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