It sounds odd, but the engaged girl for whom it was given was so very
fond of pussy cats that her chum knew that a kitty shower would just
exactly suit her.
The invitations, written on cats cut from heavy paper, read this way:
_Since Elizabeth Ann is so fond of the kitty
Don't you agree that 'twould be a great pity
If we missed a good chance now for making a hit
By each bringing her some kind of a kit_?
The bride-to-be suspected nothing when she was asked to a kitty
luncheon at her chum's house.
The table had as decorations a centerpiece of pussy willows and yellow
tulips, and the candle shades were made of yellow parchment paper with
black silhouettes of cats running around them.
At each girl's place was a tiny china cat with a yellow ribbon bow on
its neck to which was tied the place-card.
There was no attempt to carry out the kitty idea in the menu, but it
was yellow throughout. The first course was grapefruit, then followed
scalloped oysters garnished with lemon slices, chicken and mayonnaise
salad, individual baked custards, and sunshine cake.
Upon withdrawing from the table, it was announced that "Pussy was in
the well," and forthwith a deep cylindrical waste-basket trimmed with
pussy willows was brought in and set before the guest of honor, who
was requested to be the one to "pull pussy out."
With a dawning understanding of the meaning of this, the bride-to-be
reached in and drew one by one from the waste-basket the "kits" which
had been placed there for her. Each one was tied with yellow ribbon
and had a black cat pasted on it.
The gifts were all very clever. There was a traveler's sewing kit,
a small blacking kit, a wee laundry kit for motoring, a handy kit
containing baggage tags, rubber bands, and the like, an emergency kit
with safety pins and threaded needle for her handbag, a guest towel
with a cross-stitch kitty on one end, a cream pitcher and sugar bowl
with a kitten border, a quaint kitten door stop, a painted wooden
kitten twine holder, a pair of Angora skating gloves, an odd little
sewing apron with linen cats appliqued on the corners, and a knitting
bag of cretonne which pictured Puss-in-Boots prominently among other
Mother Goose People.
When the excitement of the shower was over, a guessing contest was
played, each answer being a word in which the syllable "cat" figured.
This very jolly afternoon ended with a really hilarious game of
Puss-in-the-corner.