooms were +darkened. The lamps had yellow shades, and as such an occasion would not +be complete without pumpkin Jack-o'-lanterns, there were + + "Pumpkins large and pumpkins small, + Pumpkins short and pumpkins tall, + Pumpkins yellow and pumpkins green, + Pumpkins dull and those with sheen." + +They hung in every nook and corner. Even the jardinières filled with +flowers were made of them. Wood was crackling and blazing in the large +fireplace, as if anxious to do its part to make every one happy, and +hanging from the chandelier was a branch of evergreen, with nuts +suspended in such a fashion that they readily fell to the floor when +given a slight shake. Before this was done, however, each child was +given a paper bag to hold the nuts, which tumbled in all directions. +Then a huge pasteboard pumpkin covered with yellow crinkled paper was +brought in. I do not know what else it was made of; I only know that it +looked like a real pumpkin. Bright-colored ribbons hung over the sides, +and when the small boys and girls took turns in pulling them, out came +all sorts of comical little toys and pretty knickknacks. + +Before supper was announced the children were given French snappers in +fringed paper, in which they found either a gay cap or apron. After +putting them on they marched around the parlors, out into the hall and +into the dining-room, while the mother of the little girl who had +planned this delightful Hallowe'en party played a marching tune for +them. + +The greatest surprise of all awaited them in the dining-room, for the +walls were covered with large branches of evergreens, making it seem +like "real woods"; not a chair was in the room; the little ones were +invited to seat themselves on soft cushions placed on the floor, in true +picnic style, and they had the jolliest time eating their picnic supper +from the yellowest of yellow gourds, which had been hollowed out, lined +with Japanese napkins, and filled with just the things children like +best. On top of each one was an apple--or at least they thought it was, +until taking it in their hands, when it proved to be a bonbon box +filled with delicious nut candy. Then there were dainty sandwiches, pop +corn balls and salad in orange baskets. But better than these were the +gingerbread animals; these were so natural looking that the little ones +knew right away which animals were represented. + +After supper they played games until seven, when they went home, laden +with their bags of nuts and toys and souvenir lanterns. + + + + +JAPANESE CARD PARTY + + +Invitations may be written as the natives write--up and down, instead of +across, on rice paper or paper napkins; or little Japanese dolls may be +sent, each clasping a note of invitation. + +For decorations, use Japanese draperies, cushions, bead curtains, rugs, +baskets, swords, scrolls, umbrellas, vases, fans, lanterns, screens, +bamboo tables and chairs, Japanese fern balls, with tiny Japanese flags +and fans stuck in here and there, red, or red and white Japanese lilies, +ferns combined with red and yellow ribbons, etc.; or the walls of the +rooms may be entirely covered with branches of trees profusely decorated +with cherry blossoms made of pink paper, representing the beautiful +gardens of Tokio. Burning Japanese incense will add to the +effectiveness. The playing cards used should be lacquered designs in red +and yellow--Starlight, Sunlight, Storm, Japanese Lady (Congress brand), +and Japanese Garden, Japanese Scenery, and Sunset (Lenox brand). For the +signals a Japanese gong should be used in place of a bell. The favors +may be Japanese fans, toys and novelties. For keeping score, Japanese +paper fans may be had in pairs (for finding partners), and punched with +a conductor's punch for games won. Or Japanese dolls may be used, +punching their paper kimonos. For prizes, select Japanese incense +burners, vases, cloisonné, tablewares, white metal and bronze +novelties, lacquer goods, handsome fans, or embroidered kimonos. + +The refreshments may be served from a buffet--the guests seated Japanese +fashion on floor cushions--and may include rice cakes; tea punch; tea as +a beverage; "Japanese" salad, made of all kinds of vegetables, served in +inverted Japanese umbrellas; cherry sherbet; Japanese nuts, etc. + + + + +JAPANESE SOCIABLE + + +The invitations to a Japanese sociable should be written as the natives +write, up and down, instead of across, and have a cherry blossom or a +Japanese lady in water-colors in one corner of each. + +The guests should be informed beforehand that each one is to tell +something or read something about Japan, any little item of interest +that may have been heard or read, a pretty poem or a little story. The +hostess and whoever assists her in receiving should wear kimonos and +have tiny fans in their hair. + +Seats in a Japanese corner may easily be arranged of boxes with +portières thrown over them. Numerous cushions may be piled on these +improvised couches and on the floor. A Japanese parasol may be hung in +the corner, tilting forward to form a canopy, and the walls be hung with +bead curtains. The odor from burning joss sticks will contribute to the +realness of the affair. Japanese lanterns should hang about the room. + +After the stories have been told tiny bits of paper and pencils may be +passed and each one present should write down the name of the one who +did best according to her opinion. A Japanese cup and saucer are +presented to the one who receives the most votes. + +A pretty decorative idea for a Japanese sociable is to cover entirely +the walls of the room with branches of trees, with cherry blossoms made +of pink paper--their color in Japan--scattered profusely over them, the +scene representing the beautiful gardens of Tokio. If musicians are to +be present they may be screened by a lattice covered with gold paper, +and vines intertwined, while tiny incandescent lights shine through. +Souvenirs may be distributed from a jinrikisha covered with the cherry +blossoms. + +The dining-room may be readily transformed into Oriental style with very +little trouble. In place of the usual tea-table have several +tabourettes, each holding a teapot, cups and saucers, lemon and sugar +wafers, and Japanese napkins. A cushion made of matting should be placed +on the floor before each tabourette. Those who serve should be in +Japanese costume. Paper cherry blossoms, fastened to tree branches, and +lanterns would make effective decorations. + +If it is desired to have a more elaborate menu, it may be served on +Japanese plates, and should consist of sandwiches folded in Japanese +napkins, vegetable salad, and rice in some form. For dessert serve +sherbet, calling it "cherry blossom ice," and with it have wafers. Tea +and Japanese nuts may be served last to complete the Japanese idea. + + + + +LITERARY CONTEST + + +Have small tables numbered and arranged to seat four or six persons. +Select for each table a judge, who will distribute the cards and blanks. +These judges hold the keys to the contests, so that they may be able to +mark the players correctly. + +Give each player a card attached to a piece of baby ribbon that may be +fastened in the buttonhole. Upon these cards the number of points gained +may be written, punched with a ticket punch, or marked with fancy wafers +of different colors. The cards must be numbered to correspond with the +tables, and as many number one cards provided as there are players at +table number one, and so on. + +When the players are seated at the tables which correspond in number +with the number upon their cards, let the judges distribute blank paper +and pencils, also copies of the questions comprised in the several +contests, among the players at their respective tables. + +A different contest must be prepared for each one of the tables. + +When everything is ready the hostess of the evening should tap a bell +for "silence," and announce that ten minutes will be given for each +contest; that at the first tap of the bell all must begin to write their +answers out, numbering them according to the numbers on the questions; +at the second tap the judges are to collect the answers at their +respective tables and mark on each player's card the number of points +made. The system of marking is as follows: Each player is given as many +marks as he has answered questions correctly, and the totals are summed +up at the end of the game. + +During the progress of the game there must be no talking nor any +questions asked. At the third tap of the bell the players at table +number one go to table number two, and so on, those at the last table +moving up to table number one. This progression continues until all the +players have had their opportunity to answer all the questions in the +contests. At each change blank paper is distributed, and a bell rung as +in the first instance. When the round has been completed the points are +counted and the prizes awarded. A popular book makes an excellent first +prize; a box of candy in the shape of a book, a second; and a "Primer," +a third. + +The following are the various contests: + + +CONTEST NO. 1 + + The charming heroine, my friends, + Was known as ---- ("Alice of Old Vincennes"). + She lived when Indians were a power, + And not ---- ("When Knighthood was in Flower"). + And in those past times, quaint and olden, + She fell in love with ---- ("Eben Holden"). + Then, while her friends began to marvel + A rival came, named ---- ("Richard Carvel"). + Each rival his keen sword did draw, + And heeded not ---- ("The Reign of Law"). + They slew each other, alas! and then + She married a man named ---- ("Crittenden"). + The merry bells rang loud in the steeple + And loudly cheered ---- ("The Voice of the People"). + The two rode away on a double bike + And lived in ---- ("Stringtown on the Pike"). + They did not gossip with each neighbor, + But each one did ---- ("The Portion of Labor"). + + +CONTEST NO. 2 + +_Write out the following quotations correctly:_ + + 1. Beauty is always a thing of joy. + + 2. Let us therefore get up and go to work. + + 3. The man who steals my pocketbook gets very little. + + 4. Every one who knows you, loves you. + + 5. Do pretty and you'll be pretty. + + 6. God keeps the shorn lamb from the wind. + +KEY + + 1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. + + 2. Let us then be up and doing. + + 3. Who steals my purse steals trash. + + 4. None knew thee but to love thee. + + 5. Handsome is that handsome does. + + 6. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb. + + +CONTEST NO. 3 + +_Heroes and heroines--in what books do they figure?_ + + KEY + + 1. John Ridd. "Lorna Doone." + + 2. Agnes Wakefield. "David Copperfield." + + 3. Pomona. "Rudder Grange." + + 4. Dorothea Brooke. "Middlemarch." + + 5. Dorothy Manners. "Richard Carvel." + + 6. Glory Quayle. "The Christian." + + +CONTEST NO. 4 + +_Fill blank spaces with titles of popular novels_ + +In the little village of S---- o-- t-- P----, F---- f-- t---- M---- +C----, lived the H----. P---- S----. With him resided his lovely ward, +J---- M----. She was A---- O----F---- G----, and knew little of T---- +W----, W---- W----. She had, however, A P---- o---- B---- E---- and +G---- E----. Among her admirers were R---- C----, J---- H----, and +T---- L---- M----. + +KEY + +In the little village of "Stringtown on the Pike," "Far from the Madding +Crowd," lived the "Hon. Peter Sterling." With him resided his lovely +ward, "Janice Meredith." She was "An Old-Fashioned Girl," and knew +little of "The Wide, Wide World." She had, however, "A Pair of Blue +Eyes" and "Great Expectations." Among her admirers were "Richard +Carvel," "John Halifax," and "The Little Minister." + + +CONTEST NO. 5 + +_Synonyms for names of literary men_ + + KEY + + 1. Severe. Sterne. + + 2. Strong. Hardy. + + 3. Sombre. Black. + + 4. Jeweler. Goldsmith. + + 5. Crossing-place. Ford. + + 6. Rapid. Swift. + + +CONTEST NO. 6 + +_The answers to these questions are the names of authors_ + + KEY + + 1. When we leave here we go to our what? Holmes. + + 2. What dies only with life? Hope. + + 3. What does a maiden's heart crave? Lover. + + 4. What does an angry person often raise? Caine. + + 5. What should all literary people do? Reade. + + 6. If a young man would win what should he do? Sue. + + +CONTEST NO. 7 + +_Give the name of--_ + + KEY + + The most cheerful author. Samuel Smiles. + + The noisiest author. Howells. + + The tallest author. Longfellow. + + The most flowery author. Hawthorne. + + The holiest author. Pope. + + The happiest author. Gay. + + The most amusing author. Thomas Tickell. + + The most fiery author. Burns. + + The most talkative author. Chatterton. + + The most distressed author. Akenside. + +Again, the hostess may prepare a certain number of blank cards, with the +heading on each one "Who and What?" On a second lot of cards she can +have pasted the pictures of some noted writers--Thackeray, Dickens, +Scott, Dumas, Balzac, Tolstoi, Browning, George Eliot, Carlyle, +Longfellow, Cooper, Emerson, Bryant, Holmes. The pictures of more recent +writers will answer her purpose just as well. These pictures can be +obtained from illustrated catalogues of books. Of these cards there +should be as many as there are guests if the company be a small one, or +as many cards as the hostess may desire; a dozen is a very good number. + +Supply each guest with one of the blank cards and a pencil and then +start into circulation the cards on which are pasted the pictures of the +authors. Let the guests pass the cards from one to another, and write +down, according to the number on the picture-card, and opposite the +corresponding number on their own, the name of each author and some book +he has written. This will be found a more difficult task than one +imagines, and numerous guesses will doubtless go wide of the mark. The +one whose card is filled out correctly, or the nearest to it, may be +presented with a copy of some late popular book, and a toy book might be +used as a booby prize. + + + + +LITERARY EVENING + + +In the note of invitation each one should be requested to wear something +suggestive of a book title. + +Upon arrival, each guest should be furnished with a card bearing the +names of the entire company. When one fancies he has discovered a title, +he should say nothing about it, but write the title opposite the name of +the impersonator. When as much time has been given to this part of the +program as has been thought desirable, the hostess calls the company to +order and reads aloud a correct list of names and titles, and each +corrects his card accordingly; or, still better, let the cards be +exchanged, so that each must correct that of his neighbor, which will +relieve the victor of the necessity of announcing his own success. + +The guests may represent their titles in as inexpensive or as elaborate +a way as they choose. She who represents "Rose in Bloom" need only wear +a full-blown rose. "Sentimental Tommy" wears a Scotch cap bearing the +words "From Thrums" on the front, and, when talking, finds many +opportunities of informing his questioners, "I'll find a w'y!" "The +Hidden Hand" may be represented by a gentleman who carries his hand in a +sling concealed from view. "A Penniless Girl" is easily represented by a +girl carrying an empty purse open and suspended at her belt. "The Woman +in White," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "The Scarlet Letter" are all +easily represented. Three small white wings tied together with a ribbon +represents very well "White Wings" by William Black. + +It is not desirable that the costume speak too plainly of the title +selected, for the guests are expected to question one another regarding +their peculiarities, and so they must be well informed as to the books +they represent. + +An appropriate menu for a literary evening follows: + + MENU + + "And like a lobster boiled."--_Butler._ + (Lobster a la Newburg.) + + "What first I want is daily bread."--_John Quincy Adams._ + (Bread and Butter.) + + "You are lovely leaves."--_Herrick._ + (Lettuce Salad.) + + "I will use the olive."--_Shakespeare._ + (Olives.) + + "My choice would be Vanilla Ice."--_Holmes._ + (Ice Cream.) + + "Water with berries in it."--_Anon._ + (Coffee.) + + "Oh, that I were an almond salted!"--_Merrill._ + (Salted Almonds.) + + + + +LITERARY PEOPLE + + +Write the questions on red cards and the answers on white. Have each +question and answer numbered in succession. Let the gentlemen select the +red and the ladies the white cards, and when the gentlemen read the +questions, let the ladies read the answers. This is also a good way to +match partners for refreshments. + + 1. What flower did Alice Cary? + Pansy. + + 2. What did Eugene Fitch Ware? + John Godfrey Saxe. + + 3. What does Anthony Hope? + To Marietta Holley. + + 4. What happens when John Kendrick Bangs? + Samuel Smiles. + + 5. Why did Helen Hunt Jackson? + Because she wanted him to Dr. O. W. Holmes. + + 6. What did Charles Dudley Warner? + Not to go into a boat and let E. P. Roe. + + 7. Why was Rider Haggard? + Because he let Rose Terry Cooke. + + 8. Why is Sarah Grand? + To make Ik Marvel. + + 9. Why is George Canning? + To teach Julia Ward Howe. + + 10. What ailed Harriet Beecher Stowe? + Bunyan. + + 11. What is it William Macy? + How Thomas Knox. + + 12. When did Mary Mapes Dodge? + When George W. Cutter. + + 13. What will turn John Locke? + Francis S. Key. + + 14. When is Marian Evans Cross? + When William Dean Howells. + + 15. When did Thomas Buchanan Read? + Just after Winthrop Mackworth Praed. + + 16. What did Julia McNair Wright? + Judge Joseph Story. + + 17. What did Eugene J. Hall? + Charles Carleton Coffin. + + 18. What is James Warden Owen? + What ten pounds of Hezekiah Butterworth. + + 19. Where did Henry Cabot Lodge? + In Mungo Park, on Thomas Hill. + + 20. How long will Samuel Lover? + Until Justin Windsor. + + 21. What gives John Howard Payne? + When Robert Burns Augustus Hare. + + + + +MEASURING PARTY + + +The giving of such a party is a pleasing way of raising money for some +charitable object. + +The invitations should read somewhat like the following: + + _You are cordially invited to attend a + Measuring Party to be given by the + East End Connett Y. W. C. T. U. + at the home of the President, + Mrs. Herbert B. Linscott, + Monday evening, October 29th, 1905._ + +Below, this verse should be printed: + + A measuring party we give for you, + 'Tis something pleasant as well as new. + The invitation carries a sack, + For use in bringing or sending back + Five cents for every foot you're tall, + Measure yourself against the wall. + An extra cent for each inch you'll give, + And thereby show how high you live. + Then with music and song, recitation and pleasure, + We will meet one and all at our party of measure. + +With each invitation should be sent a tiny bag made of a bit of silk or +ribbon. On the night of the entertainment, these bags with the money +that has been placed in them are brought by the guests and deposited in +a large bowl at the door. The party then proceeds in the usual manner. +Care should be taken to carry out the program suggested in the last two +lines of the above verse. Much amusement may be created by having some +one appointed to take various measurements of the guests attending, such +as the length of the nose, size of the head, size of the hand, etc. + + + + +MEDICAL SOCIABLE + + +Procure the small glass vials used by homoeopathic physicians. On the +outside of each one paste a narrow slip, on which is written the name of +some trouble for which the Bible offers a remedy. On another slip write +the Bible verse which gives the cure. Roll it up, and run a thread +through it which is fastened to the cork. Here are some suggestions: +Discouragement, Ps. 42: 5; Sadness, Ps. 16: 11; Pain, Rev. 21: 4; Doubt, +Despair, Anger, Impatience, Laziness, Unruly tongue, Loneliness, +Sleeplessness, Weakness, Pride, Bitterness, Covetousness. The +corresponding Bible references will easily be found by using a +concordance. Have one corner of the room arranged for a drug-store. Each +person will receive from the "store" one bottle and the cork belonging +to a different bottle. He must hunt till he has discovered the +"medicine" (cork and paper) belonging to his own bottle, and has +delivered the cork he holds to the proper bottle. Have papers read on +the care of the body and the care of the soul, and also Bible-readings +on miracles of healing. Later have some one, who has looked up the +subject beforehand, read a list of some of the most interesting +Scripture references to various parts of the body. These can readily be +hunted out with the help of a concordance. Some of the Old Testament +references will be found to be very quaint indeed. Decorate the room +with mottoes, such as: "Is there no balm in Israel, is there no +physician there?" + + + + +MEDICAL TRUNK + + +"In my wonderful trunk I have two very tall tropical trees (palms); +something used by an artist (palette [palate]); weapons of war (arms); +many wild animals, and two domestic ones (hares [hairs], calves); +something worn by a king (crown); a bright garden flower (tulips [two +lips]); a musical instrument (drum); two fish and many shell fish +(soles, muscles); branches of trees (limbs); a student (pupil); +something used in ship-building (ribs); whips without handles (lashes). +a product of a spruce-tree (gum); something used by carpenters (nails); +a part of a clock (hands); a large wooden box (chest); part of a wagon +(tongue); something grown on a cornstalk (ears); a part of a shoe +(heel); ten Spanish gentlemen (ten dons [tendons]); part of a nail +(head); weather cocks (vanes [veins]); two kitchen utensils (pans +[knee]); part of a knife (blade [shoulder]); edge of a saw (teeth); +terms used in voting (ayes and noes [eyes and nose]); covering of an +apple (skin); a certain measure (feet); something seen in accidents +(blood); a part of a house (roof [of the mouth]); covers to pails +(lids); something used in upholstering (tow [toe]); part of a stove-pipe +(elbow); a part of a table (legs); something served with ice cream (lady +fingers); a kind of deer (hart [heart]); part of a river (mouth); +something used by negro minstrels (bones); best part of a goose (back); +part of a ship (side); a narrow strip of land (neck); hotel steps (inn +steps [insteps])." + + + + +MILITARY SOCIABLE + + +This is a form of entertainment suitable for Independence Day. "Military +Checkers," played at small tables, may furnish appropriate amusement. + +Each table is named for some fort: "Fort Ticonderoga," "Fort Duquesne," +etc. Though the players "progress" from one table to another, all their +honors are counted as belonging to the fort of their first allegiance, +to which table they return each time they win. + +The prizes may be in any form suggestive of Independence Day. An +enameled pencil in the shape of a firecracker, or flag-shaped +cuff-links, would do for the man's prize, and a cracker-jar for the +lady's prize. + +The piazza should be strung with colored lanterns, which can be lighted +when the guests are in the dining-room at supper. The dining-room may be +simply decorated with red roses and vines, and the dining-room table in +the same way, a big blue-and-white bowl in the centre of the table +holding the roses. These roses should be bright red in color. Small +flags serve as doilies, and the china used should be blue-and-white. The +candlesticks upon the table hold white candles; the shades should be +red, and streamers of blue ribbons are tied about the base of the +candles, falling with graceful effect over the brightly polished +candlesticks. The bonbons are placed upon the table in two small raffia +baskets. Each bonbon is tied about with a band of baby-ribbon. + +When the supper is nearly over the baskets of bonbons are passed, one to +the men and the other to the ladies. Each guest takes one candy, and it +is found that no two in one basket have the same colored ribbon. Each +confection in the men's basket, however, has a mate in the ladies' +basket, and in this way partners are found for the old-time Virginia +reel, which is danced on the piazza. As a jolly ending to the fun the +men of the party set off some fireworks. + + + + +MORNING GLORY FAIR + + +At a recent church fair the flower-booth attracted special notice. It +was decorated with morning glories made of crepe paper, in different +colors. The flowers were profusely twined among the spruce boughs that +formed the top of the booth, and were extremely effective and very +natural. The flower-girls wore large hats with morning glory trimming, +and were in light summer dresses. All the other tables were similarly +decorated, and those in charge wore morning glories in profusion, twined +in the hair and falling in graceful festoons from skirt and bodice. +Morning glory tea was served from a small table, over which stood a +large Japanese umbrella covered with the flowers; the cups carried out +the color scheme of the flowers. Each person purchasing a cup of tea was +presented with a flower as a souvenir of the occasion. + + + + +MOTHER GOOSE GAME + + +During the evening a slip of paper is handed to each guest with the name +of one of the Mother Goose characters upon it. The hostess retains a +list of these, and calls each in turn to repeat within the space of one +minute the familiar verse relative to this character. Failing to do this +a forfeit must be paid. The one who is most prompt in responding +correctly may receive as a prize a goose-quill pen; and the one who +fails, a copy of "Mother Goose." Just before refreshments are served the +"Goose Drill" may be participated in to the time of a march, and the +couples proceed to the refreshment room, where they are served with the +following: + + 1. Shared by the walrus and carpenter. (Oysters) + + 2. A King's dish. (Bird pie) + + 3. A Queen's lunch. (Bread and honey) + + 4. Taffy's spoils. (Beef sandwiches) + + 5. The golden eggs. (Egg sandwiches) + + 6. Old woman's broom. (Cheese-straws) + + 7. What the baker made. (Rolls) + + 8. Sample of the pieman's ware. (Washington cake-pie) + + 9. Jack-a-dandy's delight. (Plum cake) + + 10. What the ships brought. (Apples and comfits) + +The numbered list of refreshments should be printed upon small cards, +which may be retained as souvenirs of the occasion. The guests order +what they choose. The key is retained by the hostess. + + + + +MUSICAL CARD PARTY + + +A good color scheme for this affair is brown and yellow. Invitations may +be in the form of a scroll, engraved with a selection from some favorite +opera, or may represent the "G" clef in brown and yellow water colors. +For decorations use yellow flowers, yellow shaded lights and yellow and +brown hangings. Tally cards may be painted to represent different +musical instruments, such as violins, guitars, mandolins, etc.; or +miniature tambourines and banjos may be used for scoring, hung by long +loops of ribbon over the shoulders, and becoming before the close of the +evening gayly decked with ribbons--yellow for the winners and brown for +the losers. Musical quotations in halves may designate partners. For +prizes, musical pictures in brown coloring, burnt wood plaques of famous +musicians, a Flemish musical stein in brown and yellow, a brown leather +music roll tied for the occasion with yellow streamers, musical novels, +an upright piano candy box with the key board movable to show the candy +inside, etc., may be used. Toy music boxes and grotesque musical +instruments make amusing booby prizes. A triangle, like those for +orchestral playing, may indicate progressions, instead of a bell. + +For a brown and yellow menu: + + Brown Croquettes Potato Balls + Brown Breadsticks + Chicken Salad, yellow Mayonnaise + Orange Ice Cream, served in orange-peel baskets + Chocolate Cake Chocolate Icing + Chocolate and Lemon Bonbons + Yellow Cheese Balls + Coffee, with yellow whipped Cream + + + + +MUSICAL EVENING + + +The invitations should be sent in small imitation music rolls, and +headed with a line of appropriate music. As each guest enters he +receives a long, narrow strip of pasteboard, bearing a portion of some +familiar song, both words and music. Each card bears a number, and the +eight whose cards are numbered alike are instructed to get together and +practice to sing a verse formed by the union of their eight cards. A +bell calls them to order, judges are appointed, and each group sings its +song, a pianist accompanying them. While the judges are preparing their +verdict, a short musical program may be rendered. A bouquet of flowers +may be presented to the group whose musical effort is considered the +best. The bouquet may consist of eight small buttonhole bouquets, one +for each member of the group. Make a list, numbering from one to twenty, +of tunes that are perfectly familiar to every one. "Yankee Doodle," +"America," "Annie Rooney," or any of the later popular songs, are some +of the airs that are known everywhere. Number as many cards as there are +guests, with twenty numbers on consecutive lines. These, with pencils, +are distributed to the people as they arrive. An accomplished pianist +then plays snatches of each tune, in the order that the list calls for. +Just enough of the piece is played to let the melody be indicated. Each +person, as the air is played, puts down against the number on the card +what he thinks the tune is. At the end the cards are collected, and +prizes given to the most successful. + +To match partners, write the notes of a bar or two of some well-known +melody on the lady's card, and the balance on the gentleman's card. + + + + +MUSICAL GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. Used on a bundle. (Chord [cord]) + + 2. A place of residence. (Flat) + + 3. A reflection on character. (Slur) + + 4. Bottom of a statue. (Bass [base]) + + 5. An unaffected person. (Natural) + + 6. Used in driving horses. (Lines) + + 7. What makes a check valid. (Signature) + + 8. What we breathe every day. (Air) + + 9. Seen on the ocean. (Swells) + + 10. What betrays nationality. (Accent) + + 11. An association of lawyers. (Bar) + + 12. Used in climbing. (Staff) + + 13. Part of a sentence. (Phrase) + + 14. Belonging to a fish. (Scales) + + 15. Used in wheeling. (Pedals) + + 16. A girl's name. (Grace) + + 17. Used in flavoring soup. (Time [Thyme]) + + 18. Often passed in school. (Notes) + + 19. Used in a store. (Counters) + + 20. An instrument not blunt. (Sharp) + + + + +MUSICAL ROMANCE + + +The young hostess announced that a love story of the Civil War would be +related in musical numbers, and to the one who should best interpret +them a prize would be awarded. All were provided with cards and pencils +and a young woman seated herself at the piano. The hostess then asked +"What was the heroine called?" Whereupon the familiar notes of "Sweet +Marie" were heard, and it began to be understood that the names of +popular airs--given with much spirit by the pianist--would furnish the +answers to the questions propounded, to be recorded upon the cards. The +story progressed thus: + + What was the hero's name? "Robin Adair." + + Where was he born? "Dixie." + + Where was she born? "On the Suwanee River." + + Where did they meet? "Comin' thro' the rye." + + At what time of day was it? "Just as the sun went down." + + When did he propose? "After the ball was over." + + What did he say? "Only one girl in this world for me." + + What did she say? "I'll leave my happy home for you." + + What did he then bid her? "A soldier's farewell." + + What did the band play? "The girl I left behind me." + + Where did he go? "Georgia." + + Where did he spend that night? "Tenting on the old camp ground." + + What did the band play when he came home? "When Johnny comes + marching home." + + Where were they married? "Old Kentucky home." + + Who were the bridesmaids? "Two little girls in blue." + + Who furnished the music? "Whistling Rufus." + + Who furnished the wedding feast? "Rosie O'Grady." + + Where did they make their home? "On the banks of + the Wabash." + + What was their motto? "Home, sweet home." + + Where did they always remain? "America." + +The music was a new feature, and the fact that the airs were so well +known made it the more enjoyable. The advantage of the winner being so +slight, the pleasure of success was the more general. + + * * * * * + +After supper the hostess said that if they were not tired of guessing +she had another game to propose--a sort of fortune-telling game which +would give each man present the name that his future wife should bear. +It was for him to discover it. The first name was told to make the +subject clear--which was that a chemist's wife should be named "Ann +Eliza." Then they were told to guess the name of a civil engineer's wife +(Bridget); a gambler's (Betty); a humorist's (Sally); a clergyman's +(Marie); a shoemaker's (Peggy); a sexton's (Belle); a porter's (Carrie); +a dancing-master's (Grace); a milliner's (Hattie); a gardener's (Flora); +a judge's (Justine); a pugilist's (Mamie); a pianist's (Octavia); a +life-saver's (Caroline); an upholsterer's (Sophy); an astronomer's +(Stella); a doctor's (Patience); a fisherman's (Netty); a gasman's +(Meta); a marksman's (Amy). Each man could judge, from his occupation, +the name of his future wife. + + + + +MUSICAL TERMS ILLUSTRATED + + +Have some one play these songs: + +"Star Spangled Banner," "Marching through Georgia," "Columbia, the Gem +of the Ocean," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp," +"Hail Columbia," "Home, Sweet Home," "Yankee Doodle," "When Johnnie +Comes Marching Home Again," "Auld Lang Syne," "America." No titles are +announced, but the guests are asked to guess the names and write them in +order upon slips of paper. + +Following each piece of music some musical term is illustrated. These +terms, with the means employed to illustrate them, are as follows: +"time," some one hold up a small clock; "measure," a yardstick; "key," a +door-key; "flats," two flatirons; "lines," a pair of nursery lines; +"sharps," a carving set; "tie," a gentleman's tie; "bars," small +clothes-bars; "staff," a cane; "a whole note," a dollar; "a half note," +a half dollar; "a quarter note," a silver quarter. + + + + +MUSICIANS BURIED + + + 1. There were verd isles and tender blue of summer skies. + + 2. Maud Muller raked the hay, deny it not, O Judge. + + 3. The bell in ivy tower rings knell of passing day. + + 4. I arrive, King, most gracious sovereign. + + 5. She still wears her old smile--the sweet, modest maiden. + + 6. The mother of Charlie Ross in idle dreams still clasps him. + + 7. We berate our neighbors soundly, but excuse ourselves. + + 8. How famous the cherub in ideal art. + + 9. There will be no confab to-night. + + 10. If he asks your hand, Eliza, do not say nay. + + 11. Be brief; lo, toward life's setting sun, man hastens. + + 12. You've dropped a beet--ho, vender, heigh. + + 13. The dog spies a cat, and it makes his tail wag nervously. + + 14. A beau, berrying, needs a basket and a sweetheart. + + 15. My chop I never eat with peas. + + 16. You have found an egg, lucky boy. + + 17. Liz still improves from day to day. + + 18. Whoever else leaves, the Co. stays in most firms. + + 19. Cattle enjoy herbal feeding grounds. + + 20. I do not care a sou, Sarah, whether you will, or not. + +KEY TO MUSICIANS BURIED + + 1. Verdi. + + 2. Hayden. + + 3. Bellini. + + 4. Rive King. + + 5. Herold. + + 6. Rossini. + + 7. Weber. + + 8. Cherubini. + + 9. Abt. + + 10. Handel. + + 11. Flotow. + + 12. Beethoven. + + 13. Wagner. + + 14. Auber. + + 15. Chopin. + + 16. Gluck. + + 17. Lizst. + + 18. Costa. + + 19. Balfe. + + 20. Sousa. + +_Note:_--The letters composing the names of the sought-for musicians +come successively together but the name may begin and end in different +words. + + + + +MYSTICAL DINNER MENU + + + _Menu_ _Key_ + + SOUPS + + 1. Capital of Portugal 1. Pea + + 2. An imitation reptile 2. Mock Turtle + + FISH + + 3. The largest part of Sambo's feet 3. Sole + + 4. An express label 4. Cod + + GAME + + 5. A universal crown 5. Hare + + 6. Portion of a mountain range 6. Partridge + + 7. A tailor's tool 7. Goose + + 8. To shrink from danger 8. Quail + + ROAST MEAT + + 9. A genial English author 9. Lamb + + 10. A country of the Crescent 10. Turkey + + BOILED MEAT + + 11. One of Noah's sons 11. Ham + + 12. Woman's best weapon 12. Tongue + + VEGETABLES + + 13. To steal mildly 13. Cabbage + + 14. Complete upsets 14. Turnips + + 15. What successful candidates do 15. Beet + + 16. Two kinds of toes not found on man or beast + 16. Potatoes and Tomatoes + + RELISHES + + 17. Pertaining to regions underground 17. Celery + + 18. Comical performances 18. Capers + + 19. Elevated felines 19. Catsup + + PUDDINGS + + 20. What we say to impertinent agents 20. Say go + + 21. Exactly perpendicular 21. Plumb + + 22. The mantle of winter 22. Snow + + 23. What the lawyer says to his clients 23. Suet + + PIES + + 24. To walk in an affected manner 24. Mince + + 25. A relative of the dairyman 25. Pumpkin + + FRUIT + + 26. The historian's delight 26. Dates + + 27. Water in motion 27. Currants + + 28. Small shot (plural) 28. Grapes + + + + +MYSTICAL PARTY + + + _The Y. W. C. T. U. + Has cordially invited you + To the Mystery Reception, + Strange and weird beyond conception. + At seven-thirty o'clock night fall + We will welcome one and all; + With solemn rites and grewsome sights, + We'll meet you all on Monday night. + Street and number._ + +All those who take part in this should arrive early and have everything +in shape when the guests appear. First, each one should wrap a white +sheet over her and wear a small white mask. Have all the lights turned +low or have candles, and on the gas jets or candles have red paper +shades to cast a red, gloomy light over everything. Have each one who +takes part stand like a statue, and dispose these statues about the +house in corners and in dark places. As the guests arrive have one of +the white clothed figures meet them at the door, and without a word, +motion them to take off their wraps, and then to enter the next room. If +possible get some bones from a medical college and have skulls and cross +bones all about the room. In one dark room should be skulls and pumpkins +with faces cut in them and candles inside. Do not have any other light +in this room. When the guests go into this room have some small pieces +of ice wrapped in muslin presented to them to be felt of in the dark. +All this time the statues should be quiet and remain so until all the +company has arrived. Then seat all the statues at a large table with a +small candle or a dish of burning alcohol in the centre and have each +one tell a weird story. Have a witch in a dark room with a dish of +burning alcohol and have the guests, one at a time, go in to have their +fortunes told. Tricks of different kinds can be played upon the guests. + +The program for the mysterious company consists of a number of contests +in which eyesight gives place to the sense of touch. + +First of all the hostess produces a book printed in the raised lettering +for the blind and suggests that each guest read ten lines from it. This +is no easy matter. To the contestant reading the ten lines correctly in +the shortest time a prize is awarded. + +For the second trial of skill the guests may gather around a circular +table. Beneath the table place a covered box or basket containing the +most variously assorted small articles that it is possible to secure +upon the spur of the moment, the more unexpected the better. No player +must see the articles placed in the basket. When all is in readiness the +objects are taken from the basket and passed rapidly from hand to hand +below the table, ending in the hands of the hostess, and by her are +placed in an empty bag provided for the purpose. + +Distribute pencils and ask the guests to write down as many of the +objects passed under the table as they can remember. A prize should be +provided for the person who hands in the fullest list of the objects. + +Next blindfold each guest in turn and place in his hands, one at a time, +various objects, the names of which are to be guessed aloud. If curious +and unfamiliar objects are selected, this will prove very amusing. + + + + +NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY + + +This is a favorite occasion for a party among young people. It should be +a small party, not over twenty-four guests, and it will be the more +enjoyable if informal and among those who are well acquainted with each +other. + +There are as varied entertainments for such parties as for those at +other seasons. A pretty idea is to confine the list to twelve young +gentlemen and twelve young ladies. The hostess requests each couple to +dress so as to represent a particular month, which she assigns them. + +Duck trousers, cotton neckties, and white vests are as distinctive of +summer for the young men, as shirt-waists, duck skirts, and lawn are for +young women, but it will take some ingenuity to devise an effect that +will mark a particular month. + +The guests should not assemble until nine o'clock. There should be a +large clock conspicuously placed in the room, and if possible an open +fireplace, with a bright fire on the hearth. + +The first part of the time should be taken up in guessing the months, +the company gathering before the open fire in a circle. As fast as one +month is decided upon, the one who impersonates it rises, makes his or +her bow to the company, and recites at least four original lines +pertaining to that month. The more ridiculous or witty they are, the +better they will be appreciated. + +After this comes the supper, which may be as elaborate or as simple as +desired, and then a promiscuous mixing of the months will cause some +merriment. + +Just as the clock is striking twelve, there is a knock at the door. Upon +opening it, there is revealed a young man dressed as a baby, in a long +white dress tied about with a sash on which is printed January 1, 19--. +If properly planned, the appearance of this New Year baby will cause +shouts of merriment. + +Hand shakings and New Year's greetings follow, and the party is over. + + + + +NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS + + +This game is played by providing each guest a paper and pencil, and +having ten letters of the alphabet read to the company. These are to be +copied, the guests are told to write a New Year's resolution of ten +words, each beginning with one of the letters used, in the order in +which they are given out. These importuned resolutions, when read, will +afford much amusement. + + + + +NEW YEAR'S SOCIABLE + + +As the guests come in, each one is requested to sign his name in a +note-book, and to write underneath it a New Year's resolution. An entire +page should be allowed for each one, so that no one may know what his +neighbor has written. Each guest should be given a card inscribed with +an appropriate quotation, such as "Time and tide wait for no man." These +cards are numbered. These are passed around among the company, with the +explanation that each guest is to amuse the company for the length of +time it takes for the sand to run in a minute glass from one end to the +other (have a minute glass in room), using for the purpose of +entertainment some thought suggested by the quotation on his card. One +can recite a poem, another tell a story, another sing a song, and so on +until every one has done his share for the amusement of the others, +following in order according to the numbers on the cards. After each one +has done his part the hostess announces that she will now do hers and +proceeds to read each resolution that has been written in the book. The +names of the writers being given, it will cause much merriment. Nut +shells set sailing two by two in a basin of water may be named, one for +a man, the other for a girl. If they keep together, it is an indication +that the pair will be married before the year dies, but if they +separate, the fate of the twain is sealed for one year. + + + + +NINETEENTH CENTURY GAME + + +In this game of guess the contestants are told that each question can be +replied to with the name of a celebrity who has lived in, or whose life +has extended into, the nineteenth century. Each guest is given a little +tablet with his name written on every one of the pages. Two minutes are +allowed to each question. The questioner sits with a big bowl before +her, into which, when she calls time, each player drops a slip upon +which he has written his answer. This is the list that the questioner +reads, omitting, of course, the answers: + + Why did England so often lose her way in South + Africa? (Mr. Rhodes) + + What did the Emperor of China do when the Empress + usurped the throne? (Custer) + + What did Isaac watch while his father was forging a + chain? (Abraham Lincoln) + + What is Li Hung Chang credited with being? (Schley) + + The lane that has no turning is a what? (Longstreet) + + What does a Chinese lover say when he proposes? + (Dewey) + + What does Aguinaldo keep between himself and the + Americans? (Miles) + + What happens when the wind blows in spiders' houses? + (Webster) + + What did Buller unfortunately do? (Bragg) + + What do the waves do to a vessel wrecked near shore? + (Beecher) + + What does a ship do to a seasick man? (Rockefeller) + + What did Uncle Sam do when he wanted to know + whether England would let him mediate? (Astor) + + What is the chair-boy likely to do to the old lady he + has to push on a hot day? (Wheeler) + + What is a novel military name for a cook? (Kitchener) + + What do you do when you drive a slow horse? (Polk) + + When do you get up to see a sunrise? (Early) + + When Max O'Rell gets on a platform what does he do? + (Speaker Reed) + + What does a waiter do after he has filled half of the + glasses at a table? (Fillmore) + + In the settlement of disputes, do the European nations + quarrel? (General Lee) + + The towns taken by the British generally lacked the + what? (Garrison) + + What did the Jews say when the mother of Samuel + passed? (Mark Hanna) + + In Cairo purchases are made at a what? (Booth) + + + + +NOSE AND GOGGLE PARTY + + +To fun-loving people who enjoy the grotesque, great sport will be found +in giving a Nose and Goggle Party. Here two objects will be gained: +merriment and disguise. + +As the guests arrive, disguised as explained below, each is given a +card, perforated, with ribbon run through, in order to wear the card +around the neck, so that everybody can see it. + +The cards must have, on one side, a number by which each guest is known; +on the other side, a list of figures, 1, 2, 3, etc. (as many figures as +there are guests), leaving space opposite each figure for a name. In +social conversation each guest is to guess who his or her entertainer +is. With intimate friends, this may be done readily by familiarity with +the voice; but in most cases the identification will not be easy. + +Each guest wears a false nose and goggles. The nose may be purchased, or +made by clever fingers, of heavy cardboard covered with chamois. + +The noses and goggles must not be removed till after refreshments, which +may be simple or elaborate as the hostess may wish. As you make your +guess, place the name opposite the number on your card corresponding to +the number of the person with whom you are talking; for instance, if +you think you know No. 4, turn your card and write the name opposite No. +4, etc. + + + + +NOTED PEOPLE + + +Cut out pictures of noted men and women from newspapers and magazines, +paste on white paper, and number each one. Provide each guest with paper +and pencil, having the paper contain a list of numbers corresponding to +those on the pictures. The guests are then requested to write opposite +the correct number the name of the person whom each picture represents. +A good idea is to have pictures pinned upon the wall, curtains, and in +every convenient place about the rooms, as the guests will then be +obliged to move about, and there will be no danger of wallflowers. After +each one has been given plenty of time for guessing, the correct list +can be read aloud by one person, each guest passing his paper to his +neighbor for correction. A prize may be given to the one who has the +most correct answers. In connection with this, the game of noted people +can be played. Have small slips of paper with the names of noted people +written upon them, and pin one of these on back of each guest; he is to +guess whom he represents by means of questions put to him by other +guests. This is great fun, and causes much merriment among the young +people. As soon as a player guesses whom he represents a new slip can be +put on his back. A prize may be given the one who guesses the most +names. + + + + +NUT CONUNDRUMS + + +Before the guests arrive hide nuts all over the rooms in every nook and +corner. At a given signal have the guests search for them and the one +finding the most can be given a small prize. + +Take English walnuts, split and take out the kernel; write quotations +on small slips of paper, cut in half, put one-half paper in one nut +shell, the other half in another shell, gluing each shell together. +During the evening give one set of half quotations to the girls, the +other set to the boys and then have them hunt for their partners; when +found, each pair have refreshments together. Have the following nut +conundrums guessed, after which serve all kinds of mixed nuts. + + CONUNDRUMS + + 1. What nut grows nearest the sea? (Beechnut) + + 2. What nut grows the lowest? (Groundnut) + + 3. What nut is the color of a pretty girl's eyes? (Hazelnut) + + 4. What nut is good for naughty boys? (Hickory) + + 5. What nut is like an oft told tale? (Chestnut) + + 6. What nut grows on the Amazon? (Brazil nut) + + 7. What nut is like a naughty boy when sister has a beau? (Pecan) + + 8. What nut is like a Chinaman's eyes? (Almond) + + 9. What is the favorite nut in Ohio? (Buckeye) + + 10. What nut is like a good Jersey cow? (Butternut) + + 11. What is the mason's favorite nut? (Walnut) + + 12. What nut cannot the farmer go to town without? (Wagon nut) + + + + +NUT PARTY + + +Invitations may be slipped inside peanut or English walnut shells, glued +together, and sent in a small box. The shops are showing big English +walnuts, Parisian almonds and Spanish peanuts, filled with confections +in imitation of the genuine nut meats, which make attractive prizes or +favors. A novelty in silver represents an English walnut (exact size), +"All in a nutshell," which contains powder, puff, mirror, miniature +scent bottle, and pincushion; a silver peanut contains a "magic" pencil +or small vinaigrette; thimble cases, bangles, tape measures, etc., come +in nut designs; a small lace-trimmed handkerchief may be folded and +slipped inside an English walnut shell. The diminutiveness of the prizes +is emphasized if they are wrapped in a series of boxes, each one larger +than the next. For finding partners, English walnuts painted and dressed +in crimped tissue paper to represent different nationalities may be +used, a lady and gentleman being given the same nationality. The menu +served may be made up of nuts: chicken and nut salad, peanut sandwiches, +salted nuts, nut candies, bisque of almonds, pecan cake, walnut wafers, +coffee. + + + + +OBSERVATION PARTY + + +Place these objects tastefully on the dining-room table, each guest on +entering the room being furnished with a catalogue of the subjects, +supposed to be different paintings, made out so that blank spaces will +be left to the right for the answers. From fifteen to twenty minutes are +allowed to guess and write down the answers as fast as they are +discovered. Comparing notes is hardly fair. At the end of the stated +time the guests leave the room. Some one then calls out the correct +answers, and the persons whose lists are the nearest correct, receive +the first, second, third, and fourth prizes, the number of prizes +varying according to the number of guests present. A booby prize for the +one who was the least successful adds to the fun. + +Below is given the list of forty subjects, and also the answers. From +the latter you will know what objects to collect and place upon the +table. It is better not to arrange them in exact order. + + SUBJECTS ANSWERS + + Out for the Night Candle in Candlestick + + Departed Days Last Year's Calendar + + Scene in Bermuda Onions + + We Part to Meet Again Scissors + + The Reigning Favorite Umbrella + + Home of Burns Flatiron + + The Greatest Bet Ever Made Alphabet + + A Line from Home Clothes Line + + The House the Colonel Lived in Corn Cob without the Corn + + Cause of the American Revolution Tacks on a Letter T + + A Heavenly Body Dipper + + The Little Peacemaker Chopping-knife + + Spring Offering Glass of Water + + Bound to Rise Yeast Cake + + Family Jars Two Glass Jars + + Things that End in Smoke Cigars + + A Place for Reflection Hand Mirror + + Deer in Winter Eggs + + Scene in a Base Ball Game Pitcher + + A Drive Through the Wood Block of Wood with Nail + Driven Through + + A Mute Choir Quire of Paper + + A Trophy of the Chase Brush + + A Rejected Beau Old Ribbon Bow + + A Skylight A Star + + Our Colored Waiter Black Tray + + Sweet Sixteen Sixteen Lumps of Sugar + + Consolation Pipe + + Common Sense Pennies + + The Black Friar Black Frying Pan + + Cole's Memorials of the Great Cinders + + The Four Seasons Mustard, Vinegar, Salt + and Pepper + + A Morning Caller A Bell + + Assorted Liquors Whip, Switch and Slipper + + The Skipper's Home Cheese + + An Absorbing Subject Blotting Pad + + A Dancing Entertainment A Ball + + Bound to Shine Bottle of Shoe Blacking + + The Spoony Couple Two Spoons + + Old Fashioned Flowers Lady's Slippers + + Nothing But Leaves Block of Blank Writing Paper + + + + +OLD-FASHIONED DINNER + + + 1. A country in Asia Turkey + + 2. A color and a letter Gravy + + 3. Cape Cod fruit and impudence Cranberry Sauce + + 4. A river in Italy, an Irish woman's beverage, + and "the five little pigs that went to + market" Potatoes + + 5. A parent and cuttings Parsnips + + 6. Reverse and small bites Turnips + + 7. Time measures Beets + + 8. An Indian's wife and an interjection of + silence Squash + + 9. Well or badly brought up Bread + + 10. A goat Butter + + 11. A letter Tea + + 12. A crowd of people in a small place Jam + + 13. Mixed-up type Pie + + 14. Two of a kind Pears + + 15. A receptacle for fluids and a letter Candy + + 16. A crow's call and a doctor's payment Coffee + + 17. Ancient tales Chestnuts + + 18. What I do to be heard Ice cream + + + + +OLD-TIME COUNTRY SCHOOL + +(Can be used as a play.) + + + "_The Red Schoolhouse will open for the fall term on + September fifteenth. As a goodly number of pupils is + desired, all receiving this are urged to search the highways + and byways for others who may wish to attend. School will + begin promptly at eight. As there will be a recess, all + pupils should bring their dinners._ + + "_SOLOMON WISEACRES, Pedagogue._" + +The coming of school-days, usually so much dreaded by young folks, was +hailed with much delight by recipients of the above notice. On the +appointed evening not only were there present the members of the +society, but each one, heeding the injunction regarding the highways and +byways, brought with him a friend. As the teacher had also found an +extra pupil, there were just twenty-four in the party. The boys wore +knee-trousers and the girls short skirts and pinafores, with their hair +hanging down their backs in long braids or curls. All brought with them +their dinners, packed in tin pails, in imitation of their country +cousins. + +The schoolhouse was a large new barn, the schoolroom being up-stairs in +the hay-loft. Here were arranged two rows of benches, one for the girls +and one for the boys; blackboards hung on the walls, and there was a +plain wooden table in front for the teacher's desk. Standing behind +this, the schoolmaster, birch rod in hand, and looking very wise in a +pair of huge spectacles, received his pupils and registered their names +in a large book before him. Among those enrolled were Alvira Sophronia +Simmons, Malvina Jane Leggett, Serena Ann Wilkins, Patience Charity +Gray, Nathan Bartholomew Brown, Ichabod Thompson and Abijah Larkins. + +Each pupil before being assigned a seat was interrogated by the teacher +somewhat as follows: In what state and country were you born? Do you +know your letters? How far can you count? Who was the first man? Who +built the ark? And so on until the teacher had acquainted himself with +the limits of his pupils' ignorance. + +When all were seated Teacher Wiseacres announced that school would open +with singing. The pupils were thereupon thoroughly drilled in the scales +and other exercises, the master severely reprimanding any who sang out +of tune. The lesson concluded with songs usually sung at the club +gatherings, after which a knot of blue ribbon was given the one who had +sung best, and a red bow to the pupil considered second best. + +During the course of this lesson, and also of those that followed, there +were frequent interruptions caused by the refractory behavior of some of +the pupils. Serena Ann Wilkins was caught eating an apple, and was made +to stand up in front with a book on her head. Malvina Jane Leggett had +to stand in the corner facing the wall for giggling; while, direst +disgrace of all, Abijah Larkins was obliged to sit on the girls' side +for drawing a caricature of the master on the blackboard. + +After the singing-lesson small wooden slates (the old-fashioned kind +bound in red cloth) were passed around and the following exercise in +orthography given out: "It is an agreeable sight to witness the +unparalleled embarrassment of a harassed peddler attempting to gauge the +symmetry of a peeled onion which a sibyl has stabbed with a poniard." +This task was accomplished with much puckering of eyebrows, and no one, +it may be said, succeeded in writing all the words correctly. + +The next lesson announced was reading, for which primers were +distributed. These were small books with brown-paper covers, the lessons +being tongue-twisters, beginning with such familiar ones as "She sells +sea-shells," "Peter Piper," etc., and ending with this one of more +recent date, taken from the _Youth's Companion_: + + A bitter biting bittern + Bit a better brother-bittern; + And the bitten better bittern bit the bitter biter back. + And the bitter bittern, bitten + By the better bitten bittern, + Said, "I'm a bitter bittern-biter bit, alack!" + +The class stood up in front and were made to toe the line drawn in +chalk on the floor. The pupil at the head was called upon first, and +read until a mistake sent him to the foot, when the one next to him took +his place. The master not only continually urged his pupils to greater +speed, but at the same time kept a sharp lookout, and gave many words of +warning to any whose feet were out of order; and the frantic efforts of +the pupils to obey instructions made the lesson one of the most +laughable contests of the evening. It was continued until recess, the +hour for refreshments. + +The dinner-pails had been given for safekeeping into the hands of the +teacher. Now, when they were returned, it was discovered that the boys +had received those belonging to the girls and the girls those of the +boys. There was a happy correspondence in this exchange; Ichabod +Thompson receiving the pail of Patience Charity Gray and she receiving +his, and so on. The pupils thus paired off were to share their dinners +with each other. The master, who also brought his dinner, reserved for +himself the pail of the girl pupil supposed to be his favorite. + +There was great fun and laughter over the opening of the pails, for the +aim had been not so much to bring a dainty luncheon as one that should +be typical of the old-time district school. The following may be taken +as a sample of the contents of one of the buckets: Bread and butter, +doughnuts, apple turnover, spice-cake, cheese and one very large +cucumber pickle. Apples were contributed by the teacher. Dinner over, +the remainder of recess was spent in playing games. Skipping the rope +was one of the pastimes, and hop-scotch, tag, and hide-and-go-seek were +others. + +School was resumed with a geography lesson, really a game played as +follows: The teacher requested one of the pupils to give a geographical +name, that of a country, city, river, etc. Others were then called upon +at random to give names, each of which had to begin with the last letter +of the one preceding it. Thus, if the first name given were Egypt, the +next one must begin with the letter T, as Texas, while the one following +this would begin with S, as St. Louis. Any one who failed to respond in +the time allowed--half a minute--was dropped out of the class and the +question passed on. The lesson was continued until there was but one +left, who received the usual decoration. + +The session closed with an old-fashioned spell-down, but before the +class was dismissed the wearers of the ribbons were presented with +prizes, these being small, daintily bound books. The others, that all +might have a suitable reminder of the occasion, received book-shaped +boxes of candy. This done, the bell was rung and school was closed. + +This school party can be played in hall or church. + + + + +OLD-TIME SPELLING BEE + + +The fact that a spelling bee is to form a part of the evening's +entertainment need not be indicated upon the invitation, it being a part +of the fun to catch people unawares. + +After the arrival of the guests the choice of a "teacher" and two +leaders is effected by ballot. The two leaders then stand out at the end +of the room opposite each other, and each chooses alternately one of the +company at a time, to represent his side, until all have been chosen and +stand in their places in two lines. + +The teacher, who is supplied with a book, then gives out a word to the +person at the end of the line to her right. If the word is correctly +spelled the next word is given out to the person at the end of the +opposite side at her left. If this person fails to spell this word +correctly she must immediately leave the line, and the same word is put +to number two on the opposite side. If the word is correctly spelled she +is privileged to choose one person from the opposite line to step over +to the foot of her own line. Another word is then given to the opposite +opponent, and so on down the lines. It often happens that two equally +proficient spellers are pitted against each other for some time, when +the contest becomes very exciting. + + +LIMIT THE TIME OF THE BEST SPELLER + +It is a good plan, lest the contest become wearisome, to limit the time +for the last participant. If at the end of six minutes the winner has +not failed on any word given, he or she becomes director of the revels +that follow, and must be implicitly obeyed for the rest of the evening. +The first duty is to announce a "recess," and having been previously +instructed he or she leads the way to an adjoining room, where upon a +table is a pile of boxes of various shapes and kinds, neatly tied, which +are distributed among the young women. After which it is announced that +each box contains a small school luncheon, and that a young man +accompanies each. She then proceeds to distribute the young men as she +has the boxes. Each young woman then shares her luncheon with her +partner. Should the box contain an apple, a sandwich and a cake these +must be halved. + +After "recess" follow games, or music, or recitations, as the winner of +the contest wills. + + + + +ORANGE PARTY + + +To emphasize the color scheme, the young hostess wore a becoming empire +gown of orange-colored silk, and on her left shoulder was fastened a +large rosette of orange-colored chiffon. Each guest, upon arriving, was +presented with a similar rosette to wear as a compliment to the +occasion. + +The dining-room was decorated with potted plants. Although it was an +afternoon party, the blinds were drawn and the room lighted +artificially. The electric lights were muffled in orange-colored cheese +cloth, and produced a very charming effect. + +Over the centre of the table was spread a large square of orange satin +overlaid with a Battenberg lunch cloth. On this stood the birthday cake, +which had been baked in a fluted mold, then covered thickly with yellow +icing, and was a very clever imitation of the luscious fruit it was +intended to represent. The cake was surrounded by twelve small brass +candlesticks, in which burned orange-colored tapers. At each end of the +table was a smaller Battenberg square over satin. On each of these, +resting in a bed of green leaves, was an orange of abnormal size, +fashioned of papier-mâché, made in two sections, though so exactly +united that the orange seemed intact. In these were the favors--small +yellow bonbon boxes filled with orange conserves and tied with baby +ribbon. Small glass dishes, standing on yellow tissue paper doilies that +were fringed on the edges, and filled with orange puffs, orange kisses +and other home-made sweets, were placed here and there on the table, and +gave it a very festive air. + +The refreshments proper consisted of: + + Frozen Custard in Orange Cups + Orange Jelly Whipped Cream + Small Cakes Orange Icing + Orangeade + +The birthday cake was cut by the hostess, and each maiden served to a +slice. In the cake had been baked an orange seed. She who was so +fortunate as to find this seed in her slice was presented with an orange +spoon on which was graven the hostess's monogram, the date and year. + +Before leaving the table each guest was shown a small glass filled with +orange seeds, and was allowed one guess as to the number it contained. +The lucky guesser received a papier-mâché jewel box fashioned to +represent an orange. The "booby" prize was the tiniest orange to be +found in the market. + + + + +ORANGE SOCIABLE + + +In planning for an Orange Sociable use plenty of orange colored paper, +and make the decorations very attractive. Make orange colored shades for +gas or lamp globes, use orange colored paper napkins, make orange +butterflies, and let those who serve on committee wear orange paper caps +and orange colored ties. If possible use orange crepe paper for doilies +and mats. Refreshments should consist of oranges, wafers tied with +orange ribbon, and orangeade. + +For entertainment the old nursery rhymes should be used. Have slips of +paper containing one line each of a rhyme such as "There was an old +woman who lived in a shoe." Pass these slips to the guests and have each +hunt up the ones whose rhymes match that he holds. There will be four +for each group, and they will then proceed to draw a picture of what +their rhyme represents. A prize may be given the group drawing the best +picture, consisting of four very small colored babies lying on a bed of +cotton in an orange shell, the orange shell cut in half and tied with +orange ribbon. As there will be four persons in the group, one baby can +be given to each of the four. + + + + +PATRIOTIC PARTY + + +Drape the room for the occasion with red, white and blue bunting. Fill +tall vases with red and white carnations and deep blue larkspur. + +Decorate the room with banners, streamers, red, white, and blue lamp +shades, large copies of the State seals, and the like. + +Uncle Sam and Miss Columbia should stand in the centre of the room and +receive the guests as they arrive. Members of the social committee, +representing in some way Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii, +should act as ushers to present each newcomer to Uncle Sam and Miss +Columbia. + +Ask each guest to come bearing upon his garments somewhere a symbol +that will hint at the name of one of the Presidents. For instance, the +picture of a canoe out of which persons are tumbling may suggest +"Tippecanoe" Harrison; a link of sausage or of a chain, strung on a +string and hung from the neck, will hint at Lincoln. To indicate +Washington a washing-board may be borne in front, while on the back is a +piece of pasteboard painted to resemble a weight and marked "1 Ton." A +"G. A. R." pin fastened to the picture of a meadow may represent +Garfield. + +Give to each guest as he arrives a list of all the guests invited, and +let him bestir himself to meet everybody, so as to ascertain if possible +the various presidents represented, whose names when discovered he +writes opposite the proper names on the list given him. These lists will +be handed to an examining board, and, later in the evening, the one +whose list is most complete and accurate will be adorned with a laurel +wreath placed upon his head by some comic orator. This laurel wreath may +be made of green paper, if you lack the real article. + +Questions about past ladies of the White House may also prove +interesting and enjoyable. A few such follow, but many others may be +formulated. + + What first lady of the land fled from Washington to + escape the British? (Dolly Madison) + + What was Mrs. Lincoln's name before marriage? (Miss + Mary Todd) + + Name three early Presidents who married widows? + (Washington, Jefferson, and Madison) + + What early President married a New York girl? + (Monroe) + + Whom did John Q. Adams marry? (Louisa K. Johnson, + of Maryland) + + What President had a troubled love affair and marriage? + (Jackson) + + What early President besides Washington married a widow + called Martha? (Jefferson) + + + + +PEDDLERS' PARADE + + +One recently given by the young people of a church to raise funds for +charity work was extremely well managed. Invitations were issued to +members of the congregation to attend a Peddlers' Parade at eight +o'clock on a certain evening, a small sum being asked for admission. The +movable seats in the chapel were placed so that a wide space was left +between them down the centre of the hall. + +At eight o'clock a march was played, and through the door at the rear +came a motley procession, greeted with peals of laughter, as one after +another of the figures seen on the streets and in the market, selling +their wares, was recognized. A little boy, seven or eight years old, +with a red felt hat, a calico shirt, and gray overalls, carried under +his arm a number of newspapers; a youth, wearing on his head a cook's +white paper cap, had a tray filled with crisp brown doughnuts; two +little girls held baskets filled with bags of candy, and a third a tray, +on which lay small bunches of flowers. A young lady dressed as a market +woman wore a calico gown and a plaid woolen shawl pinned over her head; +on her arm was a basket filled with bunches of celery. A young man +stalked up the aisle behind her, whose costume aroused a great deal of +amusement. Huge pasteboard placards hung over his shoulders, one in +front and one behind; the former bore the inscription: + + WILLIAM THE CORN-CURER, + +each word occupying a line; the back: + + MY SALVE CURES CORNS. + +His head was covered by a silk hat, the crown of which was hidden under +a piece of pasteboard like the placards. Then came a lad drawing a cart +in which was an ice cream freezer, labeled: + + HOKEY POKEY, FIVE CENTS A GLASS. + +An Indian woman, whose wares were Indian baskets, now appeared, and a +lady selling druggists' specialties came next. She held a tray +containing brushes, combs, tooth brushes, sponges, hand mirrors, and +various toilet accessories, and her dress was trimmed with a border of +sponges. A slender girl of seventeen years impersonated a jewelry +peddler and gold watches, chains, bracelets, rings and jewels of all +descriptions were fastened securely to her dress and on the edge silver +teaspoons were crossed as a trimming. Much amusement was created by a +necktie vender, whose costume consisted of a black shirt, black cutaway +coat and a gorgeous tie. On a hardware merchant's tray plebeian tin +girdles shone with as undaunted a lustre as silver, while brass, steel, +copper and wire kitchen utensils made a brave display. Then followed a +young girl wearing round her neck a broad band of ribbon, which hung +nearly to her waist, and on which, fastened so closely that they looked +like a garland, were bows for the hair made of ribbons of various +colors. A gypsy in brilliant apparel, and a French seller of perfumes, +also gayly attired, were conspicuous in the procession, and venders of +popcorn balls and peanuts lent variety to the scene. + +Marching through the lane left between the seats to the other end of the +long room, they grouped themselves in a semicircle, and then one after +another, stepping forward, offered for sale the various articles, naming +their prices. + + + + +PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS + + +Find the following on a penny: + + 1. A messenger One cent + + 2. Ancient mode of punishment Stripes + + 3. Means of inflicting it Lash + + 4. Piece of armor Shield + + 5. Devoted young man Bow + + 6. South American fruit Date + + 7. Place of worship Temple + + 8. Portion of a hill Brow + + 9. Three weapons Arrows + + 10. First American settler Indian + + 11. Emblem of victory Wreath + + 12. Emblem of royalty Crown + + 13. One way of expressing matrimony United + + 14. Part of a river Mouth + + 15. Implements of writing Quills + + + + +PHOTOGRAPH PARTY + + +This is especially adapted for the opening or closing party of the +season given by a club or society. Souvenir booklets, containing small +circular snapshot photos of each member of the club,--each one mounted +in the centre of a page--are given the club members. A title page, with +name, date and history of the club may be added, leaving blank pages for +various memoranda. The cover may be of cardboard, paper, silk or satin, +in the club colors, with the club name in gold. The place cards may be +miniature photographs showing pretty bits of scenery, etc., or a corner +of the room in which the club meetings are usually held. A flashlight +photograph of the club may be taken, which will make a pleasing memento +of the occasion. + + + + +PICTORIAL GEOGRAPHY + + +You can help make an hour at a social fly so quickly that the most +bashful person present will say it was only ten minutes long, by the +help of cards bearing small pictures which have been cut from newspaper +advertisements. For instance, Arkansas may be formed by a capital R, a +sprinkling-can, and a saw; Iowa, a large I, and a picture of a grocer's +scales--I-weigh; Sacramento, by a sack, "ra," a group of men, and the +toe of a slipper; Belgium, by a bell and a stick-pin (Bell-gem); and so +on with a host of such names as Ohio, Red Sea, Arizona, Orange, +Wheeling, Waterbury, Catskill, Delaware, Montana, Potomac, Charleston, +etc. + + + + +PICTURE READING + + +Picture reading is a novel amusement which is adapted to a small party +only. + +Provide as many envelopes and short pencils as there are guests. On the +outside of each envelope write the name of a guest. Place a lead-pencil +and a folded sheet of unruled paper inside of each envelope. + +When the guests are seated, present each one with the envelope bearing +his or her name. The hostess, or some other person appointed by her, +then explains to the company that each one is expected to draw a picture +upon the paper found within the envelope. + +No matter how crudely executed, each person must at least attempt to +draw a picture of something, and then replace the sheet of paper in the +envelope. + +A prophet or prophetess must be appointed, also an assistant, care being +taken, however, that the former is pretty well acquainted with the +different guests. + +The assistant collects the envelopes, keeping the names thereon +carefully concealed from the prophet. He then takes from an envelope the +drawing and presents it to the prophet. + +The latter proceeds to foretell the future life of the maker of the +picture in his hand, revealing as much or as little as he pleases of the +details of the picture. + +When he has exhausted the resources of the picture, he returns it to the +assistant, who reads aloud the name on the envelope and restores both it +and the picture to their owner. + +If properly carried out, this is a most entertaining form of amusement. + + + + +PICTURES OF PROMINENT MEN + + +If the company be musical, the pictures of celebrated musicians could be +appropriately used, and in writing down the names of these it could also +be required of the guests to cite some noted composition of each; or +should the company be general, the pictures of men prominent in +different professions--divines, orators, actors, statesmen--could be +utilized in almost exactly the same manner. + +Should the entertainment be given in July or in March, it would be quite +appropriate to have on the cards pictures of the different presidents, +to be named by the guests, the dates of their respective terms in +offices to be given by them. While almost any one could readily +recognize a picture of Washington, Lincoln or Grant, there are other +presidents whose portraits are not so familiar, and it would take a +pretty good student in United States history to correctly recognize +likenesses of them all, or even a dozen of the less familiar pictures of +the group, much less to give the dates of their terms of office. A +framed picture of one of the greatest of the presidents might be given +as first prize to the person whose card is filled out correctly with all +the names and dates, or comes nearest to being correctly filled. + + + + +PIE PARTY + + +The invitation to this party should be written on three-cornered papers, +shaped and painted to look like pieces of pie. + +Have each lady bring a different kind of pie, thus securing great +variety. The refreshments should consist entirely of pies and hot +coffee. + +Have each gentleman present write a recipe for the kind of pie eaten by +him, also telling how long it takes to bake it. A suitable prize can be +given for the best recipe. + +A large pie filled with bran may contain a favor for each guest, any +little articles that will not be injured in the baking being suitable. + + + + +PILGRIM LUNCHEON + + +A Pilgrim luncheon is a most delightful affair when properly carried +out. + +The guests should be requested to dress in quaint old costumes suitable +to the occasion. If the floors are scrubbed and sanded in keeping with +the old-time Pilgrim interiors, so much the better. + +Candles in old-fashioned brass sticks will furnish sufficient light. A +cheerful fire in the grate, with a kettle hanging on a crane, will add +to the festivities. + +All the old heirlooms--spinning wheels of various sizes, andirons, +candlesticks, etc.--that can be resurrected or borrowed, will be needed. + +Decorations consisting of strings of dried apples and bunches of field +corn, can be used with good effect. Old blue and white coverlids can be +used as hangings or couch covers. + +Homespun tablecloths and old-fashioned china will be needed in the +dining-room. Only old-time dishes should enter into the menu. Below is +given one: + + Fried Chicken Hot Rolls + Boston Baked Beans + Brown Bread Coffee + Cucumber Pickles Plum Preserves + Pumpkin Pie Cheese + Doughnuts Banbury Tarts + + + + +PING-PONG LUNCHEON + + +This ping-pong luncheon deserves mention for the novelty of the idea as +well as for the cleverness of the hostess in planning her menu. The +table decorations consisted of two ping-pong nets stretched diagonally +across the table. In the centre where the nets crossed, four racquets of +white parchment with scarlet edges were placed. From these rose a bunch +of asparagus ferns, and stuck amid the ferns, like big roses, were a +dozen rosettes of taffeta ribbon of six different shades of red and +pink. The name cards were of white cardboard cut in the shape of +racquets with red edges. + +The menu included creamed white fish made into balls, each laid on a +miniature racquet cut from thin slices of buttered bread; French chops +trimmed into circular shape with the bone of each twisted with white +frilled paper (forming little racquets) served with potatoes cut into +little balls; balls of cream cheese served on racquets of toasted bread, +with lettuce leaves; and vanilla ice-cream balls served on racquets of +drop cake. + +At the close of the luncheon each girl took one of the rosettes and +found in it a tiny silver pin in the shape of a racquet to pin upon her +gown. The two who chose the same color had to meet each other in the +tournament which occupied the rest of the afternoon. + + + + +PING-PONG PARTY + + +The invitations, which were written on pink paper, ran as follows: + + _Ping-Pong Party!_ + + _Polite and pretty people pressed to pleasantly play + ping-pong for prizes: pens, pictures, purses or pencils._ + + _Patent leather pumps and pinafores positively prohibited._ + + _Party puts in at 8 P. M.--pulls out at pleasure._ + + _Program_ + + _1. Ping-pong partners. + 2. Playing ping-pong. + 3. Partaking of prepared provender. + 4. Presentation of prizes. + R. s. v. p. pretty promptly to Miss Ethel Thompson,_ + + _179 Chestnut Street._ + +The tournament began with mixed doubles. A pretty boutonnière was given +to each guest. The men selected for their partners the girls who had +flowers corresponding to theirs. After doubles were played off the +singles were on, and the prizes were given at the supper-table. A +charming Japanese fan, labeled "Pretty present to prevent prickly heat," +was the ladies' prize; a potted plant, the men's; while some slight +consolation was given the fortunate being who almost won by a wriggly +paper snake, bearing on its harmless fangs the legend, "The perilous +python pitilessly puts a period to pleasure." + +A rather unusual supper of sandwiches of thin pumpernickel, potato +salad, pumpkin pie, fruit punch and popcorn was enjoyed. + + + + +PIN PARTY + + +The invitations to this were written on large sheets of paper, and the +sheet was then folded up small, and pinned with a large black pin. Each +guest was requested to bring a fancy stick-pin which he or she was +willing to have disposed of as the hostess saw fit. + +On entering, these were given to the hostess, who thrust each into a +small card bearing the name of the person bringing it. While her guests +were removing wraps in the guest-chamber, she put these by twos (one +brought by a girl and one by a man) into small jeweler's boxes. The name +of the girl who brought the one pin was put into the box, but no man's +name was enclosed. When the time came for supper these boxes were passed +to the gentlemen, who each selected one. The name inside indicated which +lady he was to take out to supper. One stick-pin went to each of the +pair, and these served as souvenirs. + +It so happened that no man had the pin that he had brought to the +entertainment, and of course no girl had hers, for she would insist that +the man take the pin she had provided. As many of these pins were the +quaintest ones to be found by the persons bringing them, they created +not a little amusement. + +But we are getting ahead of our story, for before supper the time was +filled in with various games. + +The first of these was an entertainment in which all the guests took +part. A fancy tray contained as many slips of cardboard as there were +guests. This was placed on the centre-table, and the hostess called upon +one of the men to pick up one of these slips at random, and read what it +contained. He did so and read: "The tale of a pin." The hostess then +informed him that he must tell the story of a pin, and do it in two +minutes. The surprise was so great that he scarcely recovered enough to +begin his story before his time was up. Then he had to call on some +girl, and she must take a slip, and do whatever it bade her, for the +period of two minutes. And so on until all had taken part. Some of the +slips read thus: + + Speak a piece with something in it about a pin. + + Name twenty-five kinds of pins. + + Tell a story about a girl and a pin. + + Give an oration on points. + + Give a talk on pinfeathers. + + Improvise a poem on "The boy and the pin." + + Point out the various pins you can see in this room. + + Tell twenty uses for a hairpin. + + Sew with a pin. With this was given a piece of cheese-cloth + and a pin with a long thread tied to the head. + + Count the pins in a heap. (All sizes and kinds.) + + Make a pin stand on its head. + + Draw a picture of a pin. (Breastpin of huge pattern.) + +Play a game of "ring pins." This was a variation of the game of quoits +or ring toss. Into a foot square piece of soft pine had been stuck +twenty pins about an inch apart. The victim was given ten small brass +rings, and made to stand two feet from the edge of the table, and see +how many rings he could make catch over a pin. + + + + +P.O.D. DINNER PARTY + + +On the twenty-second day of February the guests were bidden to a P.O.D. +(Post-Office Department) dinner party, but none guessed the meaning of +the mysterious letters till they were seated at the table and found that +the place-cards were unsealed envelopes stamped and directed, each one +containing a tin label similar to the ones upon the sacks used in the +Railway Mail Service. These had been made by a tinsmith and were only +strips of tin three inches long and an inch and a half wide. The sides +had been bent over slightly to form a slot to hold a narrow piece of +cardboard, and a blue or a pink ribbon was drawn through a small hole +punched in one end. + +The ladies' slips bore the names of small towns near by, while those of +the gentlemen had the titles of the railroads on which the towns were +situated. + +The table was decorated with toy trains and stagecoaches and men on +horseback, all loaded with tiny mail-sacks filled with salted nuts, +candies, and even little cakes. The guests had great fun guiding the +various conveyances around the table and peering into the small sacks. + +After dinner the host stood in the dining-room door and would allow no +couple to pass who were not able to show perfectly matched slides. + +In the parlor cards on which were written names and addresses were +passed around and two minutes allowed to decipher and write them on +tablets provided for the purpose, and numbered from one to twenty-five. +At the tap of a bell each person passed his or her card to the one on +the right, and in this way the cards made the circuit of the room in the +given time. There were enough difficult ones to give an idea of the +troubles which beset Uncle Sam's faithful servants when handling the +mails. + +The first prize was a silver stamp-box, and the consolation one a small +United States atlas. + +A boy with a mail-sack distributed packages of bonbons, the +old-fashioned game of "post office" was played. + + + + +POP-CORN PARTY + + +I was much surprised and amused at a little corn-colored envelope which +came with my morning mail the other day. It contained, written upon +corn-colored paper, an invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Blank to be present +at "A Pop-corn Party" on the following Thursday evening at eight +o'clock. In the lower left-hand corner was written, "To meet Mr. C. Cobb +very informally." + +In the dressing-room each girl was presented with an addition to her +toilet in the shape of a necklace of popcorn sewed upon satin ribbon, +each necklace having a distinct color. Upon entering the parlors we +found all the men adorned with watch-chains to correspond. We were +speedily invited into the dining-room, where a bright open fire was +burning, and were told that this time the girls were to do "the +popping." And they did, while ghost stories were told, songs were sung +and conundrums given and guessed. As the corn was popped it was given to +the hostess, who, in a corn-colored crepon gown, presently invited all +the men to take partners. This they did by selecting the girls whose +necklaces matched their watch-chains in color. + +Then we sat down to a veritable feast of popcorn at a table which had +been entirely arranged in corn color, and upon which were served salted, +sugared and buttered popcorn, popcorn balls, lemon jelly-cake, lemon +sponge-cake, lemonade, hot and cold, lemon ice cream, lemon water ice +and lemon jelly. After our delicious supper we returned to the parlor +and were handed cards with pencils attached. Our hostess then rang a +bell and called for order, and when order reigned she requested us to +write eight nouns beginning with corn, and the name of a general +beginning in the same way. In ten minutes she rang the bell again and +collected the lists. The best one read, "Cornflower, cornstarch, +cornice, cornet, cornea, corner, corncake, cornucopia, General +Cornwallis." + +The maker of this list received a pretty corn-colored paper lamp shade +as a prize, and the girl who only had two words on her list received the +booby prize--a corn-colored paper dunce cap, which she was compelled to +wear the rest of the evening. + + + + +PORTRAIT GAME + + +In this new and clever game a name card, with the numbers from one to +six written upon it, a small pad of paper, and a pencil, are handed to +each guest. The gentlemen are then asked to select partners for each +number upon their cards, and when this is done the hostess may give the +signal for the game to begin, and announce that "partners" may proceed +to draw each other's faces upon the pads of paper, each gentleman +depicting the charms of his _vis-à -vis_, and each lady doing likewise. + +At the end of five minutes a bell gives the signal for the gentlemen to +seek their next partners, and again the portraiture goes on. When all +the partners have been taken and all the portraits drawn, each portrait +being marked with the artist's initials and a number corresponding to +the number the model occupies on each card, the collection is pinned to +a sheet or portière, and the guests are invited to guess whose likeness +each drawing is meant to represent. + +The one guessing the largest number of portraits correctly is given a +prize of a photograph, and the one who has made the best portrait also +receives one. + + + + +POVERTY PARTY + + +The committee should take especial pains to have every one enter into +this party to make it a success. When it was held at the home of the +writer, the house was all torn up ready to move out the next day, so the +floors were bare, the curtains were all down and everything looked very +much poverty stricken. All the good furniture was moved out of the +rooms, and store boxes with long boards across made the seats. Mush and +milk was served in tin cups with tin spoons (borrowed for the party). A +flashlight photograph was taken and every one had a thoroughly good +time. + + YEW AIR AST TO A + POVERTY PARTTY! + + that us fokes of thee Trinity C. E. air a-goin tu hav at the + hous whare Mr. Linscott livs with his wife. It is on Alanson + Strete. If yer cante finde it go to No. 36. + + _MONDAY NITE, + MARTCH THEE TWENTY ATE_ + RULS AND REGELASHUNS. + + Chap. One. Evry womman who kums must ware a kaliko dres and + apern, ore somethin ekally apropriate. + + Chap. Tew. All men must ware there ole close and flannill + shurts. Biled shurts and stanup dickys air prohibbitted + onles there ole and rinkled. + + _These Ruls Will Bee Inforced to thee Leter._ + + ONE--A kompetunt core uf mannagers and ades will be in + attendance. + + TEW--The hull sasiety wil interduce strangirs and luk after + bashfil fellers. + + THREE--There is a-goin to bee lots of phun fore every boddy. + + FORE--Phun wil begin tu commance at haf pas seven. + + FIVE--Tu git into thee house yew wil have tew pay tu (2) + cents. + + SIX--Tu git anny thing tu ete yew will haf tu pay thre (3) + cents. + + SEVEN--Yew beter bring lots uv pennies tu pay phines with. + + _Kum Irly and Git a Gude Sete._ + + + + +POVERTY SOCIABLE + + + YOU ARE ASKED TO THE PARLORS OF GEN. & MRS. SILAS T. JONES + + _Wednesday Evening, April Twelfth._ + + "Come in your rags, come in your tags," but not in velvet + gowns, or you will be fined the usual some, 25 sents. Read + the program and all kum. + + REWLS AND REGERLASHUNS + + First. Every womin what kums must ware a Poverty dres and + apern, er somethin ekelly erpropriate, an leave her poodle + dorg to hum. + + Second. Know gent with biled shirt and dood koller will be + aloud to kum onless he pays a fine of 5 sents. + + Third. A kompitent komitty will intruduse strangers an look + after bashful fellers. + + VITTLES + + Koffy, 5 sents Ginger Kake, 5 sents + + KUM AT KANDLE LIGHTIN AN STAY TIL BEDTIME + NO OBSTREPROUS ER BAD BOYS PERMITTED + + + + +PRESIDENTIAL COUPLETS + + + 1. Who first at Washington did pledge + The nation's weal to guard and hedge? + + 2. Which President, most grave and wary, + Was called "Old Public Functionary"? + + 3. Whose phaeton, made from ship of state, + Conveyed him to inaugural fête? + + 4. What President, renowned for spleen, + Joined the Continentals when fourteen? + + 5. Who in his New York home did take + The oath which doth a President make? + + 6. Who to his inaugural hied + His good and faithful horse astride? + + 7. When death first made vacant a President's chair, + What Vice-President succeeded there? + + 8. Who to his inaugural came disguised, + For fear of mischief ill-advised? + + 9. Who was wounded in Trenton town + When Washington put the Hessians down? + + 10. Who President again became + Just four year after resigning the name? + + 11. What President served but thirty days + Ere death dissolved his term of praise? + + 12. What President, son of a President, + Was known as "The Old Man Eloquent"? + + 13. Because March fourth on Sunday came, + Who, for one day, deferred their claim? + + 14. Who, when his oath of office he took, + Was known as "The Wizard of Kinderhook"? + + 15. Who, after his inaugural vow, + Turned round to kiss his mother's brow? + + 16. The initials of what President's name + Stand for a phrase which made his fame? + + 17. Who in the Quaker City neat + Their oaths of office did repeat? + + 18. Which Chief Magistrate was styled + "The American Fabius" of the wild? + + 19. "Novanglus" was the pen-name signed + By what President of cultured mind? + + 20. Who only as President and Commander-in-Chief + Has stood on the battle-field planning relief? + +1. Thomas Jefferson. 2. James Buchanan. 3. Martin Van Buren. 4. Andrew +Jackson. 5. Chester A. Arthur. 6. Thomas Jefferson. 7. John Tyler. 8. +Abraham Lincoln. 9. James Monroe. 10. Grover Cleveland, 11. William +Henry Harrison. 12. John Quincy Adams. 13. James Monroe, Rutherford B. +Hayes, Zachary Taylor. 14. Martin Van Buren. 15. James A. Garfield. 16. +U. S. (Unconditional Surrender) Grant. 17. John Adams, George +Washington. 18. George Washington. 19. John Adams. 20. Abraham Lincoln. + + + + +PRESIDENTIAL QUESTIONS + + + What President had a son who became President? + John Adams. + + What President died with the now famous words: + "This is the last of earth. I am content"? John Q. + Adams. + + Who was the fifteenth President of the United States? + Buchanan. + + What Vice-President became President by the death of + Taylor? Fillmore. + + By the death of Garfield? Arthur. + + What President fought the last battle of the War of + 1812? Jackson. + + During the administration of what President did the + Louisiana purchase and Burr's treason occur? Jefferson's. + + Under what President was the War of 1812 begun? + Madison. + + What President outlined a famous foreign policy? + Monroe. + + What two Presidents died the same day? Adams and + Jefferson. + + What three Presidents were assassinated? Lincoln, + Garfield, and McKinley. + + What Presidents served as generals in the Mexican war? + Taylor and Pierce. + + During what administration did the annexation of Texas + and the Mexican war take place? Polk's. + + + + +PRESIDENTS' NICKNAMES + + +Let the nicknames of our Presidents form the subject of a guessing +contest. These should be written one at a time upon a blackboard and +numbered. One minute is allowed in which to guess and write down the +name of the Executive to whom the title was applied. The list of +nicknames is as follows: + + Rail-splitter of the West? (Lincoln) + + Hero of New Orleans? (Jackson) + + Old Man Eloquent? (J. Q. Adams) + + Canal Boy? (Garfield) + + Northern Man with Southern Principles? (Buchanan) + + Tippecanoe? (W. H. Harrison) + + Honest Abe? (Lincoln) + + Rough and Ready? (Taylor) + +Let the best list of answers be awarded a prize. + + + + +PUSSY WILLOW PARTY + + +Especially appropriate ideas for an evening's entertainment to be given +the last of March or the first of April are suggested by the pussy +willow. The invitations sent out to the invited friends can be written +on cards brown-tinted like the bark of the trees, and can be very +artistically decorated with the furry blooms, or with paintings of them. +Trim the parlor with pussy willows by filling vases, pitchers, and +bowls. Place the catkins about the room and suspend branches of them +from gas jets and about the windows. The hostess can adorn herself very +prettily with these blooms by making wreaths for the neck and hair, and +by pinning branches of them on the skirt in some design. + +For entertainment, pin against the wall at one end of the room a sheet +upon which is sketched a large pussy willow stalk. Distribute paper +catkins among the guests, who, blindfolded, try in turn, to pin them on +the stalk. This affords a great deal of amusement. Those who succeed in +pinning their catkins upon the stalk receive prizes, given according to +the success of the contestants. These prizes are in the shape of favors +appropriately fashioned from the fluffy little pussies. For further +amusement, have cards distributed on which each person is asked to write +favorite quotations or original rhymes beginning with each letter +contained in the compound word "pussy-willow." These are read in turn, +and many gems are brought fresh to each one's mind. One could also +introduce a pussy willow hunt, as another pastime. For the dining-room +decoration use more pussy willows. A pussy willow centrepiece would +carry out the idea nicely, and add to the attractiveness of the table. +Brown and silvery green are suggestive colors for further decorations, +and may be used on the menu cards, making them simple but appropriate +souvenirs. + + + + +RED, WHITE AND BLUE LUNCHEON + + +The entire color scheme of this Fourth of July luncheon must be worked +out in the national colors; as far as possible the doilies used should +be designed in star-shaped patterns, with a border in wash silks of +interwoven red carnations and blue corn-flowers. Suspended directly over +the centre of the table, a huge liberty bell should be hung, composed of +red and white carnations and blue corn-flowers. Depending therefrom +should be ropes of red, white and blue ribbon, terminating at the four +corners of the table. The luncheon to be served should be as far as +possible in the prevailing colors, the ices might be in firecracker +form, and the starry banner should appear wherever it can be introduced. +Draperies and pictures indicative of the occasion should be placed in +conspicuous places, and do not forget a goodly supply of pyrotechnics +to conclude the day. Such a luncheon will certainly commend itself to +all, and most particularly to the younger element. + +Write the following verses on cards and pass around among the guests +after they have left the table. Have each verse read aloud previous to +the performance: + + 1. Though puzzles do our minds distress, + We'd like two good ones now to guess. + + 2. We'd like to hear you tell to-day, + Some funny things that children say. + + 3. Describe some woman in the town, + Her nose and hair, her dress and gown; + But do not give us her address, + Nor tell her name, and we will guess. + + 4. We'd like a story full of fun; + You're gifted, Lyman, tell us one + + 5. Misery likes company, they say; + We'd like to hear you tell to-day + (Don't hesitate, but now begin) + Of the worst scrape you e'er were in. + + 6. Your talent gives as much delight; + We wish that you would please recite. + + 7. Your part in this program to help us along + Will give us much pleasure; please sing us a song. + + 8. If music hath charms, we wish that to-day + You'd prove it, and something quite charming would play. + + 9. Tell some joke on yourself, your wife, or your friend. + But we hope that you'll have it pleasantly end. + + 10. Describe some trip you've taken far, + To Mexico, Europe, or Zanzibar. + + 11. Give a tale of old time when settlers were few, + Of what they had then and what they did do. + + 12. Describe some famous picture, + Whether dark or fair. + Please tell us all about it, + And the artist rare. + + 13. Without a bit of gossip sweet, + This program would not be complete. + Be sure that while the seasons roll, + This crowd will _never tell_ a soul. + + + + +"RILEY" ENTERTAINMENT + + +A "Riley" party was recently held by one of our church charity +organizations. It proved a decidedly unique affair and quite a +profitable one also. The decorations of the church parlors consisted +mainly of paper, which was most artistically entwined about pillar, post +and picture. A large picture of James Whitcomb Riley was placed upon the +wall facing the entrance, and over it in pasteboard letters, + + "When the frost is on the pumpkin, + And the fodder's in the shock." + +Almost all the young people who had gotten up the entertainment were +dressed to represent Riley's characters, and several of the most +important presided over the booths. At one, which was literally covered +with paper flowers, "'Lizabeth Ann, she can cook best things to eat," +sold cakes and pies. At another Riley's poems and photographs were sold, +and at still another "The raggedy man! He works for pa," knocked down +apples from an improvised apple-tree as fast as he could sell them. And +among the purchasers were "Little Orphant Annie," "Max and Jim," "Pa and +ma and me, all three," and many others. + +While all were busy buying and tasting the good things, "the old band" +marched in. + + "Somehow--anyway + I want to hear the old band play + Sich tunes as 'John Brown's body,' and + 'Sweet Alice,' don't you know? + And 'The camels is a-comin'' and + 'John Anderson, my Jo.'" + +And the impromptu band played them. Later in the evening some of the +Riley poems were recited. + + + + +SELF-PORTRAITS + + +"Actions speak louder than words." So runs the old saw; nevertheless, a +single phrase has often served to make a man famous, and many well-known +personages are readily remembered through especially striking or +appropriate utterances. + +How many readers will be able to credit the following to the proper +sources? + + 1. "I am the greatest historian that ever lived." + + 2. "All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my + mother." + + 3. "I would rather men should ask why my statue + is not set up than why it is." + + 4. "My infant son rules his mother; his mother + rules me; I rule the Athenians; the Athenians + rule the Greeks; the Greeks rule Europe, and + Europe rules the world." + + 5. "Though I have the arm of a woman, I have the + heart of a King, and am ready to pour out + my blood." + + 6. "Here lies one whose name is writ in water." + + 7. "Where liberty is _not_, there is my country." + + 8. "Circumstances! I make circumstances!" + + 9. "As yet a child, not yet a fool to fame, I lisp'd + in numbers, for the numbers came." + + 10. "The world is my parish." + + 11. "With my sword by my side and Homer in my + pocket, I hope to carve my way through the + world." + + 12. "My country is the world: my countrymen are + mankind." + + 13. "I am called the richest monarch in the Christian + world; the sun in my dominion never + sets." + + 14. "I am the State." + + 15. "Life is a jest, and all things show it; I thought + so once, but now I know it." + + 16. "If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, + while a foreign troop landed in my country, + I never would lay down my arms--never! + never! never!" + + 17. "I came, I saw, I conquered." + + 18. "I could lie down like a tired child and weep + away the life of care which I have borne, and + yet must bear." + + 19. "I awoke one morning and found myself famous." + + 20. "Tell your master that if there were as many + devils at Worms as tiles on its roofs, I would + enter." + + 1. Edward Gibbon. + + 2. Abraham Lincoln. + + 3. Cato. + + 4. Themistocles. + + 5. Queen Elizabeth. + + 6. John Keats. + + 7. Thomas Paine. + + 8. Napoleon Bonaparte. + + 9. Alexander Pope. + + 10. Wesley. + + 11. Napoleon Bonaparte. + + 12. Wm. Lloyd Garrison. + + 13. Charles V. + + 14. Louis XIV. + + 15. John Gay. + + 16. Wm. Pitt, Earl of Chatham. + + 17. Julius Cæsar. + + 18. Percy B. Shelley. + + 19. Lord Byron. + + 20. Martin Luther. + + + + +SEVEN DAYS IN ONE + + +This fair can be planned by any society that wishes to raise money and +is willing to work to earn it. + + +MONDAY + +Have a booth with everything pertaining to wash-day--wash aprons, +clothes-pin aprons, clothes-pin bags, wash-tubs, boilers, wash-boards, +clothes-lines, clothes-pins, soaps, washing-powder, bluing, +clothes-baskets, etc. + + +TUESDAY + +Have everything a housewife wants for ironing day--ironing-boards, +irons, stands, holders, home-made holders, fine starch, bees' wax, +ironing-board slips, polishing irons, etc. + + +WEDNESDAY + +Wednesday's booth should have everything for mending day, such as +needle-books, stocking-bags, buttons, button-bags, pincushions, papers +of pins, needles, thread, darning needles, darning-cotton, +darning-balls, etc. + + +THURSDAY + +Make Thursday the reception day, arranging this booth as a reception +hall, with a good, live committee in attendance. Have a book for the +guests to register their names and addresses (for future use). Serve ice +cream, cake, lemonade and candy. Introduce strangers and appoint a +special committee to look after the backward ones. + + +FRIDAY + +Let this booth be suggestive of sweeping day. Have plenty of dust caps, +dust bags, dusting cloths, brushes, brooms, dust-pans, dusters, large +colored aprons (which sell readily), etc. + + +SATURDAY + +Let this booth be a regular bakery. Have your friends bake various +things for you to sell, and have on sale all such articles as will sell +readily, such as pies, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, bread, baked beans, +etc. + + +SUNDAY + +Have Sunday the crowning day of all. Arrange to have a piano or organ at +this booth, and secure a full choir or quartet to sing the sacred songs; +have solos, duets, instrumental music and an orchestra if possible. Have +sacred readings and make the time spent here an hour of sacred +enjoyment. + +If something extra is wanted let the singers dress in old time costumes +and sing the old sacred songs with an organ accompaniment. + + + + +SHAMROCK LUNCHEON + +AN IDEA FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY + + +The invitations were written upon pale green note-paper, with a shamrock +leaf painted in water-color in one corner. The exquisitely blended +shades of this leaf make it an easy and effective decoration. In truth, +we encountered some difficulty in finding a leaf to copy; but a volume +of Moore's poems, incased by a considerate binder in a shamrock-sprinkled +cover, solved the problem! + +The event was called a "Shamrock Luncheon," the hours were from two +until six, and the word "whist" explained our intentions. + +The score-cards were cut from green cardboard, in the shape of a large +shamrock; and across the back of each was written a line of a humorous +St. Patrick's Day poem, which we had discovered in a newspaper. The +verses will be found complete at the end of this article. It is adapted +to twenty-four guests, but it is easy to insert more lines if more +guests are invited. + +Each lady selected her partner for the game by finding the holder of the +line which rhymed with her own. The score-cards were tied with streamers +of narrow white or green ribbon, which served both to attach the cards +to the gown and to indicate partners in "changing tables"--the green +always playing with a white ribbon. (Care must be taken to tie rhyming +cards, one with green and one with white.) + +When partners had been found, the entire poem, sufficiently humorous to +break up all formality, was read. As each line was read, the owner of +the card bearing that line took her seat as indicated, until all the +guests were easily and laughingly seated. + +The six small luncheon tables were set with green and white china, and +had for centrepieces pots of blossoming shamrock. Any florist will sell +or rent these. + +The menu was as follows: + + Fruit Salad + Boiled Salmon Caper Sauce + Potato au Gratin + Chicken Salad in Lettuce Nests + Olives Wafers + Pistachio Cream + Fancy Cakes Iced in Pale Green + Coffee Bonbons + +This repast, served by three pretty waitresses in white gowns and green +ribbons, was eminently satisfactory. Green and white bonbons are easy to +obtain. Care must be taken, however, not to carry the color scheme too +far into the menu, as green is not an appetizing color in all kinds of +food. + + +ST. PATRICK'S BIRTHDAY + + + "'Twas the eighth day of March, so some people say, + St. Patrick at midnight, he first saw the day! + While others contend 'twas the ninth he was born, + An' 'twas all a mistake between midnight and morn. + But mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock, + And some blamed the baby, and some blamed the clock. + So that with all the talk there was, no one could know + If the child was too fast, or the clock was too slow! + + "Now the first faction fight in owld Ireland, they say, + Was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday. + Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth more would die; + And who wouldn't see right, why, they blackened his eye. + + "At last each faction so positive grew + That each kept a birthday, and Patrick had two! + Until good Father Mulcahy, who showed them their sins, + Said no one could have two birthdays, but twins! + Said he: 'Bhoys, don't be fightin' fur eight or fur nine; + Don't be always dividin', but sometimes combine. + Unite eight and nine--seventeen is the mark. + Let that be his birthday.' 'Amen,' said the clark. + + "'If he wasn't a twin, sure his histhory will show + That he's worth at least any two saints that we know.' + Then they all 'tuk a dhrop,' which completed their bliss; + And they keep up the practice from that day to this." + + + + +SNOWDRIFT PARTY + + +An ingenious hostess provided no little amusement for her guests by what +she called her "snowdrift party." This is how it is arranged: + +First of all select from a good book of quotations or proverbs twenty +sentences applicable to snow. Write these twenty verses on twenty cards, +one verse to each card, and number them with the numbers from one to +twenty. Now get together a half dozen pasteboard or wooden boxes, and +fill these with flakes of cotton, wool or white paper torn into small +pieces. Hide the quotation cards away in the snow thus formed. Each +guest receives a wooden teaspoon, tied with ribbon, a note-book and +pencil. The boxes are distinguished by letters or numbers painted upon +them, and lots are drawn to determine in which "snowdrift" each guest +shall dig. The digging is, of course, done with the spoons. Each player +digs in the snow, turning it up spoonful by spoonful, until he discovers +a card. When a card is found the quotation upon it must be read and the +name of the author, if recognized, written down. Each author's name +should be placed in the note-book opposite the proper number of the +card, in order to facilitate the work of the person who reads the lists +to decide the prize. The cards, whether the author is known or not, are +always returned to the box and hidden away in the snow. At the end of +fifteen minutes, work ceases and the diggers begin on new drifts. This +changing is done every fifteen minutes, a player digging always in a new +snow bank until the number of boxes is exhausted. When the game reaches +this stage all note-books or tablets are collected by the mistress of +the ceremonies. She compares the answers in the note-books with her own +list, previously prepared. Incorrect guesses are pruned away with a blue +pencil and the correct ones counted. It is, of course, the player who +has most of these last who carries off the trophy. The prize should be +in some way suggestive of the occasion. + + + + +SOCK SOCIABLE + + + This little sock we give to you + Is not for you to wear; + Please multiply your size by two + And place therein with care, + In pennies or in cents, + Just twice the number that you wear, + (We hope it is immense). + So if you wear a number 10 + You owe us 20, see? + Which, dropped into our little sock, + Will fill our hearts with glee. + 'Tis all we ask; it isn't much, + And hardly any trouble, + But if you only have one foot, + We'll surely charge you double. + Now, if you have a friend quite dear, + You'd like to bring with you, + Or if you know some one who'd come, + We'll gladly give you two. + So don't forget the place and date-- + We'll answer when you knock, + And welcome you with open arms, + But DON'T FORGET YOUR SOCK. + +This little verse should be sent with every invitation to the sociable, +accompanied by a tiny sock made of silk or lawn. On the night of the +entertainment, these socks with the money that has been placed in them +are brought by the guests and deposited in a large bowl at the door. The +sociable then proceeds in the usual manner. This is an excellent way of +raising money for some charitable object. + + + + +SPINNING PARTY + +"Will you walk into my parlor?" + + +On the upper left-hand corner there was a picture of a spider spinning +his web, and a fly struggling to escape from its meshes. + +When the guests arrived they saw an old-fashioned spinning wheel in the +centre of the room, with flax near by, all ready for spinning. They were +told that all must try for the prizes that were to be awarded to the +lady and gentleman who spun the best thread, after five minutes' trial. +The mother of the hostess, who had done such work when a girl, stood +near to give instruction, and to time the contestants. Those who have no +knowledge of spinning can have no idea how much fun there is in trying +to make an even thread, more especially when surrounded by interested +young people of no greater experience. As the different threads were +finished they were fastened to a tag bearing the name of the worker and +then pinned to a square of black cloth that had been pinned to the wall +for that purpose. When all had tried, a committee was appointed to help +the hostess decide to whom prizes should be awarded. + +While the spinning was going on the guests whose turn at the wheel had +not arrived and those who had already tried were set to following the +threads of what looked like an immense spider web wound around the +rooms. It was composed of black and white threads, the black threads +being intended for gentlemen and the white ones for ladies. They were +instructed that when they found an end of one of these threads they were +to begin winding it into a ball; but that they must do so very gently, +or the whole web would be knotted so badly that it could not be undone. +When they came to a knot it must be untied. These threads were so +ingeniously twisted together and wound around pictures, bric-à brac, +table legs, etc., that it took some time to reach the farther end, and +every one had plenty of opportunity to talk with every one else. A card +was fastened to the farther end of each thread, and all the cards had +been so well concealed from view that some time elapsed before the +guests knew what they were to find. + +On each card were written the words, "You will take supper with the one +who holds the mate to your card." Then the cards must be compared. Each +contained a spider web, some with four circles, some with more; some +with eight divisions, others with more or less; but there were always +two of each kind, and through the peculiarities of these webs the +partners discovered each other. The difference in webs was sometimes so +slight as not to be detected without close observation; but it was +always plain after having once been pointed out. It is surprising how +many different designs can be worked out in these webs. The work is +really quite fascinating when once begun, so the thought of it must not +frighten any one from giving a spinning party. + +When the prizes had been awarded to the best spinners, several tables +were brought in and set about the room. + +On the top of each there was fastened a heavy sheet of drawing paper, +upon which five circles had been drawn. The outside circle was as large +as the table would allow. The inner one was only two inches in diameter. +The other three circles were drawn at equal distances between these two. +In the inner space on one table were the figures 25; the next 20; then +came 15, 10 and 5. On the next table the inner space was marked 30, and +each of the other spaces 5 less. On the third and last table the inner +circle was marked 50, and each of the others 5 less. + +Each player was given a top, made from a spool, and all the guests took +turns spinning the tops on the table having the lowest figures. When the +top ceased spinning the player was credited with the number on which the +point of the top rested. As soon as a player had twenty-five to his +credit he advanced to the next higher table. There he must win fifty +points before he could pass on to the highest table. When he had won a +hundred points at the third table he was obliged to begin again at the +foot table. The top must not be touched while spinning. Should it drop +to the floor the player must make ten before he could begin to count +again. Should he make 25 at the next trial he only counted 15; but he +had a second trial when his top had dropped to the floor, before the +next player spun his top. + +Each player had a credit card tied in his buttonhole upon which numbers +something like the meal tickets issued at restaurants were closely +written. When added these numbers should make 500. The hostess had a +punch with which she cut out the numbers to correspond with those won by +the player. When any player had no more numbers on his card he was +declared winner and the game was ended. + + + + +SPINSTER TEA + + +Where a party of girls wish to have an evening all to themselves the +"Spinster Tea" will furnish them with much merriment. + +As this sort of tea should be quite informal the invitations may be +written on plain white note-paper, as follows: + + "_Being a spinster in good standing in this community you are + cordially invited to a 'Spinster Tea' on Tuesday evening, + November twentieth, at seven o'clock, at 415 Madison Street. + You are requested to dress in character, and to bring with you + an old-fashioned picture of a man supposed to have been refused + by you. Be prepared to tell the story of his wooing and to + state what he lacked to make him pleasing to you. The narrator + of the most improbable story will be given a heart._" + +When the evening of the tea comes, and the guests have all been +introduced one to another, they may be ushered into the dining-room and +the supper be served. The dining-table should be arranged in as +old-fashioned a style as possible. At the four corners place +candlesticks with wax candles, and for a centrepiece have a large +bouquet of artificial bachelors' buttons. Use old-fashioned china and +silver if you happen to have any. At each place put a few bachelors' +buttons, to which attach a menu card by a narrow white taffeta ribbon. + +The refreshments should be numbered upon the menu cards, and each guest +be allowed to choose one number each time the waitress passes around. +The key to the menu given should be held by the hostess and the +waitress. + +The following menu was recently used at a "Spinster Tea" and created +much merriment: + + MENU KEY TO THE MENU + + 1. Always in pairs. 1. Cup and saucer. + + 2. Would they were here. 2. Jolly boys. + + 3. Front curls. 3. Curled molasses chips. + + 4. Objects of envy. 4. Preserved pears (pairs). + + 5. Warranted to pop. 5. Bottle of ginger ale. + + 6. A solace. 6. Tea. + + 7. Sadly missed. 7. Kisses. + + 8. High-backed comb. 8. Honey in comb. + + 9. Cause of woe. 9. Spiced tongue. + + 10. Courtship. 10. Mush. + + 11. A lover. 11. A spoon. + + 12. A small deceit. 12. A plate. + + 13. Our tears. 13. Salt. + + 14. Left over. 14. Heart (baked). + +After all have partaken of refreshments the guests should adjourn to the +parlor where a circle may be formed, and, beginning at the left, each +spinster in turn may exhibit the picture of her wooer, and relate her +story. Two judges may be chosen by lot to decide which is the prize +story, and a large frosted gingerbread heart may constitute the prize. + + + + +STATE ABBREVIATIONS + + + 1. Which is the most religious state? (Mass.) + + 2. The most egotistical? (Me.) + + 3. Not a state for the untidy? (Wash.) + + 4. The most Asiatic? (Ind.) + + 5. The father of states? (Pa.) + + 6. The most maidenly? (Miss.) + + 7. The most useful in haying time? (Mo.) + + 8. The best state in time of flood? (Ark.) + + 9. Decimal state? (Tenn.) + + 10. State of astonishment? (La.) + + 11. State of exclamation? (O.) + + 12. State to cure the sick? (Md.) + + 13. Where there is no such word as fail? (Kan.) + + 14. The most unhealthy state? (Ill.) + + + + +STATE FLOWERS + + +In case it is desired to represent the various states of the Union by +floral decorations, the following list is given: + + Alabama--Goldenrod. + + Arkansas--Aster. + + California--Columbine. + + Delaware--Peach blossom. + + Idaho--Syringa. + + Iowa--Wild rose. + + Maine--[1]Pine cone and + tassel. + + Michigan--[1]Apple blossom. + + Minnesota--Moccasin + flower. + + Missouri--Goldenrod. + + Montana--Bitter root. + + Nebraska--Goldenrod. + + New Jersey--State tree, + sugar maple. + + New York--Rose; + State tree, maple. + + Oklahoma Territory--[1]Mistletoe. + + Oregon--Oregon grape. + + Rhode Island--Violet; + State tree, maple. + + Vermont--Red clover. + + Washington--Rhododendron. + +[Footnote 1: Adopted by State Legislature.] + + + + +STATE NICKNAMES + + + Which is the Hoosier State? (Indiana) + + The Nutmeg State? (Connecticut) + + The Keystone State? (Pennsylvania) + + The Buckeye State? (Ohio) + + The Palmetto State? (South Carolina) + + The Pine Tree State? (Maine) + + The Prairie State? (Illinois) + + The Sucker State? (Illinois) + + The Lone Star State? (Texas) + + The Lumber State? (Maine) + + The Mother of States? (Virginia) + + The Mother of Presidents? (Virginia) + + The Old Dominion? (Virginia) + + The Old North State? (North Carolina) + + The Hawkeye State? (Iowa) + + The Green Mountain State? (Vermont) + + The Granite State? (Vermont) + + The Freestone State? (Connecticut) + + The Empire State? (New York) + + The Diamond State? (Delaware) + + The Creole State? (Louisiana) + + The Corn Cracker State? (Kentucky) + + The Blue Hen State? (Delaware) + + The Bay State? (Massachusetts) + + + + +STATE SOCIABLE + + +Each guest on arriving should be presented with a white card on which +has been pasted a picture of General Washington. These need not all be +alike--in fact, it will increase the interest in the cards if they are +not; any picture of our first President may be used. Small ones cut from +magazines will answer the purpose admirably. Beneath the picture have +the date, and through perforations at the top of the cards run red, +white and blue ribbon hangers. On the reverse of each of the first +thirteen cards given out write the name of one of the thirteen original +States; on the next thirteen the capital of each of these States, and on +the next thirteen one of the principal cities in the States. If the +company is to be a large one the forty-five States of the Union may be +used instead of the original thirteen. + +The company then forms into State groups--those holding cards bearing +the name of the State itself, its capital and principal city--and each +group agrees which product of its State is most beneficial to the +greatest number of people. When a report is called for, a vote is taken +from all present as to which product is most essential to the welfare of +the nation as a whole. Three small bouquets of red and white carnations +tied with blue ribbon will make appropriate rewards for the three +supporters of the State which wins distinction. + + + + +ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARTY + + +Invitations to be sent out as follows: + + _You are invited to attend a gathering + of the Sons and Daughters of Erin + at the home of + Mr. and Mrs. Patrick O'Rafferty, + (Mr. and Mrs. Herbert B. Linscott), + 105 Southern Avenue, Cleveland, + on St. Patrick's Day in the evening._ + + _You will please come masked and representing some Irish lady + or gentleman. Each guest is asked to furnish an Irish story, + song or recitation._ + +When the guests arrive their assumed names are written on cards and +pinned on each one, and they are introduced to the company under these +names; for instance, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis McFadden, or Mr. Martin Dooly +and Miss Maggie Murphy. Michael O'Toole might go as a bricklayer. There +can be an old apple woman with a basket of apples (which could be sold +for a penny a piece for the treasury). Mike McGinnis of the police force +might go as an Irish policeman. Widdy Malony and her daughter Nora, the +priest, Father McCrary, and several sisters of charity could also be +represented. Let every one enter into the fun with spirit. Have the +decorations of the house all green and have each one wear as much green +as possible. Tin spoons tied with green ribbon can be given as +souvenirs. Have an Irish potato race. Prizes of stick pins in Shamrock +designs can be given the winners, or potato pincushions tied with green +ribbons. Have green paper napkins which can be made from green tissue +paper. Animals can be made from potatoes, using toothpicks for legs and +tails. Have each guest help in the entertainment of the evening by an +Irish song, story or recitation. + + REFRESHMENTS FOR IRISH PARTY + + Wafers tied with green ribbon + Olives Pickles + Irish potato chips served on lettuce leaves + Green tea + Lady fingers tied with green ribbon + Green ribbon candy + + + + +ST. PATRICK'S GUESSING CONTEST + +(Something green.) + + + 1. Name of a celebrated poet. (John Greenleaf + Whittier) + + 2. Name of a celebrated authoress. (Grace Greenwood) + + 3. Child's artist. (Kate Greenaway) + + 4. Revolutionary officer. (General Greene) + + 5. Pennsylvania city. (Greensburg) + + 6. Cold country. (Greenland) + + 7. Western bay. (Green Bay) + + 8. Emigrant. (Green horn) + + 9. Domestic fruit. (Green gage plum) + + 10. Large burial place. (Greenwood cemetery) + + 11. Legal tender. (Greenback) + + 12. A variety of apples. (Greening) + + 13. A place for growing plants. (Green house) + + 14. A part of a theatre. (Green room) + + 15. A harmless stimulant. (Green tea) + + 16. A famous town in Kentucky. (Bowling Green) + + 17. Children's game. (Green gravel) + + 18. Another name for jealousy. (Green eyed monster) + + 19. A country place near Pittsburg. (Green Tree) + + 20. A nourishing tree in the Bible. (Green bay) + + 21. Title of an Irish song. (Wearing of the Green) + + 22. Another name for verdure. (Greenery) + + 23. An article of dessert. (Grenoble walnuts) + + 24. A beautiful hamlet near Allegheny. (Evergreen) + + + + +TELEGRAM PARTY + + +To interest guests who have a sense of humor and thoroughly enjoy a +little quick thinking you can easily invent new games or adapt and add +novel accessories to some older idea, such as, for instance, "A Telegram +Party." + +For this party write your invitations on telegram blanks, and let your +refreshments be served not by a maid (who never enjoys extra work), but +by one or more boys dressed as telegraph messengers. They will delight +in their responsibility and will help you in many ways. + +Let the boys also pass to each person a pencil and a telegram blank, on +which are to be written ten letters, dictated at random by ten guests in +turn. These letters each player must manage to use as the initials of +ten words following in such order as to form an intelligible telegram. +None of these initials can be used for address or signature, but +otherwise no limit is placed upon the ingenuity of the writer. + +Then let the messengers collect the blanks, and after the hostess has +read all the amusing results let a vote be taken for the cleverest +message and a prize be awarded to the sender. + +Of course, the entertainment can be extended by writing any number of +telegrams or varied by requiring that each set of telegrams refer to +some assigned subject. + + + + +TENNIS SOCIABLE + + +Write invitations on small white cardboard racquets. Decorate the walls +with tennis racquets and nets. Have tennis racquets hung from each +chandelier, and stretch a large net across the room. Place in this net +red and white racquets of pasteboard, each tied to several yards of red +and white ribbon, and have them all tangled up. The object is to wind up +the string on the racquets, and secure as many as possible without +breaking the ribbon. The committee should wear red belts with seven red +streamers, each containing a letter, and spelling the word "welcome." +Place welcome mottoes about the room and pinned upon the racquets and +nets. Red and white flowers of all kinds can be used for decorations. +Take small pasteboard racquets, write quotations on, cut in half and +give one-half to the ladies and the other half to the gentlemen, and +have them match the quotations. + +Refreshments can be passed in regular tennis racquets; in summer, +lemonade and wafers, or in winter, hot coffee and cake. + +Red and white decorated racquets can be given the guests as they leave, +for souvenirs. + + + + +TEN VIRGINS (SACRED PLAY) + + +Select ten young ladies who are good singers--six sopranos and four +altos. Divide into two groups, three sopranos and two altos in each +group. Have all dress in long white robes and each carry a candle. Five +should have lighted candles and five not lighted. Have all behind a +curtain and before they appear have the whole ten sing the hymn, "Be +robed and ready when the bridegroom comes." This can be found in any +sacred song book. Have a small room curtained off on one end of +platform. While singing the last verse, "We'll all go forth to meet Him +when He comes," the five with candles lighted will march forth from +behind the curtain and pass across the platform into the small room. +They go in and the door is shut. The other five virgins come forth with +_no light_ and pass across the platform silently, and knock at the door, +but they cannot get in. The five foolish virgins then sing, "Oh, let us +in, the night is dark and chill," and the five wise virgins who have +passed in will answer, using the chorus of the same hymn, "Too late, too +late, ye cannot enter now." This is found in Methodist Hymnal, No. 375. +The five foolish virgins ask the questions contained in each verse and +the five wise ones answer with the "Too late." + + + + +THANKSGIVING DAY DECORATIONS + + +Great cornstalks, with the husk merely turned back to show the yellow +ear, are extremely effective. A huge bunch of these on either side of +the drawing-room door will take the place of palms. They may also be +placed at the entrance to the dining-room, their sentinel-like +appearance making them charming as a doorway decoration. Here and there +great pumpkins, hollowed out to admit of the flower-pot with its growing +green, make unique jardinières. A bunch of corn, where the ear is red, +tied by means of a bow of yellow ribbon to the chandelier, admits of the +same suggestion as the mistletoe of Christmas time, and makes a pretty +spot of color, besides being the cause of much quiet fun. + +A pretty feature is to have a pumpkin table brought in during the +refreshments and hold a guessing contest, which gives an opportunity for +much merriment and for the giving of prizes to the lucky guessers. + +This table should be arranged as follows: Upon a small, highly polished +table (mahogany is perhaps the richest in effect), place a dainty, +embroidered centrepiece, and set upon this a large pumpkin, either on a +silver dish or resting directly on the white linen. This pumpkin should +be hollowed out, as the others, leaving only its yellow shell, the +pumpkin holding an assortment of fruit, luscious and beautiful--highly +polished red-cheeked apples, oranges, bananas and grapes; trailing here +and there among them a few red leaves, or if they can be obtained, a +spray of wild clematis, of bitter-sweet, or of smilax. + +The guests are told that underneath the fruit lies something suggestive +of nature's ways, and therefore of the occasion and that they are to +guess what it may be and how much of it there may be. + +The guesses will be many and varied. The fruit-dish may be passed, the +fruit disposed of, and underneath will be found the pumpkin's seeds, +which have been gathered together. The prize for the guest that guesses +the nearest can be a little horn-of-plenty drinking glass. If one wishes +to give souvenirs of the occasion, charming little pencils can be +obtained that have the lead appearing from a miniature ear of corn. This +feature, however, is quite unnecessary. + + + + +THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL DINNER + + +The following is a description of a novel dinner recently given a party +of twelve football enthusiasts on Thanksgiving Day. + +While the ladies were up-stairs removing their wraps, a maid came in +with a tray on which were six wishbones, each having tied to it a knot +of ribbon of one of the different college colors. Of these they were to +take their choice, according to the college or university they +preferred. Meanwhile the gentlemen down-stairs had been presented with +ribbon rosettes, and as these matched the ribbons on the wishbones they +easily found the ladies whom they were to take in to dinner. + +When the company entered the dining-room they found that the decorations +were in perfect harmony with the character of the game which they had +just witnessed. Chrysanthemums, which are considered a necessary +accompaniment of a football game, were everywhere. A yellow jardinière +filled with ragged beauties in red and bronze stood in the centre of the +table, while a single long-stemmed flower was laid beside each plate. +There were also chrysanthemums in vases on the mantel and sideboard. The +favors, or "mascots," of the dinner were small turkey-gobblers of +papier-mâché containing the bonbons. + +A feature of the dinner enjoyed almost as much as the feast itself was +the novel form of the menus. These were written on two opposite pages of +dainty booklets, the outside covers of which were decorated with +characteristic football sketches accompanied by appropriate quotations. +These were so unique and apropos to the occasion that each guest carried +his home as a souvenir when he left at the end of the evening's +entertainment. Instead of being separated into the usual courses, the +menu was divided, like a football game, into a first and second half, +with an intermission between, and was arranged to read somewhat like a +football program, giving in outline the particulars of a game, the +various terms and expressions in which described the names of the +viands. The following is an illustration, except that in the original +the names of the different articles were omitted, a word in parenthesis +giving a hint where the meaning seemed doubtful: + + FIRST HALF + + I. The spectators arrive and discuss the "points" + (blue) of the game. + + Blue Points + + II. A tally-ho "bowls" in with the football team, said + to be "superior." The players enter the field with great + "celerity," the small boys enthusiastically declaring them + to be "crackers." + + Celery Soup Crackers + + III. Play begins with "a fair catch taken on the fly." + + Fish + + IV. A "foul (fowl) tackle." + + Turkey + + "Pease" follows a "runner," but "Murphy" interferes + and "beats" him off. + + Peas Squash Potatoes Beets + + V. The game at the end of the first half is distinguished + by the fine playing of the "backs" (canvas). + + Canvasback Ducks + + INTERMISSION + + During the intermission the "heads" of several players, + young and green, bruised in the mix-up, receive a "dressing" + down. + + Lettuce Salad + + SECOND HALF + + I. The wedge, or V-shaped, play is tried. + + Pie--Mince and Pumpkin + + II. Followed by disastrous results, necessitating a call + for "sponge" and "ice." + + Sponge Cake Ice Cream + + III. The "fruits" of faithful training are manifest, + A "bunch of purples" go down before a single "orange." + "Bartlett" and "Nellis," a fine pair (pear), become + "candidates" for great honor, "raisin'" cheers of delight + from the spectators by circling the ends, who are "nut" + what they are "cracked" up to be. + + Fruit--Grapes Oranges Pears Candied Dates + Raisins Nuts + + IV. The cup is presented. + + Coffee + + V. Everybody leaves the grounds. + +Although the above may seem a little far-fetched to an authority on +football, the guests were not over-critical, and the novel menu proved a +great source of entertainment, keeping them wondering and speculating +between the courses as to what was coming next. Some of the guests +supposed the "bruised heads" to be those of the cabbage, it having +apparently escaped their minds that there was such a thing as +head-lettuce. Others failed to see the connection between squash and +"runner" until reminded of the fact that squash grows on a vine running +along the ground, while a smile went around the table as one by one, +after concluding that coffee was referred to in "The cup is presented," +discovered, also, the double meaning in the final words of the menu, +"Everybody leaves the grounds." + +A number of things served on the table, such as cranberries, jellies, +olives, etc., were not named in the menu, owing to the difficulty of +expressing them in football language. + +After dinner there was much fun and merriment over pulling the +wishbones, the ladies having offered to break theirs with the gentlemen +attending them at dinner. Later the guests gathered around the open +fireplace, cracking nuts, telling stories, and having a good time +generally. When the time came for them to depart they voted the +Thanksgiving dinner of which they had just partaken the most unique to +which they had ever sat down. + + + + +THANKSGIVING SOCIABLE + + +How surprised every one was at the changed appearance of the +Sunday-school room! All the chairs had been removed and at various +places stood great shocks of corn. Upon the wall were hung red berries +and bright-hued autumn leaves, garlands of which may be easily made if +the leaves are gathered as they fall, waxed, pressed, and strung on +strong threads. In the centre of the room was arranged a large +semicircular divan made of pew-cushions covered with dark, +richly-colored draperies. There were a number of sofa-pillows heaped +upon the divan. The room was dark save for the light which glimmered +from hideous-faced pumpkin lanterns. + +The committee in charge welcomed the guests and invited them to be +seated in the charmed circle. The first thing that met their gaze was an +immense pile of corn on the cob. Over this, standing on three legs, was +a goblin pumpkin with three pairs of glaring eyes, three noses and three +large mouths. A hush fell upon the company, while here and there could +be heard a suppressed giggle. Suddenly a chorus of girls' voices broke +out in a bright autumn song to enliven the drooping spirits of the +guests. + +No sooner had their fears been somewhat allayed than a spectral figure +approached from behind a curtain and sat down by the heap of corn. All +held their breath as it slowly reached out its hand and pulled an ear of +corn from the pile, gazed at a tag which was fastened to it by a ribbon, +read the name of some one who was present, and threw that person the ear +of corn, demanding in a deep, thrilling voice, "A ghost story." It is +needless to describe the quaking and shivering while the story was being +told. The dashing piano solo which followed was fully appreciated. + +A second ghost story was demanded in like manner as the first, after +which came singing, more stories, and music. Then one of the girls, who +could recite well, stood facing the company, with a background of +curtains, and gave Whittier's poem, "The Pumpkin" When she reached the +last stanza the curtains back of her were drawn, as if by spirits, +disclosing a long table covered with a snowy cloth, upon which were +piles of doughnuts, pumpkin pies, cheese and cups of steaming coffee. +Every one gave an exclamation of surprise at the sight, and refreshments +were served amidst much fun and laughter. + +The sociable closed with gifts of a pie apiece to each person +contributing to the entertainment, and an ear of corn, tied with bright +ribbon, to each guest. + +In order to have the ghost stories a success the committee arranging the +program had selected them beforehand. + +A great deal of the success of the entertainment was due to the fact +that its nature had been kept secret, and, curiosity having been +aroused, an unusually large number of people attended. + + + + +TRANSPLANTING TREES + + +Pass slips of paper around with the names of different trees, all in +capital letters, but not spelled in order; for instance, Y-H-O-K-R-I-C, +which when transplanted will spell the name Hickory. A suitable prize +can be given the one who succeeds in transplanting the greatest number +of trees. + + + + +TREE GUESSING CONTEST + + + 1. A solid, tenacious, easily-moulded substance, and + a part of the hand. + + 2. A ruminant quadruped of the feminine gender. + + 3. To show grief, and a machine in which cotton, + wool, or flax is opened and cleansed. + + 4. Neat, without elegance or dignity. + + 5. Ill, ill, ill. + + 6. A nickname, a vowel and an external covering. + + 7. Used for puddings and a part of the hand. + + 8. A near and dear relative. + + 9. A vegetable and a Scottish word denoting possession. + + 10. A partner, came together, and a part of the human + body. + + 11. A green muskmelon pickled. + + 12. A drink, and a lineal measure. + + 13. A coat or covering. + + 1. Wax palm. + + 2. Yew. + + 3. Weeping willow. + + 4. Spruce. + + 5. Sycamore. + + 6. Tamarind. + + 7. Sago palm. + + 8. Paw-paw. + + 9. Plantain. + + 10. Palmetto. + + 11. Mango. + + 12. Cocoa palm. + + 13. Fir. + + + + +TREE PARTY + + +For a June entertainment nothing could be more suitable than a tree +party, for at this season the new leaves are all out and everything +looks fresh and green. Trim the house with branches and blossoms, having +as many varieties of trees represented as possible. When all the guests +have arrived, give to each one a strip of cardboard (having a pencil +tied to it with a bit of green ribbon) upon which are written the +following questions for them to answer: + + 1. What's the social tree, 1. Pear. Tea. + 2. And the dancing tree, 2. Hop. + 3. And the tree that is nearest the sea? 3. Beech. + 4. The daintiest tree, 4. Spruce. + 5. And the kissable tree, 5. Tulip. Yew. + 6. And the tree where ships may be? 6. Bay. + 7. What's the telltale tree, 7. Peach. + 8. And the traitor's tree, 8. Judas. + 9. And the tree that's the warmest clad? 9. Fir. + 10. The languishing tree, 10. Pine. + 11. The chronologist's tree, 11. Date. + 12. And the tree that makes one sad? 12. Weeping + Willow. + 13. What's the emulous tree, 13. Ivy. + 14. The industrious tree, 14. Spindle-tree. + 15. And the tree that will never stand still? 15. Caper. + 16. The unhealthiest tree, 16. Sycamore. + 17. The Egyptian-plague tree, 17. Locust. + 18. And the tree neither up nor down hill? 18. Plane. + 19. The contemptible tree, 19. Medlar. + 20. The most yielding tree, 20. India-rubber. + 21. And the tree that bears a curse? 21. Fig. Damson. + 22. The reddish brown tree, 22. Chestnut. + 23. The reddish blue tree, 23. Lilac. + 24. And the tree like an Irish nurse? 24. Honeysuckle. + 25. What is the tree + That makes each townsman flee? 25. Citron. + 26. And what round itself doth entwine? 26. Woodbine. + 27. What's the housewife's tree, 27. Broom. + 28. And the fisherman's tree, 28. Basswood. + 29. What by cockneys is turned into wine? 29. Vine. + 30. What's the tree that got up, 30. Rose. + 31. And the tree that was lazy, 31. Satin. Aloe. + 32. And the tree that guides ships to go forth? 32. (H)elm. + 33. The tree that's immortal, 33. Arbor-vitæ. + 34. The trees that are not, 34. Dyewoods. + 35. And the tree whose wood faces the north? 35. Southernwood. + 36. The tree in a bottle, 36. Cork. [Hazel. + 37. The tree in a fog, 37. Smoketree. + 38. And what each must become ere he's old? 38. Elder. + 39. The tree of the people, 39. Poplar. + 40. The traveler's tree, 40. Wayfaring tree + 41. And the sad tree when schoolmasters hold? 41. Birch. + 42. What's the tree that has passed through the fiery heat, + 42. Ash. + 43. That half-given to doctors when ill? 43. Coffee. + 44. The tree that we offer to friends when we meet? + 44. Palm. + 45. And the tree we may use as a quill? 45. Aspen. + 46. What's the tree that in death will benight you? + 46. Deadly + nightshade. + 47. And the tree that your wants will 47. Breadfruit. + supply? + 48. And the tree that to travel invites you, 48. Orange. + 49. And the tree that forbids you to die? 49. Olive. + +Then the following game may be played: + +Pin a slip, containing the name of some tree, on the back of each person +present. + +Questions may be asked concerning it, which will give a clue to the +wearer, who is to guess the tree he is supposed to represent. + +As fast as each one is guessed, the slip is taken off the back and +pinned on the breast. Allow fifteen minutes for each person to write an +original poem on the tree he represents. Judges are appointed to select +the best poem, and a suitable prize can be awarded. + + + + +TREE POOL + + +That the guests may choose partners, give out cards of red, green, +yellow, and brown cardboard cut in the shape of leaves,--maple, elm, +oak, etc. There should, of course, be but two leaves of the same shape +and color, one of each being passed to the ladies, the corresponding +ones to the men. The game is played in the usual way where there is a +pool of letters, except that the words made must be only the names of +trees or shrubs. For those who may not be altogether familiar with the +game, the rules are that each one in turn draws a letter from the pool, +then tries by transposing one of his opponent's words to use this +letter, and so make a new word for himself. Plurals are not considered +new words. If one cannot use the letter to draw from his opponent's, or +in his own list, it is thrown back, and the turn passes to the next. If, +however, the letter is used, the player has another turn. When either +couple at the head table have made ten words, the bell is rung and the +guests score and progress as in any other game. + +When supper is served, have the table decorated with a plant standing in +the centre, and from this to each corner of the table have a row of +Noah's Ark trees, which can be purchased at any toy shop. Stand one of +these on each of the plates as they are passed to the guests. They will +make very attractive souvenirs of the occasion. + + + + +TROLLEY PARTY + + +The guests invited to our trolley party were twenty in number. When all +had assembled, cards with pencils attached were given them, after which +the hostess announced that the trip would take half an hour, that the +conductor would ring his bell for start and finish, but that the guests +must prove their familiarity with the names of the streets, which were +represented on cards scattered through the rooms--pinned to curtains, +table-covers, pincushions, etc. Carnations were given to the one +guessing correctly the greatest number of streets, a tiny bank and a new +penny to the one having the least. + +The cards were as follows: + + A TROLLEY RIDE--ST. LOUIS TO KIRKWOOD + + 1. Abraham's wife. + + 2. What idols' feet are often made of. + + 3. Stop here when hungry. + + 4. Always owns a goose. + + 5. Dear to our hearts though sometimes a "Rip." + + 6. Brought lightning from the clouds. + + 7. A part of a door and what doors are usually made of. + + 8. A sombre color. + + 9. Of cherry-tree fame. + + 10. A direction of the compass and a preacher. + + 11. The side of a tiny stream. + + 12. One of the discoverers of Pike's Peak. + + 13. A great turn. + + 14. Associated with the lower regions. + + 15. The highest point. + + 16. What most housewives do on Monday. + + 17. A famous summer resort. + + 18. What the preacher who lisped said to the sinner. + + 19. Green, and dear to girlish hearts. + + 20. Makes a quick fire. + +The names of the streets represented were: + + 1. Sarah. + + 2. Clay. + + 3. Berry Road. + + 4. Taylor. + + 5. Jefferson. + + 6. Franklin. + + 7. Lockwood. + + 8. Gray. + + 9. Washington. + + 10. Westminster. + + 11. Edgebrook. + + 12. Clark. + + 13. Big Bend. + + 14. Sulphur. + + 15. Summit. + + 16. Wash. + + 17. Newport. + + 18. Prather. + + 19. Olive. + + 20. Pine. + +This same idea could be carried out in connection with the streets of +any other town. + + + + +UNIQUE VALENTINE PARTY + + +The invitations requested that each guest appear in costume and masked. +This was the keynote of the affair. An early lunch was planned, as they +were to choose partners while still masked, and naturally they would +wish to remove their masks after that form of the entertainment had +flagged a little. + +The rooms were decorated with valentines which had accumulated in the +household through fourteen years and others prepared for the purpose. + +After the choice of partners, masks were removed, and all marched to the +dining-room, keeping time to a pretty march. + +It being a birthday party, the ever new feature, the birthday cake, with +its candles, graced the centre of the table, the cake being white +decorated with red hearts and red candles. Three kinds of small cakes +and wafers (all heart-shaped), a plate of each at either end of the +table, made up that part of the refreshments. Cocoa in small cups and +ice cream in heart-shaped molds completed the repast. Confectionery in +the predominating color and shape was also on the table. + +The table decorations consisted of red carnations, ferns and smilax, and +were added to by the souvenirs which were laid at the left of each +plate. These were prepared by our family artist for the occasion, and +were red, heart-shaped affairs with gold borders, in the centre a small +sketch in oil, below a line of poetry, and each one numbered. These were +connected by ribbon (running to the centre of the table) to buttonhole +bouquets, carnations and smilax, which with ferns formed the flat +centrepiece. At the ends as many as were convenient were arranged around +the end dishes. Much merriment was created by some reading the lines on +their souvenirs. + +Upon leaving the table each guest adjusted the ribbon about her neck, +which brought the bouquet to its proper place "across the heart." After +returning to the parlors the guests were requested to read the lines +which they had found upon their souvenirs, and of which some had been +wondering the meaning; by beginning with No. 1 and reading in rotation a +well-known poem was completed. As you will see, this form of amusement, +with the character representations, goes far toward an evening's +entertainment. Young people consider a party incomplete without a prize +winning contest of some sort. The one I will describe was adopted. + +Pencils and slips of paper were distributed, each bearing the name of a +book or song, and numbered; then pieces of drawing paper were handed +around, the first slips being collected, and each person was requested +to make a drawing representing the book or song, and putting his number +on it. These were gathered and pinned up for exhibition. The best +drawing won a prize. Then the person that, upon inspecting the drawings, +could give correctly the names of the most books or songs they +represented (more paper being passed for this purpose) received a prize. + +The remainder of the evening was filled in by music, singing and games +of the guests' own choosing. When the time of departure came, all +wished they might enjoy it "all over again." + + + + +UNIVERSITY LUNCHEON + + +A Yale luncheon given last Christmastide was a brilliant success. The +ideas may be utilized for the entertainment of students from any +college, merely changing the colors. + +Our decision was to have no flowers, not even a palm, and to keep the +entire house in harmony of coloring. Fortunately for our scheme, every +room had a quiet gray or bluish paper, and in carpets, furniture and +hangings there was not a touch of color that would clash with the blue +of Yale. Our first bit of luck was the loan of a huge bundle of Yale +flags and bunting from the College Men's club. A flag, with a great +white "Yale" on it, we stretched across one end of the sitting-room, +another, as immense as a campaigning banner, draped the west wall of the +dining-room. The stairs were garlanded with blue bunting, and all over +the house fluttered little class flags bearing dates that ran from '80 +to '05. We allowed bunches of mistletoe tucked cunningly under gas +fixtures. Holly was out of the question: it would have suggested +Harvard. + +Serving luncheon at one was an innovation, but an excellent one. When +the dishes were cleared away the anxiety was over, and the hostess moved +about among her guests without a thought of a meal to be served at the +end of the games. We set ten small tables, three in the dining-room, +four in the sitting-room, two in the parlor and one in the hall. The +tables were snowily linened, there were doilies in blue and white, and +the centrepiece on each table was a glass dish filled with small bunches +of splendid blue and white grapes. There was nothing blue to be found in +the fruit or flower kingdom except these, and the coloring was superb. +All the dishes we used were handsome old-fashioned willow ware, solid +dark blue, or mottled blue china. + + + + +VALENTINE ENTERTAINMENT + + +Two dozen couples make a very goodly company of young folks for a +pleasant little evening; therefore, send out invitations to that number. +The cards of invitation might have on them, either in India ink or +water-colors, an arrow-pierced heart, a whole heart or a broken one; +even a cluster of them, like fishes on a string, according to the +pleasure of the hostess. For each of the twelve young ladies invited, +select a rôle that she will impersonate; for instance, we will say that +the twelve characters to be represented are: + + 1. Queen of Hearts. + + 2. Gypsy. + + 3. Nun. + + 4. Bicycle Girl. + + 5. Summer Girl. + + 6. Colonial Girl. + + 7. Poster Girl. + + 8. Widow. + + 9. Old Maid. + + 10. Trained Nurse. + + 11. Columbia. + + 12. Valentine. + +Number twelve can be either a sentimental or a comic character. If the +latter, a good deal of amusement may be derived by getting a younger +brother or some mischievous boy to represent this character. Have the +young ladies gather at the home of the hostess somewhat earlier than the +men present themselves, and when the latter have assembled in the +parlors pass a tray around to them containing a dozen cards, on each of +which is written a couplet. These couplets are suggestive of the rôles +the young ladies play, and each gentleman may select such a couplet as +he sees fit. When all the cards have been taken, the young men in +rotation read aloud the couplet each has chosen, and after the reading +of the couplet the one representing it is brought into the parlor by the +hostess and introduced to the reader, who has thus chosen her as his +valentine. + +Among the pleasant features of the supper a "Valentine cake" may be +introduced with good effect. A nicely iced cake, decorated with candy +hearts having sentimental mottoes on them, should be divided into +twenty-four slices before it is brought to the table. In the slices for +the young girls to draw make a small slit with the sharp blade of a +knife, and insert into the opening a slip of paper on which is written +the name of some young man who is present. + +In those slices the men are to draw are such small articles as denote +the sort of wife Fate has chosen to be each one's partner for life. +Thus, a silver coin signifies wealth; a scrap of silk, a fashionable +wife; a penny, poverty; a tiny spoon, a good housekeeper; a pen, a +literary woman; a small silver heart, a marriage for love; a small +brush, an artistic wife; a tiny mirror, a vain woman; a piece of crape, +a widow, etc. + +First a young lady chooses a slice of cake, then the man whose name she +draws selects one and learns the kind of life-partner he is to have. +Much merriment may be derived from such a cake. + + + + +VALENTINE FUN + + +This description of a Valentine entertainment will be welcomed by those +who desire novel and original ideas. + +We were received in a room decorated with wreaths of green, hung in +festoons caught up at regular intervals by ribbon streamers. From the +centre of each wreath hung hearts of parchment paper, tinted in blue and +lettered in gold, each bearing a number and a fate or fortune. + +Suspended from a portière rod between the hall and reception room were +three hearts formed of heavy wire and carefully entwined with evergreen; +above each one was a jingle. The first said: + + Blow your bubble right through here + And you'll be married before another year. + +Above the second was: + + To be engaged this very week + Number two is the one to take. + +And the third had: + + A sad, an awful fate awaits the one who seeks me, + For he or she will ever a spinster or bachelor be. + +On a small table near by was an immense bowl filled with sparkling +soapsuds, and also clay pipes decorated with little blue hearts. + +We first threw the bubbles off the pipes and then tried to blow them +through the hearts with pretty little fans which were presented to us; +none of us found this easy to do, but it was lots of fun, even if after +all our efforts we saw our bubble float through number three instead of +one or two, where we meant it to go. + +After this came a still merrier game. A low scrap-basket was placed in +the centre of the room, and the company arranged into opposing parties, +forming two half circles around the basket. Cardboard hearts in two +different colors were given the sides, an equal number to each side. We +were then requested to try to throw them in the basket, and all +endeavored to do so, but found they had a tantalizing way of landing on +the floor. + +When we had exhausted our cards those in the basket were counted, and +the side having the most of its own color won the game. + +After this a small blackboard was placed on an easel at one end of the +room, and we were each in turn blindfolded, and handed a piece of chalk +with which to draw an outline of a heart, and to write our name in the +centre; the one doing the best to have a prize of a large candy heart. + +The partners for supper were chosen in a novel manner, the men being +numbered, and the names of the girls written on slips of paper, rolled +in clay in little pellets, then dropped into a bowl of water; the one to +rise first belonged to the young man numbered one, and so on until each +had his Valentine. + +A "Good Luck" supper was served in an adjoining room. Directly over the +table, suspended from the chandelier, hung a floral horseshoe. In the +centre of the table and at each end were fairy lamps surrounded by +smaller horseshoes. The guest-cards were square envelopes, at one side a +painted horseshoe, and below, "When Good Luck knocks at the door let him +in and keep him there." The souvenirs were clover-leaf stick pins, and +everything connected with the supper bore a symbol of good luck, the +bonbons, cakes, and sandwiches taking the forms of either a clover-leaf +or a horseshoe. + +On opening the envelopes, we found an amusing valentine illustrated by a +pen-and-ink sketch, showing the artistic skill of one of the members of +the family. + +After supper a tray, containing as many numbers as there were guests, +was passed, and we each took a heart with a corresponding number from +the decorations on the wall and read aloud the fortune found there. +These were very clever, and some surprisingly appropriate. + + + + +VALENTINE PARTY--DANISH + + +The "Town Club" was surprised by receiving white cards decorated with +cherry-colored ribbon and Danish Flag inviting them to a "Danish +Valentine Party." The predominating colors were cherry color and white, +being the Danish National Colors. Decorations of the house were of +cherry-colored and white hearts and vinter-gjaek (snowdrops), the first +Danish flower of the season. The hearts were strung in the parlor, +reception-room and dining-room. The archway between parlor and +reception-room was draped with the American and Danish Flags. In the +centre of each room hung four large-sized hearts, cherry-colored and +white, with a gilt arrow thrust through. In the dining-room the hearts +were strung in the same way, the lamp shade being of cherry-colored +crepe paper. The table was decorated with vinter-gjaek. + +The girls wore short skirts and bodices of cherry-colored cambric and +white flannel blouses with full sleeves. The hair was worn in two +braids, crossed and tucked into the fronts of the bodices with knots of +vinter-gjaek fastened into each braid just where it came over the +shoulder. The boys wore dark coats and trousers, with white vests. + +At the door was placed a box for valentines; as each guest came he +dropped his valentine into the box with the name of the person who was +to receive it. First for amusement was "Shadow Pictures," the guessing +of each boy's and girl's profile. White cards with numbers in cherry ink +and small cherry-colored pencils were passed to each. As the shadow was +thrown upon the sheet the name was written after the number on the card. +Prizes were given for the most correct guesses. The girls' prize was a +cherry-colored satin pin cushion in the shape of a heart; the boys', an +earthen pig. Then small white cards were passed tied with cherry-colored +ribbon and vinter-gjaek, each card containing a verse and below this the +initials of a name pricked out with a pin. By guessing the names they +stood for, each knew his or her valentine for the evening. It was great +fun. Lots were gjaeket (fooled). The verse on the cards read: + + "Sir Knight, would'st know thy lady's name, + These pin pricks tell thee whence I came." + +Then all were asked to the dining-room, where they found the following +supper awaiting them served in Danish style: + + Coffee Water + + Bummernickle (Black Rye Bread) White Bread + With grated cheese, tied with cherry-colored ribbon + + Bakte Bomner (Baked Beans) Pickles + + Bakte Avola (Baked Apples) Pop-Corn + + Avele-Skiever (Doughnuts) Head-Cheese + +Souvenirs--Three white candy hearts containing verses, tied with +cherry-colored ribbon. + +After supper the valentines brought by the guests were distributed. +Music and a flashlight picture of the "Town Club" completed the +entertainment. Then all departed with light hearts. + + + + +VALENTINE SOCIABLE + + +Invitations should be sent out for the 14th of February. Each guest is +requested to bring a valentine, and as they enter the room, they should +drop them into a basket which should be ready to receive them. These can +be sent later to some poor school or mission to be given out to poor +children, who otherwise would get none. A small room can be fitted up +for a studio, and as the guests arrive, they are invited into this room +to have their pictures taken. + +A committee should be appointed to do this work. This can be done by +having the shadow of the head in profile thrown on a sheet of paper +tacked to the wall. The artist then sketches it with pencil and cuts it +out. After all have arrived and have had their pictures taken, paper and +pencil are passed around, and the guests are asked to guess the identity +of each picture. + +The pictures are then given to the owners as keepsakes. A nice idea is +for the gentlemen to write a valentine verse on the portraits of the +ladies, or make up some comic poetry. A sale of hearts is also a cute +idea. + +Buy small hearts with a valentine couplet on each; these being read +aloud, each heart is to be sold to the person who first completes its +couplet; for instance, "'Tis better to have loved and lost," the person +finishing it as "than never to have loved at all." + +The one guessing the greatest number of couplets can be given a small +box of heart-shaped candies. + +Partners can be chosen for supper by having each lady write her name on +a slip of paper, and putting all the slips into a hat; each gentleman +will take to supper the one whose name he draws from the hat. + +A pretty souvenir can be given each guest in the form of a small +heart-shaped valentine. + +Refreshments can be suggestive of the day also. They can consist of +sandwiches cut in heart-shape, tied with red baby ribbon, bright-red +apples, cherry ice, lady fingers, kisses and small heart-shaped candies. +A card on each dish could carry out the idea in the following manner: + + Sandwiches--"Heart bread." + + Apples--"Love apples." + + Cherry Ice--"Frozen heart's blood." + + Lady Fingers--"Love's caresses." + + Kisses--"Lovers' sweets." + + Candies--"Love's sweet compound." + + + + +VARIETY OF LITTLE MISSES + + + 1. What Miss causes in turn amusements and quarrels? (Mis-chief) + + 2. What Miss is distrustful of human nature? (Mis-anthrope) + + 3. What Miss undervalues her opportunities? (Mis-appreciate) + + 4. What Miss is not always honest? (Mis-appropriate) + + 5. What Miss is provoking and a blunderer? (Mis-take) + + 6. What Miss can destroy the peace of home, school and nation? + (Mis-rule) + + 7. What Miss is responsible for gross errors? (Mis-doing) + + 8. What Miss wastes times and money? (Mis-spend) + + 9. What Miss causes her mother sorrow? (Mis-conduct) + + 10. What Miss proves an uncertain correspondent? (Mis-direct) + + 11. What Miss should the traveler shun? (Mis-guide) + + 12. What Miss is unhappy? (Mis-fortune) + + 13. What Miss is distinguished as uncivil and ill-bred? (Mis-behave) + + 14. What Miss gives unreliable information? (Mis-call) + + 15. What Miss meets with ill-luck and delay? (Mis-adventure) + + 16. What Miss is untruthful? (Mis-represent) + + + + +VEGETABLE PARTY + + +Over the table was an Italian green-grocer's sign, and the smiling +attendants were dressed to represent Italian women. The table was loaded +with fruits and vegetables, all made of tissue paper. The stock included +pumpkins, squashes, cabbages, cauliflower, curly lettuce, beets, +carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, radishes, oranges, and grapes. The +vegetables sold for five or ten cents, according to size and contents, +for each contained a prize. The radishes and grapes were candies covered +with the proper shade of paper and tied in bunches. + +There was enough mystery about the contents of these artificial +vegetables and fruits to make them sell. One person might open a +cucumber and find a child's handkerchief rolled within, but if a +neighbor bought one, hoping to secure a handkerchief, he would be quite +as likely to find a china doll. The proceeds of this sale were donated +to charity. + +A slip of paper entitled "Vegetables in Disguise" was passed to each +guest, and twenty-five minutes allotted for puzzling out the answers. +The following is the list the paper contained: + + A pronoun preceded and followed by a preposition. (Onion) + + A painful projection. (Corn) + + Hard to get out of. (Maize [maze]) + + What vegetables should see a great deal, and why? + (Potatoes. They have so many eyes) + + A basement and a question. (Celery [cellar-why]) + + Every good Chinaman has my first. My second is to overload. + (Cucumber [queue-cumber]) + + A bivalve and a vegetable growth. (Oyster plant) + + Normal, and a very small piece. (Parsnip) + + A small waste. (Leek [leak]) + + A letter. (Pea [p]) + + A boy, a letter, and a part of the body? (Tomato [Tom-a-toe]) + + Yielding water, and connections? (Pumpkin) + + To crush. (Squash) + + A purple part of the year, and sick. (Lentil [Lent-ill]) + + A tour on your wheel, and years. (Spinach [spin-age]) + + Hot stuff. (Pepper) + + An English dignity, and a platter. (Radish [R. A. dish]) + + A hen. (Egg plant) + + Tramps. (Beets) + +The supper, as one would expect at a vegetable party, consisted of +vegetarian dishes only, but it was surprising to find how attractive and +how palatable these were. + + + + +WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES + + +In planning for anniversaries there are many and unique ways in which +they may be carried out. Everything that accompanies the anniversary +being celebrated should be used. Always use a decided color and try to +carry out the color scheme in the refreshments, the decorations, and the +costumes. There are many suitable suggestions in the book from which to +choose, in the way of both decoration and entertainment, besides the +following. + + +FIRST ANNIVERSARY--COTTON WEDDING + +The invitations for the cotton wedding may be written in ink on +well-starched cotton cloth. Cut the pieces to fit regular-sized +envelopes. You may request the guests to wear cotton costumes, if you +wish, to add to the effect. Decorate the rooms with cheese-cloth of +several colors gracefully festooned about the walls, and with the +Southern cotton-balls if you can get them. The married couple may stand +under a canopy made of wire covered with cotton wadding to represent +snow, and wear cotton costumes, and the wife may carry a bouquet of +cotton flowers. Artificial flowers made of cotton may be used, too, for +decoration. Cover the refreshment table with cheese-cloth, and have +place-cards written on prettily decorated pieces of starched muslin. You +could have a Spider Hunt for an appropriate entertainment. For this, as +you probably know, you provide balls of cotton twine, and wind the twine +all over the house. The guests have to untangle their respective balls, +and wind them up until they come to the end of the string, where a gift +is discovered. The gifts should be pretty conceits made of +cotton--shoe-bags or work bags of pretty cretonne for the women, and +picture frames of cretonne for the men, etc. + + +SECOND ANNIVERSARY--PAPER WEDDING + +The second year is celebrated as a paper wedding. There are many ways a +house can be decorated with paper. Pretty colored paper shades can be +made for all the gas jets (or lamp chimneys), flower-pots can be trimmed +with fancy crepe paper, butterflies can be made from stiff colored +paper, doilies can be designed from fancy paper, and paper napkins can +be used in many ways. Whatever is used for refreshments paper napkins +can be placed on each dish under the food; tumblers can be wrapped +around with paper and tied with a dainty little ribbon. Plenty of paper +flowers can be used for decoration. The tablecloth may be of paper, +edged with paper lace, the centrepiece of paper roses, the candle-shades +composed of their petals, while the ices may be served in boxes held in +the hearts of paper roses. For entertainment, large mottoes containing +paper caps may be distributed. These should be put on, and with their +assumption a character impersonated by each wearer appropriate to the +headgear. The guesses are recorded in paper booklets and the person most +successful may receive a prize--a book or any paper trifle. + + +FOURTH ANNIVERSARY--LEATHER WEDDING + +The fourth year is observed as a leather wedding. Invitations sent out +for this anniversary can have a small piece of leather enclosed in +envelope. A unique idea is to have a leather saddle hung in the centre +of the room, with a leather whip and riding gloves. As souvenirs small +pieces of leather with the date of the wedding, also the date of the +anniversary, stamped or written upon them, and tied with white baby +ribbon, may be distributed. Small leather calendars can be made, also +heart-shaped leather pen-wipers with small paintings on them. +Appropriate presents for the married couple would be leather purses, +hand-bags, shoes, satchels, pocketbooks, lunch boxes, traveling cases, +etc., and do not forget a leather smoking case for the host. + +A burnt-leather box or basket filled with yellow flowers or growing +ferns would not be ill-adapted for a centrepiece for the refreshment +table, and leatherette receptacles, if made in sections tied together +with ribbons matching the flowers, would be pretty for the bonbons, +cakes and salted nuts. + +The place-cards may be of leather with the names in heavy gilt +lettering. + +A game or contest is usually enjoyed, and the award of a trifling prize +to the victor makes a pleasant climax to the evening's fun. In this +case the article should, of course, be of leather. + + +FIFTH ANNIVERSARY--WOODEN WEDDING + +A description is given of an actual wooden wedding anniversary +celebrated recently. The invitations were printed on paper that looked +like wood. In fact it looked so much like it that it could hardly be +told from wood. For decorations as much real wood was utilized as +possible. In one large archway were hung twelve wooden plates, each with +a painting on, and joined with white ribbon. Twelve young ladies served +on the reception committee and the twelve plates were given them as +souvenirs before they departed. In another archway there was a toothpick +curtain which attracted much attention. This was made on silk cord with +the toothpicks tied about two inches apart, crossways, with a small loop +in the cord. They were draped back and tied with a bunch of silk cord. +In the small doorways were clothes-pin curtains. A large wire bell, +covered with shavings and goldenrod, hung from a canopy of the same, +under which the bride and groom stood to receive their guests. + +A large wooden flower-stand was placed in the reception hall and it was +banked with goldenrod and cut flowers, with a large palm on top shelf. +Several wooden bowls and baskets of goldenrod and cut flowers were +scattered about the house. On the mantels, stands, table, sideboard, and +piano, were large palms and goldenrod. All the chairs had been moved out +of the house, except in the dining-room, where they were arranged around +the wall. In the centre of the room was the polished table, with neat +doilies, and for a centrepiece was a large yellow cake with the figure +"5" in wood. This cake stood on a high cake-stand and around the edge of +the stand were a row of clothes-pins, the kind with a spring, and a row +of toothpicks sticking all around the edge of the cake. On two corners +of the table were little wooden shoes filled with cut flowers, and on +the two diagonally opposite corners were large apples stuck full of +toothpicks. The guests were seated in the dining-room for refreshments +and as soon as it was filled, the reception committee closed it with a +large rope of goldenrod across the doorway. For refreshments ice cream +and cake were served on wooden plates with wooden spoons. The ice cream +was made to look like wood, the caterer using a mixture of vanilla, +chocolate, bisque and lemon flavors. The different kinds of cake were +also made to look like different kinds of wood, such as walnut, oak, +cherry, and so forth. The souvenirs were large wooden butter moulds on +which were printed the year of marriage and the year of celebration. An +orchestra of eight pieces played all through the evening, under a canopy +of white cloth on the porch, the porch being carpeted and curtained like +a room. + + +SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY--WOOLEN WEDDING + +The woolen wedding comes with the seventh anniversary. The material is +not effective, but the invitations may be worked in crewels on +perforated Bristol-board. + +The "cobweb party" might be revived, using colored yarns instead of +cords, and placing a "fortune" as well as a favor at the end of each. +Some unfortunate swain might, perhaps, find a huge worsted mitten, +guided in his choice of yarn by one in the secret to insure its +selection by a man. + +On the refreshment table a large wedding-cake crowned by a "Bo-peep" +doll with her flock of toy sheep would suggest the "woolly" idea. + + +TENTH ANNIVERSARY--TIN WEDDING + +These wedding invitations can be written or printed, and sent out ten +days beforehand, either enclosing a piece of tin, or wrapped in tin +foil. + +The bride and groom should receive their guests, the bride carrying her +bouquet in a tin funnel. The groom can wear a small tin horn in his +buttonhole with a small bouquet. The author intends to celebrate her tin +wedding this fall, and this is what she intends to have. + +For refreshments, will serve coffee in tin cups, with tin spoons, and +dainty sandwiches on tin plates; will pass water in a tin pail, using a +tin dipper. All refreshments will be passed in tin pans, the waiters +will use tin coffee pots to refill the coffee cups. For a centrepiece +for the table, will use a large tin cake pan, with an opening in the +centre, in which a small fish horn can be placed, the cake pan and fish +horn both being filled with flowers. Shall decorate the rooms with tin +as far as possible. In one archway shall use tin plates tied together +with ribbon, a small hole being punched in the plates for the purpose. +This will form a curtain for one archway. In another archway shall use +tin cups for the same purpose. Tin candlesticks can be used, if one is +fortunate enough to have them. Wire toasters tied with ribbon can be +hung on the walls to hold photographs. Small tin spoons tied with +ribbons can be given as souvenirs, being passed around by the waiters, +in a tin dust pan. + +Potted plants can be set in tin pails, and tin cans can be used for +bouquets. A tin wash basin can be passed for a finger bowl. Tin foil can +also be used with which to decorate. + + +TWELFTH ANNIVERSARY--LINEN WEDDING + +The invitations are written on squares of linen in indelible ink, and +the name cards are also of linen. Linen is used freely about the rooms, +linen lace working into decorative schemes most effectively. The flax +flower is, of course, conspicuous whenever it can be obtained. The +artificial flower may be used in many places, as well as the natural +blossoms. The centrepiece, doilies, etc., used on the table should be +embroidered with flax flowers in natural colors. + +While the guests are at supper an old-fashioned spinning wheel should be +brought into the parlors in readiness for a spinning contest, which may +be conducted as described in the entertainment, "A Spinning Party." + + +FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY--CRYSTAL WEDDING + +The invitations may be decorated with drawings of small hand-mirrors, +tumblers, etc., and for the ornamentation of the house every conceivable +kind of glass vessel and mirror may be used. In the table decorations +cut or pressed glass should be prominent. In the centre of the table a +small mirror might be placed, with a large glass bowl upon it filled +with flowers. Red carnations with red candle-shades make a very +effective color scheme for the crystal background. Little cakes with red +icing, red bonbons, and red place cards may also be used. The +refreshments should be served on glass dishes, the waiters using glass +trays if possible. Tiny glass bottles each containing a red carnation +and a sprig of smilax make very appropriate souvenirs. Should the bride +desire an appropriate gown for the occasion, it may be trimmed with +quantities of glass beads or the glass drops from a chandelier. Those +who assist in receiving might also be similarly garbed. + + +TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY--CHINA WEDDING + +A good idea for a china wedding would be to have a course dinner and +display all one's china. Use china wherever it can be used instead of +silver, glass, or other dishes. Have plants and flowers displayed in +china. A unique idea would be to give each guest a tiny china cup and +saucer as a souvenir. + +Any of the parlor entertainments or contests described in this volume +may be used to pass the time pleasantly either before or after the +dinner. + + +TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY--SILVER WEDDING + +The invitations to a silver wedding should be headed by the two eventful +dates printed in silver. + +For the decorations, use any flowers which may be in season, surrounding +the mirrors and pictures as far as possible with a framework of green +spangled with silver. Cover all the lamps and gas shades with white +crepe paper flecked here and there with silver, and suspend balls +covered with silver paper from the chandeliers. + +Let the daughters in the family, and the granddaughters if there be any, +wear gowns of simplest white, with draperies of silver tinsel. If there +happen to be any grandchildren it would be well to have them distribute +the favors, which may be bouquets of flowers tied with white ribbons. + +The refreshments should be served shortly after the guests arrive. A +suitable way to announce that supper is served will be to have the +wedding march played, when the bride and groom of the evening may be +requested to lead the way to the dining-room. + +The supper-table should be lighted with white candles in silver +candelabra, and the snowy tablecloth be crossed diagonally with white +satin ribbon edged with silver. Upon a pretty centrepiece of +silver-spangled tulle may be placed a silver or glass bowl containing +twenty-five white roses. Dishes of white cakes and candies, and +old-fashioned mottoes covered with silver paper may be scattered +plentifully about the table. The large cake should be decorated in white +and silver, and placed upon a silver dish in front of the bride of +twenty-five years ago, who alone should be permitted to cut it. + +There is no limit to the presents which may be sent in honor of a silver +wedding, but no guest need be deterred from appearing because of her +inability to send a present; her good wishes will please the host and +hostess quite as well as an elaborate gift. + +Pretty souvenirs of a silver wedding are bookmarks of white satin +ribbon, upon each one of which is printed in silver the name of the +guest and the dates of the anniversary he or she has been helping to +celebrate. + + +FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY--GOLDEN WEDDING + +Invitations to a golden wedding should be written or printed on golden +hued cards. Let the bride wear a dress of golden hue, or, if she +dislikes such bright colors, let her use plenty of yellow flowers in her +hair and on her dress. The groom should also wear yellow flowers. Two +armchairs decorated with straw might be used for the seats of honor. +Have the home decorated with goldenrod if in season, if not, any yellow +flower can be used; if the season for sunflowers, they are very pretty +for decoration. Let those who help serve wear yellow dresses or plenty +of yellow flowers. A large yellow cake could be used for a centrepiece, +banked with yellow flowers; use brass candlesticks with yellow candles. +Plenty of flowers or yellow paper should be used for the gas jets, lamp +shades and picture frames. Refreshments might consist of yellow cake, +lemonade, and yellow candy. Pretty souvenirs would be a yellow carnation +for each guest. + + + + +WEDDING OF THE OPERAS + + +Each guest was given a double card or booklet with pencil attached, the +cover representing a miniature sheet of music. Upon one page was a list +of numbered questions, the answers to be written upon the opposite page, +suggested by selections from well-known operas and operettas played upon +the piano or other instrument. The names of the operas from which the +selections were taken answered the questions. + +The following were the questions: + + 1. Who were the bride and groom? + + 2. What was the bride called--from the circumstances of her wedding? + + 3. At what sort of party did they meet? + + 4. He went as a minstrel. What was he called? + + 5. She went as an Austrian peasant. What was she called? + + 6. At the wedding what Spanish girl was maid of honor? + + 7. What noted Swiss was best man? + + 8. What two ladies (friends of Donizetti's) were bridesmaids? + + 9. What four Germans were the ushers? + + 10. What mythological personage presided over the music? + + 11. Who sang at the ceremony? + + 12. What noted person from Japan was present? + + 13. What noted bells were rung in honor of the wedding? + + 14. What ship did they take for their wedding trip? + + 15. When on the voyage who captured them? + + 16. What virtue sustained them in captivity? + + 17. What gentleman of dark complexion rescued them? + + 18. What historical people entertained them in France? + + 19. In Northeast Italy what grand affair did they attend? + + 20. Who showed them the sights of Venice? + +And the music gave answer, as follows: + + 1. Romeo and Juliet. + + 2. The Runaway Girl. + + 3. Masked Ball. + + 4. Trovatore. + + 5. The Bohemian Girl. + + 6. Carmen. + + 7. William Tell. + + 8. Lucia di Lammermoor and Linda di Chamouni. + + 9. Lohengrin, Faust, Tannhäuser and Siegfried. + + 10. Orpheus. + + 11. The Meistersinger. + + 12. The Mikado. + + 13. The Chimes of Normandy. + + 14. H. M. S. Pinafore. + + 15. The Pirates of Penzance. + + 16. Patience. + + 17. Othello. + + 18. The Huguenots. + + 19. The Carnival of Venice. + + 20. The Gondoliers. + + + + +WHICH IS YOUR AGE + + + What is the best age for a girl or boy? (Espionage) + + To what age will people arrive if they live long enough? (Dotage) + + To what age do most women look forward with anxiety? (Marriage) + + What age has the soldier often to find? (Courage) + + What age is required on the high seas? (Tonnage) + + What age are we forbidden to worship? (Image) + + What age is not less or more? (Average) + + What is the age people are stuck on? (Mucilage) + + What age is both profane and destructive? (Damage) + + At what age are vessels to ride safe? (Anchorage) + + What age is necessary to the clergyman? (Parsonage) + + What age is one of communication? (Postage) + + What age is most important to travelers by rail? (Mileage) + + What is the age now popular for charity? (Coinage) + + What age is shared by the doctor and the thief? (Pillage) + + What age do we all wish for? (Homage) + + What age is slavery? (Hostage) + + What age is most enjoyed at the morning meal? (Beverage) + + What is the most indigestible age? (Sausage) + + + + +WHICH IS YOUR AUNT (ANT) + + + 1. What is the oldest ant? (Adam-ant) + + 2. What ant hires his home? (Tenant) + + 3. What ant is joyful? (Jubilant) + + 4. What ant is learned? (Savant) + + 5. What ant is well-informed? (Conversant) + + 6. What ant is trustworthy? (Confidant) + + 7. What ant is proud? (Arrogant) + + 8. What ant sees things? (Observant) + + 9. What ant is angry? (Indignant) + + 10. What ant tells things? (Informant) + + 11. What ant is successful? (Triumphant) + + 12. What ant is an officer? (Commandant) + + 13. What ant is a beggar? (Mendicant) + + 14. What ant is obstinate? (Defiant) + + 15. What ant is youngest? (Infant) + + 16. What is the ruling ant? (Dominant) + + 17. What is the wandering ant? (Errant) + + 18. What ant lives in a house? (Occupant) + + 19. What ant points out things? (Significant) + + 20. What ant is prayerful? (Supplicant) + + + + +WHICH IS YOUR CITY + + + 1. What city is for few people? (Scarcity) + + 2. For happy people? (Felicity) + + 3. For hypocrites? (Duplicity) + + 4. For chauffeurs? (Velocity) + + 5. For truthful people? (Veracity) + + 6. For athletes? (Elasticity) + + 7. For greedy people? (Voracity) + + 8. For wild beasts? (Ferocity) + + 9. For home lovers? (Domesticity) + + 10. For actors? (Publicity) + + 11. For reporters? (Audacity) + + 12. For wise people? (Sagacity) + + 13. For hungry people? (Capacity) + + 14. For telegraph operators? (Electricity) + + 15. For crowds? (Multiplicity) + + 16. For nations? (Reciprocity) + + 17. For odd people? (Eccentricity) + + 18. For beggars? (Mendicity) + + 19. For unhappy people? (Infelicity) + + 20. For office seekers? (Pertinacity) + +The names of cities and their nicknames may also be used, thus: Boston, +"The Hub"; Philadelphia, "The City of Homes"; Detroit, "City of the +Straits"; Cincinnati, "Queen City of the West"; Chicago, "Windy City," +or "Garden City"; Buffalo, "Queen City"; Cleveland, "Forest City"; +Pittsburg, "Smoky City"; Washington, "City of Magnificent Distances"; +Milwaukee, "Cream City"; New York, "Gotham"; Minneapolis, "Falls City"; +St. Louis, "Mound City"; San Francisco, "Golden Gate"; New Orleans, +"Crescent City." + + + + +WHITE RIBBON SOCIABLE + + +Invitations should be similar to the following: + + _Yourself and friends are cordially invited to attend a + White Ribbon Sociable + given by the Y. W. C. T. U. at the home of the + President, Miss Blank, + Monday evening, September 10, 19--._ + +Have a small white ribbon bow tied on the corner of the card. Of course +all members of the society should wear their white ribbons. All who +serve on the reception committee should wear a large white ribbon +rosette. Also have a white ribbon quartet for the musical part of the +program, and have each one wear a large white ribbon bow on the left +breast. Have plenty of white flowers for decoration, also use anything +white that can be used in any way to help decorate. Have a large bowl or +white dish in centre of dining-table with small white baby ribbons +hanging over the edge, one for each guest you expect. Tie to the end of +each ribbon a small slip of paper bearing instructions as to what each +one is to do. Each guest is to pull out a slip, see what he is to do, +and then proceed to do it at once. Cover the top of the dish neatly with +white tissue paper. Wafers can be served tied with narrow white ribbon, +also coffee or cocoa, or if in summer serve lemonade. + +The following suggestions may be used for the slips of paper: + + 1. Act in pantomime a doctor's visit. + + 2. Make a dunce cap and put on head of dignified person. + + 3. Deliver an oration on George Washington. + + 4. Sing "Mary had a little lamb," in operatic style. + + 5. Draw a correct picture of a cow. + + 6. Tell a funny story. + + 7. Sing a lullaby to a sofa cushion. + + 8. Sing a comic song. + + 9. Compose a rhyme with four lines. + + 10. Tell a pathetic story. + + 11. Make a shadow picture of a man's head on the wall with the hands. + + 12. Show how a small boy cries when a hornet stings him. + + 13. Sneeze in five different ways. + + 14. Shake hands with ten different persons in ten different styles. + + 15. Recite "The boy stood on the burning deck," in dramatic style. + + 16. Laugh ten varieties of laugh. + + 17. Imitate the sounds made by two cats fighting. + + 18. Show how a man acts when he is lost in Boston. + + 19. Smile ten different smiles. + + 20. Tip your hat in ten different ways to ten different people. + + 21. Show how a dude walks. + + 22. Auction off an overcoat. + + 23. Try to sell a book as if you were a book agent. + + 24. Show how a boy writes his first letter. + + 25. Name ten things you could do with a million dollars. + + + + +WHY WE NEVER MARRIED + +AN EVENING'S ENTERTAINMENT TO BE GIVEN BY SEVEN MAIDS AND SEVEN +BACHELORS + +(Copyright, 1899, by the Curtis Publishing Company and republished by +courtesy of the _Ladies' Home Journal_) + + +Although this entertainment is here planned to include fourteen people, +the number of those who take part in it may, of course, be reduced to as +few or increased to as many as desired, either by omitting one or more +of the couples already provided for, or by including more couples and +composing additional verses for them. + +The characters appear seated in a semicircle, a young man first, then a +young woman, and so on alternately, beginning at the right as one faces +the audience. Each one is dressed in a fashion appropriate to the +character represented. Starting with the first young man at the right, +each advances in turn to the front and recites. + +Number one says: + + "Of all the girls that ever I knew, + I never saw one that I thought would do. + I wanted a wife that was nice and neat, + That was up to date, and that had small feet; + I wanted a wife that was loving and kind, + And that hadn't too much original mind; + I wanted a wife that could cook and sew, + And that wasn't eternally on the go; + I wanted a wife that just loved to keep house, + And that wasn't too timid to milk the cows; + I wanted a wife that was strikingly beautiful, + Intelligent, rich, and exceedingly dutiful. + That isn't so much to demand in a wife, + But still she's not found, though I've looked all my life." + +Number two next recites: + + "The only reason why I've never wed + Is as clear as the day, and as easily said: + Two lovers I had who'd have made me a bride, + But the trouble was just that I couldn't decide; + Whenever John came I was sure it was he + That I cared for most; but with Charlie by me, + My hands clasped in his, and his eyes fixed on mine, + 'Twas as easy as could be to say, 'I'll be thine.' + Now tell me what was a poor maiden to do, + Who couldn't, to save her, make choice 'tween the two? + I dillied and dallied, and couldn't decide, + Till John, he got married, and Charlie, he died; + And that is the reason why I've never wed; + For how could I help it, as every one said, + When John, he was married, and Charlie was dead." + +Number three now speaks: + + "I have never proposed to any girl. + Was I to be caught in the snare of a curl, + And dangle through life in a dizzy whirl? + + "Humph! I know too much for that by half! + I may look young, but I'm not a calf; + You can't catch a bird like me with chaff. + + "I know their tricks, I know their arts, + I know how they scheme to capture hearts; + I know they can play a dozen parts. + + "How do I know so much, you ask? + To reply to that isn't much of a task; + For if you must know, O madams and misters, + I'm the only brother of fourteen sisters." + +Number four advances and says: + + "My lovers came from near and far, + And sued before my feet; + They told me I was like a star; + They said that I was sweet; + And each one swore if I'd accept + His heart and eke his hand, + That he would be the happiest man + Throughout the whole broad land. + But one proud youth remained aloof, + And stood untouched, unmoved; + Oh, bitter fate! he was the one, + The only one I loved! + I tried on him each winning charm, + I put forth every art, + But all in vain; he turned away, + And took with him my heart. + This is the reason I am left + Alone upon the tree, + Like withered fruit, though not a pear; + Oh, would that I might be!" + +Number five recites these lines: + + "The only reason why I've never married + Is because all my plans for proposing miscarried; + I wouldn't propose till all was propitious, + Till I felt pretty sure that the signs were auspicious. + More than once I've been moved to propound the fond query, + 'Won't you tell me you love me, my beautiful dearie?' + When just at that moment came something or other, + A ring at the bell, or a call from her mother, + Or the sudden approach of her infantile brother, + My words to arrest, my intentions to smother; + And once, when a few leading questions I'd asked, + She laughed as if jokes in my questions were masked; + I couldn't conceive what had caused her commotion, + But 'twas so disconcerting I gave up the notion; + Although I felt certain as certain could be, + That whatever she laughed at, it was not at me." + +Number six then says: + + "From my earliest years + I've had an intuition + That I was intended + To carry out a mission. + Whatever it might be + I hadn't the least notion, + But I searched for it faithfully + From ocean to ocean. + For a while I kept thinking + That I was surely meant + To preach to the heathen, + But I never was sent. + Then the surging thoughts and feelings + That upon me seemed to press + Surely proved beyond all question + That I was a poetess; + But the editors were cruel, + They were stonily unkind; + And their inappreciation + Drove the notion from my mind. + Now I'm sure that I'm a speaker; + 'Tis my latest great impression; + And I'd like to prove it to you, + If I might without digression; + But whatever is my mission, + I've been certain all my life, + That 'tis something higher, nobler, + Than to be a slaving wife." + +Number seven speaks thus: + + "I used to call on Mary Jane + When I was seventeen; + And Mary Jane was fond of me, + Though I was rather green. + One day I told her why I came, + And what was my intent; + And then she said that I must go + And get her pa's consent. + Her pa, he was a mason rude, + Well used to handling bricks, + And when I came to talk with him + My courage went to sticks. + 'K-kind sir, may I have M-Mary Jane?' + I asked with gasp and stutter; + Then came an earthquake, then a blank-- + I went home on a shutter. + I never married Mary Jane, + The maid whom I'd selected; + The reason was because her pa-- + Well, so to speak--objected." + +Number eight next advances: + + "I fully intended a bride to be, + But Richard and I could never agree; + He fussed at me daily in fault-finding mood, + And I picked at him though I knew it was rude; + He thought that a woman ought always to do + Just what her husband wanted her to, + And I was as set and decided as he, + That that way of life would never suit me; + And so we kept wrangling all summer and fall, + And at last we agreed not to marry at all; + And that is the reason you now find me here, + Feeling cheap, I admit, and I once was so dear." + +Number nine speaks as follows: + + "Could I give up all the pleasures + That a single man may claim? + Could I see my bachelor treasures + Sniffed at by a scornful dame? + Could I have my choice Havanas + Bandied all about the place, + Strewn around like cheap bananas, + Looked upon as a disgrace? + Could I bear to find a hairpin + Sticking in my shaving-mug? + Or a pair of high-heeled slippers + Lying on my Persian rug? + Would I want my meditations + Broken up by cries of fright + At a mouse or daddy-long-legs, + Or some other fearful sight? + No, I couldn't, and I wouldn't, + And I didn't, as you see; + Of every life, the bachelor's life + Is just the life for me." + +Number ten says: + + "My lovers were plenty + As plenty could be; + But of the whole number + Not one suited me; + John was too fat, + Joe was too thin, + And George, who'd have done, + Was without any 'tin'; + Dick was a sinner, + And James was a saint, + Who, whenever I shocked him, + Looked ready to faint; + Charles was quite handsome, + The likeliest yet, + But he always was smoking + A vile cigarette; + That I'm very particular + 'Tis easy to see, + Which all should remember + Who come to court me." + +Number eleven now advances: + + "First it was Carrie who claimed my heart, + And I thought from her I never would part; + Then it was Rose, with her winsome eyes + Of an azure as deep as the tropic skies; + And next it was Alice, so mild and meek; + I loved her fondly for nearly a week; + Then came Elizabeth's fickle reign, + And after her Mary and Kate and Jane; + A dozen more for a time held sway, + Sometimes for a month, sometimes for a day; + And yet I'm not married; for, truth to tell, + I could make no choice, I loved all so well." + +Number twelve speaks thus: + + "I never would marry + The best of men; + Though they've tried to persuade me + Again and again; + I know too well + What's good for me + To wed any man, + Whoever he be; + If he tells you he loves you, + He means to deceive you; + If he says he'll be faithful, + He's planning to leave you; + You may think him as meek + As ever was Moses; + You may think him as sweet + As a garden of roses; + You may think him as good + As good can be; + But just remember + One word from me; + Whatever they seem + To be or have been, + You just can't tell + One thing about men." + +Number thirteen and number fourteen advance together, and the former +speaks first as follows: + + "I've been in love with lots of girls, + A bachelor's life I hate; + I've all the time that I could want + To find and win a mate; + I've never come in contact with + A brick-objecting pa, + Or been deterred by brothers small + Or loudly calling ma; + I've never found it hard to choose + With whom I would be mated; + Oh, no, 'tis quite another cause-- + I'm not appreciated; + I've popped the question o'er and o'er, + But if you will believe me, + There wasn't one of all of them + That I could get to have me. + And that is why I'm left alone, + Now love's young dream is gone, + To darn my hose and mend my clo'es + And sew my buttons on." + +Then number fourteen says: + + "My friends have all told you the reason why they + Keep on in a lonesome, old-maidenly way, + Without any husband to lighten their loads, + Without any helper to smooth the rough roads; + I, too, am unmarried, but not for the causes + That they have all stated in rhythmical clauses: + + My lover didn't die, + And he never went away; + My father didn't stand + A moment in my way; + I've never quarreled once, + Nor been bothered to decide, + But I've got a first-class reason + Why I've never been a bride; + At any kind of mission + I wouldn't even glance; + The simple truth is this-- + I've never had a chance; + Other folks, I s'pose, have had 'em, + But they've never come to me; + Though I don't see why they shouldn't, + For I'm willing as can be; + And all I've got to say is, + And I say it frank and free, + If you think I won't get married, + Just you question me and see." + +At the close of number fourteen's recitation, all rise and stand in +two rows, facing each other, the ladies in one row and the gentlemen +in the other. The gentlemen then recite in concert as follows: + + "Since we all are yet unmated, + And are getting on in years, + Why not now decide the matter + By dividing up in pairs? + If I ask you to accept me, + And my lonely life to bless, + Will you? Will you? Will you?" + +Ladies in chorus: + + "Yes!" + +Each lady takes the arm of the gentleman facing her, and all walk off to +the music of the wedding march. + + + + +WIFE OF SANTA CLAUS + +AN ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL + + +The Sunday-school, school or club is assembled; the stage is concealed +by a curtain, and the Christmas tree, which is near the stage, by +another curtain or screen. The tree is decorated in the usual manner, +minus the gifts, which are concealed near the stage ready to be +delivered when the right time comes. The tree need not be lighted until +the closing of any preliminary exercises that have been arranged. After +lighting, the tree should be exposed to the view of all. When the +children have gazed at it for a few moments, the superintendent or some +other suitable person should come forward, as if to distribute the gifts +as usual. He should survey the tree attentively and from different +standpoints, and finally, with great astonishment, exclaim: + +"Why, what in the world does this mean? What strange thing is this? What +is the matter with my eyes? [_Rubbing his eyes to see better._] I can't +see! As true as I live, I cannot see a single Christmas gift upon this +tree! Think of it, a Christmas tree with no presents! Am I growing +blind? [_Rubbing his eyes again._] + +"Do you see any? [_Turning to any child near._] Well, I thought so! It +is too true, children, that although we have a Christmas tree, and a +fine one, too, there is not a single gift upon it; no, not even a little +one for a little bit of a girl! Now, this is altogether too bad of Santa +Claus to forget this Sunday-school--when we've gotten all ready for him, +too, lighted the tree and decorated it so beautifully! It isn't a bit +like him, either. He never did such a thing before. He can't have +forgotten us. The blessed old Saint wouldn't do that! Maybe his +reindeer are lame and he is slow in getting here. No! He would have +sent Jack Frost on ahead to tell us to wait. Let me think a moment. It +can't be that any of you children have been so naughty that he thinks we +don't deserve a visit from him, can it? No, no, that cannot be; it is a +mistake, somehow. It is very mysterious; I never heard of the like +before--no, never---- + +"Well, what are we going to do about it, anyway? Can't some one speak up +and explain this mystery, or at least tell us what to do to celebrate +Christmas?" + +At this juncture the sound of sleigh-bells is heard at the back or side +of the stage, and a loud "Whoa!" and a shrill whistle. There is an +instant of bustling, crunching of ice, stamping and pawing of feet, then +the door bursts open suddenly, as if by a gust of wind, and a nimble +little fellow bounces in, clad all in red and flecked with tufts of +cotton on cap and shoulders to look like snow. He wears a high, peaked +cap of red with a bobbing tassel on the peak, and carries a long thong +whip, which he flourishes in time to the rhyme he chants: + + "Ho for us! hey for us! + Please clear the way for us! + I'm Jack Frost from Icicle-land, + Driver of Santa's four-in-hand; + Though late you will ask no excuse." + +With a flourish he draws back the curtain, announcing "Mrs. Santa +Claus!" There, with a mammoth pumpkin standing by her side, is seen a +beaming-faced little fat woman. She is dressed in a fur cloak, or +fur-lined circular turned wrong side out, an ermine poke bonnet, made of +white cotton-wool, with black worsted tails, and an immense muff of the +same. She steps forward, and in a dramatic style delivers this address: + + MRS. SANTA CLAUS'S ADDRESS + + "Good-evening to you, children dear; + I know you cannot guess + The reason I am here to-night, + And so I'll just confess + That I am Mrs. Santa Claus-- + Old Santa Claus's wife; + You've never seen me here before, + I'm sure, in all your life. + + "So if you'll listen patiently, + I'll tell the reason why + Old Santa could not come to-night, + And why instead came I; + He is so very busy now, + Has so many schools--you see + He can't find time to visit all, + And deck each Christmas tree. + + "And so he said unto his wife: + 'My faithful partner dear, + That Sunday-school's expecting me + To help keep Christmas cheer; + As I can't possibly reach there, + I'm disappointed quite; + I know that they will look for me + With shining eyes so bright!' + + "I, Mrs. Santa, thus replied: + 'Please let your better-half + Go visit that nice Sunday-school; + 'Twill make the children laugh.' + This plan just suited Santa Claus; + He sent Jack Frost to drive; + He knew what fun 'twould be for me + Among you thus to arrive! + + "And so, lest him you should forget, + That blessed, dear old fellow + The queerest Christmas gift sends you, + This pumpkin, big and yellow; + He hopes that when you cut it up + You'll quite delighted be, + To find the inside quite different + From what you're used to see. + + "Now if the shell is not too hard + I'll cut it open wide, + That you may see with your own eyes + This curious inside. [_She cuts it open._] + Ah, yes! we've found the inside now, + And so present to view + This fairy, who, from Wonderland, + Has come to visit you." + +The fairy, a little girl dressed in white, with a wand, and wings, if +possible, skips out of the pumpkin and sings: + + FAIRY'S SONG + (Tune, "Little Buttercup") + + "Yes I am a fairy, a genuine fairy, + And if you cannot tell why + I've come in this pumpkin, this big yellow pumpkin, + The reason to guess you may try. + + "I bring you sweet tokens, yes, many fond tokens, + Of love and sweet friendship true; + From sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, + And many dear friends who love you. + + "So here are your presents, your own Christmas presents, + With which you may now deck your tree, + So please to remember the bright Christmas fairy, + The bright Christmas fairy you see. + + "I wish you 'Merry Christmas,' a real merry Christmas, + And also a 'Happy New-Year;' + If you love one another, each sister and brother, + No harm from the fairies you'll fear." + +The gifts are then distributed by the fairy, who appears to take them +from the inside of the pumpkin. Unless the children are too small, and +likely to be timid, they should go forward to receive their gifts when +their names are called by the fairy, who apparently knows them all by +name, but who is prompted by some one reading from a list standing +behind the curtain close by her side. Jack Frost whisks about helping +the fairy hand out the gifts and assisting the wee ones to get down off +the stage with their bundles. During Mrs. Santa's address he might +carelessly perch himself upon the pumpkin. + +The pumpkin is made with a strong wire frame (can be made at any +hardware store), and covered with a deep yellow cambric with an +occasional green smutch painted upon it. It is in two hemispheres and is +tied together strongly at the bottom and loosely at the top, so that the +fairy inside can easily loosen the top string and step out when Mrs. +Santa cuts open the pumpkin with a large carving-knife. + +In case it is not practicable to have a pumpkin-frame made, substitute +for it a gigantic snowball made of cotton-wool, covered with +diamond-dust to sparkle like snow-crystals. Two large old-fashioned +umbrellas that are dome-shaped will serve very nicely for the frame of a +spherical ball, if the tips of the ribs are wired together. It should +then be covered inside and outside with white cloth on which the cotton +batting can be basted. With such an arrangement it would be necessary to +dispense with the fairy, but the little folks might have the surprise of +seeing the snowball slowly open at a snap from Jack Frost's whip, +disclosing a nest of smaller snowballs. These Jack Frost might toss to +the children and, when opened, they might be found to contain candy and +nuts. + + + + +Index + + + PAGE + + Acting Proverbs 3 + + Advertisement Items 4 + + All About Kate 4 + + Apple Social 6 + + April Fool Dinner 6 + + April Fool Party 7 + + Authors' Contest 9 + + Authors' Guessing Game 9 + + Authors' Verbal Game 10 + + + "B" Sociable 11 + + Barn Party 12 + + Baseball Party 13 + + Bean Bags 14 + + Bean Sociable 15 + + Berry Guessing Contest 15 + + Bible Contest 16 + + Bible Evening 17 + + Bible Names 18 + + Bible Readings 18 + + Bird Carnival 19 + + Bird Guessing Contest 20 + + Birthday Party 23 + + Bishop's Riddle 23 + + Box Party 24 + + + Cake Sale 25 + + Cake Walk (Novel kind) 26 + + Calico Carnival 27 + + Can Factory 28 + + Cat Guessing Contest 30 + + Chestnut Sociable 30 + + Children's Birthday Flowers 32 + + Children's Birthday Parties 32 + + Children's Christmas Party 34 + + Children's Christmas Tableaux 35 + + Children's Easter Party 37 + + Children's Souvenirs 40 + + Children's Sweet Pea Tea 41 + + Children's Tom Thumb Entertainment 42 + + Children's Valentine Party 43 + + Chinese Party 44 + + Christmas Costume Party 45 + + Christmas Menu and Table Decorations 47 + + Christmas Umbrella Game 48 + + Church Bazaar Suggestions 49 + + Cobweb Sociable 50 + + Conundrum Tea 51 + + Cook Book Sale 51 + + Cooky Sociable 53 + + Corn Husking Bee 53 + + + Dutch Party 54 + + + Easter Egg Hunt 55 + + Easter Luncheon 55 + + Easter Sociable 57 + + + Fairies' Garden 58 + + Feast of Seven Tables 60 + + Feast of Nations 62 + + Fish Market 64 + + Flags of Nations 65 + + Floral Love Story 66 + + Flower Bazaar 67 + + Flower Guessing Contest 68 + + Flower Luncheons 70 + + Flower Party 73 + + Flowers Illustrated 75 + + Fourth of July Museum 76 + + + Game of Nations 78 + + Geographical Game 79 + + George and Martha Tea 79 + + Girls' Names Contest 81 + + Golf Luncheon 82 + + Golf Players' Guessing Contest 83 + + Good Luck Party 83 + + Gypsy Fortune-Telling 85 + + + Hallowe'en Box Cake 86 + + Hallowe'en Games 86 + + Hallowe'en Party 88 + + Hallowe'en Suggestions 89 + + Handkerchief Bazaar 91 + + Hatchet Party 91 + + + Ice Festival 93 + + Inauguration Day Lunch 94 + + Independence Day Necessities 96 + + Indian Dinner Party 97 + + Indoor Lawn Party 98 + + Initial Characteristics 99 + + + Jack-O'-Lantern Party 100 + + Japanese Card Party 102 + + Japanese Sociable 103 + + + Literary Contest 104 + + Literary Evening 109 + + Literary People 111 + + + Measuring Party 112 + + Medical Sociable 113 + + Medical Trunk 114 + + Military Sociable 115 + + Morning Glory Fair 116 + + Mother Goose Game 116 + + Musical Card Party 117 + + Musical Evening 118 + + Musical Guessing Contest 119 + + Musical Romance 119 + + Musical Terms Illustrated 121 + + Musicians Buried 122 + + Mystical Dinner Menu 123 + + Mystical Party 124 + + + New Year's Eve Party 126 + + New Year's Resolutions 127 + + New Year's Sociable 127 + + Nineteenth Century Game 128 + + Nose and Goggle Party 129 + + Noted People 130 + + Nut Conundrums 130 + + Nut Party 131 + + + Observation Party 132 + + Old-Fashioned Dinner 134 + + Old-Time Country School 134 + + Old-Time Spelling Bee 138 + + Orange Party 139 + + Orange Sociable 141 + + + Patriotic Party 141 + + Peddlers' Parade 143 + + Penny for Your Thoughts 144 + + Photograph Party 145 + + Pictorial Geography 145 + + Picture Reading 146 + + Pictures of Prominent Men 147 + + Pie Party 147 + + Pilgrim Luncheon 148 + + Ping-Pong Luncheon 148 + + Ping-Pong Party 149 + + Pin Party 150 + + P. O. D. Dinner Party 152 + + Pop-Corn Party 153 + + Portrait Game 154 + + Poverty Party 154 + + Poverty Sociable 156 + + Presidential Couplets 156 + + Presidential Questions 158 + + Presidents' Nicknames 159 + + Pussy Willow Party 159 + + + Red White and Blue Luncheon 160 + + "Riley" Entertainment 162 + + + Self-Portraits 163 + + Seven Days in One 165 + + Shamrock Luncheon 166 + + Snowdrift Party 168 + + Sock Sociable 169 + + Spinning Party 170 + + Spinster Tea 173 + + State Abbreviations 174 + + State Flowers 175 + + State Nicknames 175 + + State Sociable 176 + + St. Patrick's Day Party 177 + + St. Patrick's Guessing Contest 178 + + + Telegram Party 179 + + Tennis Sociable 180 + + Ten Virgins (Sacred play) 180 + + Thanksgiving Day Decorations 181 + + Thanksgiving Football Dinner 182 + + Thanksgiving Sociable 185 + + Transplanting Trees 187 + + Tree Guessing Contest 187 + + Tree Party 188 + + Tree Pool 190 + + Trolley Party 191 + + + Unique Valentine Party 192 + + University Luncheon 194 + + + Valentine Entertainment 195 + + Valentine Fun 196 + + Valentine Party--Danish 198 + + Valentine Sociable 200 + + Variety of Little Misses 201 + + Vegetable Party 202 + + + Wedding Anniversaries 203 + + Wedding of the Operas 211 + + Which is Your Age 213 + + Which is Your Aunt (Ant) 214 + + Which is Your City 214 + + White Ribbon Sociable 215 + + Why We Never Married 217 + + Wife of Santa Claus 225 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bright Ideas for Entertaining, by +Mrs. Herbert B. Linscott + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42863 *** |