HOW TO MAKE ATTRACTIVE BOOTHS AT A FAIR—A NEW KIND OF GRAB-BAG.
DECIDING to have our fair unlike those which have preceded it, we must
do away with monotony and introduce not only variety, but originality
as well. New ideas, something different from that which has served us
heretofore, is what we strive for. Novelties are always attractive, let
them be decorative also, and help to make the room or hall as inviting
as possible.
[Illustration: The Fair.] [Illustration: Fig. 336.—Framework for the
Canopy of a Booth at a Fair.]
[Illustration: Fig. 337.—Block of Wood Fastened on the side of Table.]
=The Tables=
being the most important item, we will give them our first attention.
Have each table or booth canopied in a style differing from all others,
and make the canopy extend up as high as practicable, in order to
avoid the flat, blank appearance so common in small fairs. If tables
are arranged in this fashion, they will go far toward decorating the
hall. Fig. 336 shows one style in which a framework for the roof or
covering may be constructed. At the four corners of the table, where
the top projects over the sides, fit in blocks of wood according to
Fig. 337; the dotted lines represent the block. Nail the wood fast
to the table, so that the uprights may stand perfectly straight. Use
laths or similar sticks for the four uprights, and screw or nail them
at the corners of the table according to Fig. 336; then with small
screws fasten a stick across the top of the laths at each side, and at
the top of the sticks on the front of the table tie the two ends of a
barrel-hoop to form the arch; also attach another hoop at the back to
the other two uprights, and connect the top centre of each by a wire
running across. The hoops are fastened to the laths by binding the
ends of the hoops to the ends of the laths with strong twine, or wire,
wound around in notches which have previously been cut in the ends of
both sticks and hoops. Should the barrel-hoops be too short for the
arch, take children’s large-sized toy wooden hoops, and fasten them up
in the same manner. Fig. 338 is another way to arrange the framework.
The four upright sticks are attached to the table as described in
Fig. 336; then in the top of each is driven a very large-sized tack,
and a strong flexible wire is stretched from lath to lath and wound
around each tack, thus connecting the four uprights together.[G] Flags,
shawls, drapery curtains, sheets, and inexpensive cheese-cloth make
good canopies; undressed cambric and canton flannel in desirable colors
drape nicely, and can also be used for the purpose. Where you wish to
produce light, airy effects, tarlatan, in one or more colors, will be
found useful; again, let some of the tables have only a suggestion of
a roof, made by ornamenting the framework with flowers, or whatever is
most suitable, according to the style of table and the place it is to
occupy.
Try and have a variety of shapes and sizes in the booths, and avoid
sombre dulness and monotony. Let the room fairly sparkle and shine with
light and color.
[Illustration: Fig. 338.—Construction of Framework for the Canopy of a
Table at a Fair.]
To make a tent-like covering, firmly bind a large-sized Japanese
umbrella to a pole, and fasten the pole in the centre of the table.
To hold it securely, make a bench of two pieces of board, with a hole
through the centre of each, and join them together by a block of wood
nailed in each end (Fig. 339). The bench can be made fast to the table
by screws put through from the under side of the top of the table
[Illustration: Fig. 339.—Bench for Holding a Pole as a Support for a
Canopy of a Booth.]
In erecting the canopy place the end of the pole in the bench and it
will be steady and firm. Attach pieces of string to several ribs on
each side of the umbrella, stretch the strings down and fasten the
ends securely to the table; paste over the strings bright-colored
tissue-paper fringe (Fig. 340). Cut the paper four or six thicknesses,
and when pasted on turn the fringe part uppermost, so it will look
fluffy and not hang down in a tame, fringe fashion. When a red umbrella
is used, and the strings are covered with fringe of the same hue, it
looks very pretty. Be extremely careful that no light comes dangerously
near the tissue-paper, or any other inflammable material; all the
decorations must be arranged with a view to perfect safety from contact
with gas, lamp, or candle.
In decorating the room remember to mass your color so the effect may be
broad. If the colors are too much mingled the effect will be weakened,
and in some cases lost entirely.
[Illustration: Fig. 340.—Tissue-paper Fringe.]
Paper-flowers and plants in great abundance will be needed, and if you
can persuade all your friends, as well as those actively interested
in the fair, to make paper-flowers or plants, they will prove very
acceptable, and after the fair is over the floral decorations can be
safely stored away to do service again on like occasion. Large, showy
flowers, like peonies, dog-wood, and magnolias, as well as large-leaved
plants, are best to use, though the smaller ones look well in a few
places.
In making
=Flowers for Decorations=
we aim at general effect, with less regard to detail than if the
blossoms were to be used in other ways. Fig. 341 is a pattern of the
dog-wood. Cut the flowers of white writing paper and make them quite
large. Use wire to fasten them to a natural branch, and imitate nature
as nearly as possible in the arrangement of the blossoms.
[Illustration: Fig. 341.—Dog-wood.]
If you fold the paper a number of times and then place your pattern
over it, you can cut out six or eight flowers at once, and save both
time and labor.
Peonies are made of white, pink, or red tissue-paper, cut in squares
of about eight inches each and pinked on the two opposite edges.
Twelve squares are needed for one flower. With your fingers gather the
squares up in the centre (Fig. 342); then fold over the pieces, as in
Fig. 343; when all are ready string them on a wire and shape the bunch
to resemble a peony; twist the wire up tight and fasten the petals
together, leaving a length of wire for a stem.
[Illustration: Fig. 342.—Peony Petal Gathered through the Centre.]
Make the cherry-blossoms (Fig. 344) in clusters of five or seven each,
and attach green leaves (Fig. 345) cut in different sizes. Fig. 346
shows the method of giving the leaf a pretty, crimped appearance. By
holding the point of the leaf firmly under the head of the pin with
your left hand, and with the right hand pushing the leaf up toward the
head of the pin, you can crimp the leaves very rapidly, and they look
much more natural than when left plain.
[Illustration: Fig. 343.—Peony Petal Folded over.]
All the materials necessary for the manufacture of flowers for fair
decorations will be paper, wire, and paste. The buds of different
flowers can be imitated by pinching together the petals of open
blossoms. Figs. 347, 348, 349 are the petals of the magnolia; the
inside petals are five and one-half inches long, the others in
proportion. Cut three of each size. No. 347 forms the innermost petals,
No. 348 the next, and No. 349 the outermost; these last should be
double; make the outside of pink tissue-paper and the inside white, all
the other petals are white; cut three, from Fig. 350, of green paper to
form the calyx.
[Illustration: Fig. 344.—Cherry Blossom.]
[Illustration: Fig. 345.—Green Leaf of Cherry Tree.]
[Illustration: Fig. 346.—Method of Crimping Leaf.]
Other ornamental flowers may be manufactured from these hints. Patterns
can be cut from any natural flowers, and they may be made without the
aid of further directions. When natural blossoms can be obtained, they
are far preferable, though the paper plants make splendid substitutes
and at a little distance cannot be distinguished from the natural ones.
[Illustration: Fig. 347.]
[Illustration: Fig. 348.]
[Illustration: Fig. 349.]
[Illustration: Fig. 350.]
If the fair comes off in the season when the trees are leafless, bare
branches with green paper leaves wired on will help very much where
foliage is needed.
An excellent scheme in the arrangement of a fair is to divide the
tables into twelve separate booths and let each one represent one month
in the year. They should contain articles appropriate only to the month
represented, and when planned in this way each month should be of
appropriate color. For example:
=December=
can be all white, with tufts of cotton scattered about for snow, and
mica or isinglass sprinkled around and over places to represent frost
and ice. Icicles, varying in size, depending from the arch or canopy,
add to the effect. The icicles are made of strips of paper first rolled
up like paper-lighters, then completely covered with tallow from the
dripping of a lighted candle; the tallow being allowed to harden on in
raised places makes the twisted paper resemble in form a real icicle;
the tallow icicle is next covered with a wash of mucilage, and powdered
mica or isinglass is sprinkled all over it, so that it sparkles and
shines.
In place of the usual grab-bag at this booth, there should be a
Christmas-tree without lights and burdened with little gifts tied up in
colored tissue-paper. Santa Claus must have charge of the tree.
=July=
calls for flags and decorations of red, white, and blue, as well as
flowers, fruits, and green foliage; the table should be presided over
by Columbia.
=May.=
Deck this table in spring blossoms and make the canopy of a slender
May-pole. Pass the pole through the holes in the bench (Fig. 339) and
screw the bench tight on the centre of the table; fasten a wreath of
flowers and the ends of a number of ribbons at the top of the pole;
bring the ribbons down and tack them to the sides of the table. Give
the Queen of May care of the booth.
=November=
may be gay with late fall leaves and berries, and a very large pumpkin,
which has been previously scraped out and lined with paper, can serve
as a receptacle for odds and ends. A little Puritan maid should be in
charge of the booth.
=June=
is all rose color, with the queen of flowers, the rose, holding the
post of honor. This month is very suitable for the flower-table, and
Flora, the Goddess of Flowers, may preside over it.
We have chosen these few months only as suggestions of the manner in
which the idea can be carried out.
Those in charge of the different booths might wear as a badge a
conspicuous sign of the zodiac appropriate to the month represented.
=The Five Senses=
can be illustrated by five booths, each one bearing its proper symbol
as a sign. To represent
HEARING,
make a large pasteboard ear-trumpet and cover it with silver paper;
fasten this on the highest point of the booth and place the word
Hearing in large letters under the trumpet; have these signs in plain
sight, where none can fail to see and read. The articles on the table
should consist of everything pertaining to the sense of hearing, such
as sheet-music, musical instruments, telephones, and suitable toys.
It would be a great addition if a phonograph could be rented or
borrowed for the occasion, and a certain sum charged to each one
speaking in the instrument and hearing the echo of his own words and
tones ground out to him again.
An oracle would be a capital thing at this table, each person
consulting it paying so much a question.
SEEING
likewise must be labelled with a sign in the shape of a very large pair
of spectacles cut out of stiff pasteboard and placed over the lettering.
The goods offered here for sale should pertain to the sense of
sight; and could be such articles as pictures, decorated candles,
kaleidoscopes, and common blue glasses. All things pleasing to look
upon may find place at the Seeing Table. Any kind of a peep-show can be
used, five cents being required from every curious person wishing for a
peep behind the curtain.
FEELING
is more difficult to portray. Perhaps an ordinary riding-whip will
answer the purpose, with the word Feeling in large type under it.
Sofa-cushions, quilts, mittens, canes, muffs, fancy toilet articles,
and almost anything adding to our personal comfort, or pleasant to
handle, are suitable for the Feeling booth.
TASTING.
As an emblem for this booth make a huge cornucopia for candy, with the
sign “Tasting” beneath, and the booth can be the candy-table.
SMELLING
naturally suggests perfumes and sweet-scented flowers. This sense will
most fitly be represented by an immense bouquet fastened up over the
table. The booth, of course, must be the flower-table.
If you have only a few tables, make four booths of them, and let each
booth represent a season. They should be decorated in keeping with the
time represented, and the idea fully carried out in all the details.
When the booths stand for different nations there is a great field for
variety and beautiful decoration. But in this, as in all cases where an
attempt is made to carry out an idea, it must be faithfully adhered to,
or the effect will not be that intended.
When it is necessary to decorate the
=Walls=
use flags, bright, soft draping cloth, and large palm leaves; also
branches of leaves, showy flowers, and anything that can be arranged to
look well. As rooms differ so much in size and style, it is impossible
to give any but general directions, leaving it to the taste of the
decorator to carry out the details.
[Illustration: Fig. 351.—Grab-bag of a Sheet with Holes Cut for Face
and Arms.]
[Illustration: Fig. 352.—Apron Skirt Sewed on Sheet.]
=Grab-Bags.=
On a narrow sheet hung up in a door-way, and fastened securely at the
sides, or attached to a frame, cut a hole large enough to allow of a
false face being fitted in (Fig. 351 A). The flaps of the cloth are
left for pasting inside the face; now cut two more holes for the arms
to pass through (Fig. 351 B). In these holes sew sleeves of the same
material as the skirt, which is made of bright-colored cambric in the
form of an apron, and sewed on the sheet (Fig. 352). The sides of the
skirt are basted down on the sheet. When pasting in the false face,
first cover the flaps, left at the opening for the face with stiff
paste; then paste these flaps down into the inside of the false face,
which will bring it up close against the sheet. If small openings are
left, or the sheet puckers a little after the face is fastened on,
never mind, as all defects can be covered by sewing on a thin white
frill all around the face, to form a cap, and making a collar of the
same material (Fig. 353).
[Illustration: Fig. 353.—Grab-bag.]
[Illustration: Fig. 354.—Inside of Sheet for Grab-bag.]
Leave an opening, or pocket-hole, through the sheet at one side of the
dress, so that the hand can be slipped through to get the packages,
which are placed within reach at the back of the curtain. Fig. 354
shows the inside of the sheet, and C the opening for the hand. Someone
must stand or be seated behind this curtain, and slip her arms into
the sleeves, then she can look out through the mask and see with whom
she is talking. In one hand she may hold a package, while she receives
the money with the other.
On the sheet print these words: “Five cents for what is in my pocket.”
=The Lady of the Lake.=
You will need a tin bath-tub for the lake, the longest one you can
find, and a toy boat which will not easily tip or turn over. Place tiny
flags in the bow and stern, and in one end of the boat glue a doll
dressed like the “Lady of the Lake” in Scott’s poem. Attach a pulley to
each end of the tub, and fasten the string to the boat, as it must be
run back and forth by means of the pulleys. Fill the tub nearly full
of water, then cover the edges with moss and vines. The bath-tub must
be completely disguised, and surrounded by plants and foliage, with
an opening left at one end for purchasers, and another small one near
the other end for the boat to pass through to those stationed behind
the shrubbery, who have charge of the boat, and where the parcels are
kept. At the store-room end the screen of vines or leaves should be
so arranged that those in charge can see all that is going on outside
without being seen themselves.
The boat should be stationed at the farther end of the lake, and
whoever wishes to make a purchase must give the doll five cents; then
the boat may immediately leave, sail across the lake, and disappear
behind the screen, only to emerge again laden with a parcel in place
of the money, and lightly skimming over the water arrive at her
destination, when the purchaser can relieve the “Lady of the Lake” of
her package.
The Bubble Range described on page 335 can be used in a fair with
advantage. Unless the fair is very small, it is better to have two
Bubble Ranges, to prevent the tiresome waiting for a turn, and give
all who wish to try their skill the opportunity to enjoy the sport.
=Fortune’s Wheel.=
Cut of stiff pasteboard a large circle (Fig. 355) with a point on the
edge at the end of one of the spokes, for the circle must be painted
to resemble a wheel. With a large round nail fasten the wheel through
the centre to a board, which has previously had numbers painted on in a
circle somewhat larger than the circumference of the wheel (Fig. 356);
the wheel should turn around easily on the nail. Hang the board up flat
against the wall. The gypsy in charge of the Fortune’s Wheel should
be stationed by its side, holding a basket filled with many envelopes
numbered to correspond to the figures on the board, each envelope
containing some appropriate fortune-telling lines; and when the people
come to seek their fortunes the gypsy must allow each in turn to give
the wheel a twirl, sending it around rapidly, and then hand to the
fortune-seeker an envelope whose number corresponds with the figure at
which the wheel pointed when it stopped turning.
[Illustration: Fig. 355.—Circle for Fortune’s Wheel.]
[Illustration: Fig. 356.—Fortune’s Wheel.]
=Rag-Balls.=
Prepare a number of carpet-rag balls with a small gift in the centre of
each one. These sell rapidly, and it is very amusing to see the buyers
unwinding their balls to discover the contents, which may prove to be
a thimble, a bundle of jackstraws, a grotesque Japanese toy, or any
little comical conceit which can be hidden in the odd receptacle.
The same idea might be applied to the always pleasing popcorn balls;
then the knick-knacks must be first wrapped in soft paper to protect
them from the candy used in making the balls.
Pleasant mysteries and surprises are always popular at fairs, and the
more that can be invented the better.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Window Decorated with Imitation Stained Glass and Dutch
Curtain.]
FOOTNOTE:
[G] If the uprights seem to need it, brace them with cross-sticks in
place of wire.