Place 4 upon 1, 7 upon 3, 5 upon 9, 2 upon 6, and 8 upon 10.
=Deceptive Heights.= (_a_) Ask a person, or several persons, to point
out with a finger or walking-cane, on a wall, above a table, about what
he supposes to be the height of an ordinary hat. You will find he will
place his mark about a foot above the table. Place the hat under it,
and he will find, to his surprise, that the space indicated is more
than double the height of the hat.
(_b_) The height of a common flour-barrel is just the length of a
horse’s face, and much merriment may be made by asking the company to
mark their idea of the height of a flour-barrel upon the wall. In nine
cases out of ten the mark will be several inches, or even a foot, too
high.
=Slang.= The players may be young or old and of both sexes. They are
given pencils and paper and asked to write down all the slang words
they can think of in five minutes. When the time limit is reached the
hostess collects the papers, and reads the names and the list of slang
words aloud.
This is where the fun commences. Imagine a quiet little mouse of a
woman having the following expressions to her credit: “Soak him,”
“Chase yourself,” etc. Imagine a dignified old gentleman writing the
following: “Put out his lamps,” “Me for the dreamy eyes,” etc. In one
case, a lawyer seemed to be right at home, and at the end of the five
minutes had a list of thirty expressions. But the prize unexpectedly
went to a little lady who could think of only one word of slang. In
presenting it, the hostess said, “You have used the best English, and
the best slang.”
The lawyer, whose list of slang was the longest, received a booby
prize. The point, of course, is that the least slang is the best.
=Observation Contest.= Have on tables and pinned on curtains, etc.,
quantities of small objects. Provide pads for all and let each have
three minutes to observe each table, each part of the room, etc., and
then five minutes to note down in another room all that she remembers
to have seen. This is great fun. The prize should be given to the one
with the keenest power of observation.
=The Bargain-Counter Game.= The Christmas bargain-counter is a charming
fireside game for Christmas night that will amuse and at the same time
instruct the nursery children. The bargain-counter may be the nursery
table set in front of the fireplace or hearth. On the counter are
laid as many as one likes of the toys which the children received from
tree and Christmas stockings. One child is chosen to take charge of
this play toy shop, and a second child leaves the room after looking
carefully first at all the toys on the counter to determine their
names. While this child is absent from the room a third child selects
and hides one of the toys. When the second child returns he must try
at one guess to say which of the toys was sold during his absence. If
he guesses successfully he may be the next toyman. To make the game
more difficult two or more toys may be hidden. Another and slightly
more difficult way of playing the bargain-counter game is to have the
toyman change the positions of the toys while the child is out of the
room. The child on returning must rearrange them, if he can, in exactly
the same positions. They may be scraps of color instead of toys. Red,
orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet ribbons, balls or Christmas
tree candles may be laid out in the order of the rainbow colors. While
one child is either blindfolded or outside the room, the child in
charge of the colors removes one from sight or alters the color order,
and the other child must guess the hidden color or restore the rainbow
order on his return.
=The “Thirty-five” Trick.= An envelope, handed to any person in the
company at the outset, contains a slip of paper, bearing the number
35. This is kept in the person’s pocket until the close of the trick;
or the number 35 can be written on the inside of a trick slate, or
elsewhere, for production in due course.
The performer now goes around with a slip of paper, which he hands to
some one, with a request to place any single figure thereon. This done,
he gives the paper to a second person to place another figure under
the first, and so on to as many persons in succession as necessary. As
each figure is written, he secretly adds all together until the total
reaches 26 or over; when this is the case, he stops calling for more
figures and, retaining the paper, remarks, “That will do, thank you,
but I would like to place this gentleman’s initials on the paper for
the purpose of identification.” The initials are given and written on
the paper by the performer, who at the same time takes the opportunity
thus afforded of placing another figure, to make the sum total 35, at
the foot of those already written. This done, the paper may be handed
to any person to add up the sum, for the simple reason that the trick
cannot now fail. Of course no one ever thinks of checking the number
of figures on the paper with the number of persons who wrote them.
The envelope containing the slip of paper is now opened, and the two
amounts compared.
=An Ink Shock.= Cut a piece of black paper to imitate spilled ink.
Lay it flat on a white table cover. Beside it, place an upset dry ink
bottle. This will shock the mistress of the house.
=Reading from Folded Papers.= For this trick, you enlist the service of
a friend. Each one is given a slip of paper and told to write on it a
question. Fold up well and drop into a hat. Mix them up, and, holding
the hat over your head, pick out any paper, and without unfolding it,
answer the question, doing the same with the rest.
In order to do this, you must know your friend’s question, and as
you collect the papers, slip it under the band inside the hat. When
performing, take any slip, but answer your friend’s question first.
Now open, to prove yourself right, and thereby see another question.
This is answered while the next is held, and so on until the last, when
all and the one in the hat are mixed and left for the audience for
investigation.
=Blind Man’s Buff with Dominoes.= Sit opposite another player, each
placing his right foot on the other’s left. Turn the dominoes face down
and the game now begins. Of course each one must look at his domino
before he plays it, but he does not show it to the other. The pressure
of your foot on his shows the number with which you begin, without the
possibility of a blunder, although playing the dominoes face downward.
He now counts the movements of your foot, which indicate the number
he is to match. He then presses your foot with the number you are to
match. This is continued until all the dominoes are played. When the
game is finished, turn the dominoes over to show that the numbers have
been played with perfect exactness.
“=My Aunt Has Arrived from Paris.=” A circle is formed, all kneeling
on the floor. The leader says to the one on his right side, “My aunt
has arrived from Paris,” and the one addressed, asks the question,
“What did she bring you?” The leader answers, “A pair of scissors,”
and at once imitates the opening and shutting of the scissors with two
fingers. This same question is asked, answered, and imitated by each
one around the circle.
The leader again says, “My aunt has arrived from Paris,” and the one
addressed asks, “What did she bring you?” The leader, still keeping up
the scissors motion, says, “A fan,” and at once imitates fanning with
the other hand. This goes around the circle as before.
The leader then announces in the same way, “A Japanese doll,” and
imitates by bowing his head backward and forward, which goes around
the circle. Then a rocking-horse is announced by the leader, and is
imitated by moving the body up and down, all the while remaining on the
knees. This also goes around the circle.
Finally in the same manner the leader announces a cuckoo, and
immediately gives the imitation of a cuckoo, which is also done in turn
around the circle. All five imitations are to be kept up continuously
by each one until the players are exhausted. The one holding out the
longest is the winner.
=Surprising Strength.= Just lightly put the tips of your fingers
together. If you invite any one to separate them by taking your wrists
and trying to draw them apart in a direct line with each other, they
will be surprised to find that no amount of strength will avail them at
all, as the thing is really almost impossible.
Place your clenched fists one upon the other, and ask some one to
separate them by pushing them aside. They will be quite unable to do
so, although you are exerting your strength but little against them.
Let them, however, approach you with the forefingers only, and give a
sharp rap at your knuckles in opposite directions. You will find in
this case that you are quite powerless against this, and cannot keep
your fists together at all.
=Card-passing Contest.= Divide the players equally and seat them in two
rows facing each other. The leader of each row is provided with a pack
of playing cards. At a given signal, each leader passes one card to the
next person, who in his turn gives it to the next person, and so on
down the line until the last one drops it on the floor beside him.
The side that gets the last card on the floor first wins the game.
The cards may be passed to the right on each side, moving in opposite
directions.
=A Cobweb Tangle.= Have as many balls of twine as there are players.
Starting at a given point, fasten each end securely. Starting from this
point, wind the twine in every conceivable place, wherever you care to
have the players go; under tables, around chairs, door-knobs, upstairs,
and anywhere that can be made difficult without doing any injury to
the surroundings. When the winding is completed, fasten the string to
a small round stick about three or four inches long. All this should
be done before the guests arrive, as it takes some time to do it. When
ready for the game, have the guests draw the sticks and then proceed
to wind the twine until they arrive at the end. The one arriving there
first wins a prize.
=A Novel Masquerade.= Each gentleman receives a printed card asking
him to call at the house of a lady who is to be his partner for the
evening. The ladies change places with one another, so that when the
gentlemen call for them, they will not be in their home but in the home
of one of the other ladies. As the ladies are masked and do not have to
talk, the gentlemen never find out their mistake until all are unmasked.
=Hit the Bag.= A bag about the size of a person’s head, or larger if
desired, made of tissue paper, or other very thin paper, containing
candy, is suspended from the ceiling by a string so that it will be
about six feet from the floor. A person is blindfolded and a cane,
or a stick about the length of a cane, is placed in the person’s two
hands, allowing the farther end to touch the bag. The performer is
then requested to take three steps backward and then turn around three
times, alone. When this is done, he is requested to take three steps
forward, strike three times and break the bag. The cane can have only
a perpendicular motion. Each one tries the same, until the bag is
broken, when all present scramble to see who will gather the most candy.
=A Pretended Illusion.= Place three coins on a table, coins 1 and 2
being only a short distance from each other, while the coins 2 and 3
are more than double the distance apart. Now point out to a spectator
that a curious optical illusion can be observed by placing one eye on
the level of the table edge and looking along the line of the coins.
The spectator having done so, ask him which two coins he considers
are the farthest away from each other and to point them out. He will
probably point out coins two and three. You immediately point to the
coins 1 and 3, and say you consider these coins are the farthest away
from each other.
=Dancing Fairies.= Most of you have seen the smooth, round beans called
“magic beans.” They were brought to this country several years ago from
the East Indies, and were a great curiosity until their secret was
discovered.
First get a half-dozen or more of the dancing or “magic” beans. These
are now sold in most of the large Japanese stores.
Cut out a half-dozen of tiny paper dolls. They must be made so that
they are light, and so that their feet can be pasted securely to both
sides of the bean. Cut out skirts of tissue paper which will cover the
dolls’ legs and hide the beans without touching them. When these are
made so that they will balance well, place them upon a heated plate and
soon every little fairy will begin to dance in a mysterious way.
=Describing a Lady’s Costume.= When the guests arrive, have them all
meet in one room. Every gentleman is presented with a card on which is
written the name of some lady present, and the hostess announces that
each gentleman must talk five minutes to the lady whose name his card
bears. The reason for the conversation is not divulged. At the end of
the appointed time, the ladies withdraw, and then the men are told to
each write out a description of the dress the lady wore, the color
of her eyes, of her hair, the fashion of wearing it, etc., etc. The
ladies are now admitted and each one stands out, while a description of
herself and costume is read aloud.
=The Wonderful Hat.= Upon a table place three pieces of bread, or any
other eatable, at a little distance from each other, and cover each
with a hat. Take up the first hat, and, removing the bread, put it into
your mouth, letting the company see that you swallow it. Then raise
a second hat and eat the bread which is under that, then proceed to
the third hat in the same manner. Having eaten the three pieces, ask
any person in the company to choose which hat he would like the three
pieces of bread to be under, and when he has made his choice of one of
the hats, put it on your head and ask him if he does not think they are
under it.
=Mirror-Drawing.= To carry out this test you will need a sheet of
paper, a mirror about the width of the paper, a pencil, and another
sheet of paper or a large card or book.
Lay the paper flat on the table. Then prop up the mirror opposite you
and the paper so that it is at right angles with the paper and reflects
it. You may stand the mirror against a pile of books if it has no
standard of its own. After you have done this, take the extra sheet of
paper in your left hand and hold it so that it is between your eyes and
the piece of paper which is lying on the table. You must hold the piece
of paper in your left hand so that you cannot see the paper lying on
the table, except in the mirror.
You are now ready to begin drawing, first announcing what you intend to
draw. It should be some simple object, represented by some few straight
lines, such as a kite, a box, or a square, with a straight line going
from each corner diagonally across. You draw with your right hand,
holding the paper with your left, so that you cannot see what progress
you are making except in the mirror. Watch the mirror all the time
until the drawing is completed.
=The Dancing Skeleton.= Get a piece of board about the size of a large
school slate and have it painted black. The paint should be what is
known as a dead color, without gloss or brightness. (A large school
slate would answer the purpose.) Sketch out the figure of a skeleton
on a piece of cardboard and arrange it after the manner of the dancing
sailors and other cardboard figures for sale in toy stores, so that
by holding the figure by the head in one hand and pulling a string
with the other, the figure will throw up his legs and arms in a very
ludicrous manner.
Make the connections of the arms and legs with black string and let
the pulling-string be also black. Tack the skeleton by the head to the
blackboard. The figure, having been cut out is of course painted black,
like the board.
Now to perform: Produce the board showing only the side upon which
there is nothing. Request that the lights may be reduced about half,
and take position at a little distance from the company. With a piece
of chalk make one or two attempts to draw a figure; rub out your work
as being unsatisfactory; turn the slate; the black figure will not
be perceived; touch the edge of the cardboard figure with the chalk,
filling up ribs, etc., taking care that nothing moves while the drawing
is progressing. Then manipulate with the fingers. By pulling the string
below the figure it will of course kick up its legs and throw about its
arms, to the astonishment of everybody.
=Pitching Cards at a Hat.= Borrow a gentleman’s hat and try to throw a
pack of cards from a distance of two or three feet, throwing the cards
in one at a time.
=Peanut Guessing.= Fill a dish with peanuts, and let each one guess how
many are contained in it; the one who guesses nearest wins.
=Peanut Shelling.= Give each contestant ten peanuts, and at a signal
let all begin to shell them, removing also the inner skin. The one who
finishes first, without breaking a kernel, wins. If one breaks into
more than the two natural divisions of the nut, another peanut must be
shelled in its place.
=Peanut-rolling.= Place peanuts across one side of the room at interval
of about three feet. Give each contestant a toothpick. At a given
word they all commence to roll the peanuts across the room with the
toothpicks. The one who first gets his peanut across the room is the
victor. Another row of contestants then take their places in the same
way. After all are through the victors in the different contests have a
final contest.
=The Peanut Hunt.= Peanuts are previously hidden in every conceivable
place in the rooms to which the guests have access. The finder of the
greatest number receives a prize.
=Progressive Peanut Party.= This is played exactly as all other
progressive games. Arrange tables to seat four, choose partners, and
provide score cards.
In the centre of each table, place a bowl containing one hundred
peanuts in the shell, and lay a long, new, common hat-pin at each
place. At the head table have a bell. Before being seated to play,
each guest is to have the right hand securely tied down to the side by
a ribbon or fancy cord. When ready to commence, a player rings a bell
at the head table, and all begin to spear nuts from the bowl; when the
bowl is empty at the head table, the bell is rung and all count to see
how many nuts they have, the two having made the best score, progress,
first replacing the nuts into the bowl ready for the next game; the
cards are then punched according to the score and the game proceeds.
Five hundred may be the score limit, the one who first gets the five
hundred winning; or it may be decided to have the game end when the
players at the head of the table return to that table, or at least two
of them.
=Your Friends in Black.= There are various advantages about a
silhouette party. It admits of no small amusement, for occasionally the
queerest object may be twisted to fit a name. The first thing to do is
to prepare a list of your guests and find for each name something that
will represent it. Set the wits of the entire family at work, for on
this task two heads are infinitely better than one.
The longer time you have for the “rebusing” of the names the more
entertaining the list will prove. Do not leave out a friend because at
first it seems almost impossible to picture his name. The same license
is allowed for a rebus as for poetry, and a point may be stretched to
make the drawing fit the name, although it is not best to leave too
much to the imagination.
For the mechanical part of the work provide ragged-edged cards of
various sizes. One name will demand a long, narrow card for its
representation; another name, a square card. The best surface for this
purpose is a heavy, water-color paper which is neither smooth nor
rough. Do not cut it. Crease it in such lengths as you wish to use,
then tear it with a very blunt paper-knife. This gives an excellent
ragged edge. Take the designs you have planned to use and trace them
over black carbon copying paper on each card, leaving a generous
margin. Sketch no detail except the mere outline of a figure. Fill a
pen with India ink and go very carefully over the outline. Allow it to
dry; then with a rather stiff, small sable brush dipped in the ink fill
in the silhouette till it is perfectly black and even. Allow it to dry,
and add in one corner the number which corresponds with the list. There
is a good deal to learn in the adaptation of a design for a silhouette.
If a human figure is chosen let it generally be in profile. As a rule,
a full-face figure, either in an animal or a man, is almost meaningless
unless it is full of action. When the silhouettes are completed, they
should be pinned up in a conspicuous place, so that they may all be
seen and examined easily and prizes awarded to the most successful
guessers.