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PARLOR GAMES 
 AND PARTIES 
 
 FOR YOUNG AND OLD 
 
 Amusement Ideas for All the Family 
 All the Year 
 
 Gathered, bf , 
 CARLETON B.'CASE 
 
 Shrewesbury Publishing Co. 
 CHICAGO 
 
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 Copyright, 1916 
 by 
 
 Sheewesbuky Publishing Co. 
 
 4-i- 
 
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 =^CI.A4387b9 
 
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 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introductory / 5 
 
 Jolly Pastimes 7 
 
 St. Valentine Frolics 13 
 
 March Merrymaking 1 20 
 
 Three New Birthday Parties 23 
 
 Home Parties for Grown-ups 27 
 
 Ways That Insure Good Times 32 
 
 Children 's Merry Frolics 34 
 
 Games for the Playground , 33 
 
 Vacation Games for Children 41 
 
 Old Games That Children Love Best 53 
 
 Games for Little Girls , 59 
 
 An Old-Time Candy-Pull 63 
 
 A Clever Surprise Party 66 
 
 Games for the Kiddies 67 
 
 Rainy-Day Fun 72 
 
 Varied Amusements 79 
 
 Halloween Fun 86 
 
 Christmas Ideas - 93 
 
INTEODUCTOEY 
 
 THiE proven ideas of others are most valuable 
 in furnishing us with ready means and methods 
 of entertainment, whether it is to amuse the 
 juvenile members of the family or to .interest a circle 
 of neighbors and friends. The most desirable amuse- 
 ment ideas are those which are not worn out by fre- 
 quent repetition, which come as a pleasant surprise 
 to the participants because new to the locality and 
 interesting to all concerned. The Ladies* Home 
 Journal and Woman's Home Companion have given 
 space to the ideas here set forth, and it is chiefly from 
 their pages that the selection is made. The mother 
 and the woman who entertains will be especially 
 pleased with this collection. 
 
PARLOR GAMES AND 
 PARTIES 
 
 JOLLY PASTIMES 
 
 Alliterative Acceptances 
 
 ONE of the surest ways to destroy the tension 
 that too frequently characterizes the first hour 
 of an evening party where the guests are not 
 well acquainted with one another is to introduce a 
 guessing game in which the participants do not sit 
 down but move about the room. And if the hostess 
 can make the game reveal the ingenuity of her guests 
 still greater interest and enjoyment will be added and 
 she may increase her laurels won as an entertainer. 
 A game which answers this purpose may be called 
 * ' Alliterative Acceptance. ^ ^ 
 
 In response to the invitations, which the hostess 
 should write with as much alliteration as possible, so 
 as to inspire those to whom she writes, each guest is 
 requested to send a sentence of about ten words, th« 
 prevailing initial of which is the same as his or her 
 name, and which gives a hint of some characteristic 
 of the writer, such as his business, hobby or personal 
 peculiarity. These sentences, but not the names of 
 the guests, are then written singly on cards and num- 
 bered to correspond with the names of the writers. 
 After attaching little loops of baby-ribbon all will be 
 ready for the evening. 
 
 7 
 
8 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Upon arrival each guest is given a c?rd to wear, 
 told to guess the names of the persons to whom the 
 sentences refer, and to write his answers upon another 
 card, which, with a pencil, is furnished also. Should 
 a guest obtain his own sentence he may or may not 
 ask his hostess for another card, but by keeping his 
 own he may divert suspicion — always a fun-provok- 
 ing practice. 
 
 After allowing a reasonable time for guessing the 
 identity of the writers may be revealed and the correct 
 and incorrect guesses counted by each participant. 
 Additional fun may be obtained if the sentence is read 
 aloud and Mie guests asked to announce the name of 
 the writer. 
 
 If desired, prizes either for the best two lists of 
 correct guesses, or for the best and poorest (the 
 booby), may be awarded. 
 
 The following samples of alliterative sentences may 
 serve as suggestive: 
 
 Mr. Moore, a banker: Mercenary mortals make 
 money merely to mitigate mundane matters. 
 
 Miss Smith, dressmaker: Several softly-sighing 
 spinsters sew sedulously in silent solitude. 
 
 Mr. Tucker, a lover of horseback riding : The ten- 
 derfoot trotter takes trivial tosses as terrible tumbles. 
 
 Mr. Allen, a lawyer: Attorneys are always at- 
 tempting artifice and aspiring to arrogance. 
 
 Miss Williams, a school-teacher: Who whimpers 
 when whining whippersnappers are whacked? 
 
 Frances Woodward. 
 
 A Candy Jack-Straw Parly 
 
 We arranged five tables, each one having its par- 
 ticular color scheme. Table Number One was ar- 
 ranged in green, and a quarter of a pound of tiny 
 green twisted candy-sticks were heaped in the center 
 upon a dainty green and white paper doily. Four 
 pretty place-boxes were made of white water-color 
 
AND PARTIES 9 
 
 paper, their comers tied with narrow green ribbon 
 and edges tinted green. These were to hold the booty 
 won during the game. The four other tables were 
 done in different colors — for you can buy candy- 
 sticks of all colors at a confectioner's. 
 
 Pretty hand-made tally-cards were easily arranged. 
 There were four of each color for the five tables, and 
 the pencil ribbons matched the tables. Partners were 
 found by printing upon a man's card the opening 
 bar of a popular song, and upon a girl's the corre- 
 sponding words. 
 
 The game started. Each one in turn tried to pick 
 from the center pile as many candy-straws as he or 
 she could with a pair of candy-tongs. In five minutes 
 the bell rang and the partners with the highest booty 
 marked their tally-cards and progressed to the next 
 table. It was perfectly allowable to munch upon the 
 candies won. When the jack-piles were demolished 
 the game was called and prizes awarded to the two 
 star performers — a huge candy cane to the man and 
 a candy sunshade to the girl. This latter was made 
 by using a candy cane for the stick and putting fluffy 
 tissue-paper skirts upon it. 
 
 A jolly game followed this as a test of artistic 
 ability. Cards were passed around with some well- 
 known event -written on the back of each — something 
 so thrillingly dramatic that all were inspired, such 
 as St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, Mac- 
 beth and the Three Witches, etc. 
 
 In numerical order the guests illustrated their sub- 
 jects upon a child's blackboard. The '^audience'* 
 wrote upon their cards what they conjectured the pic- 
 tures to be. The artist was not allowed more than 
 three or four minutes, and a prize was awarded to 
 the best draughtsman — a huge tin medal with proper 
 inscriptions, hung upon a scarlet ribbon. 
 
 A chafing-dish supper was served, a man making 
 Welsh rabbit and a girl creating lobster k la New- 
 
10 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 burgh. Two chafing-dishes were used, and in addition 
 Bandwiehes, olives, salted nuts, cakes and chocolate 
 were served. Upon the center of our board we ar- 
 ranged what we called the ^ ^ Pie of Fate, ' ' which held 
 in its mysterious depths the future of our guests. 
 The **pie'' was made out of a rather large, round 
 hatbox with sides lowered to about four inches and a 
 half, covered with a ruffle of crepe paper. Through 
 this tissue-paper cover ribbons attached to the pack- 
 ages were threaded with the place-card on the other 
 end. Now in these packages were supposed to be the 
 photographs of the future life-partners of the guests. 
 I plundered an old photogTaph-trunk until I got 
 twenty funny human specimens. To a man who 
 openly admired sylphlike beauty I gave the picture 
 of a portly, bejeweled woman with tiers of double 
 chins; and to a young lady who professed mortal 
 hatred of hirsute adornment upon the stronger sex 
 I bestowed a heavily-whiskered, foreign-looking man, 
 etc. When the refreshments were served each one 
 drew his package from the mystic '^pie.'^ 
 
 Maud Tonsey. 
 
 Musical Merriment 
 
 A musical club, having decided on a social even- 
 ing, arranged six tables, on each of which was a ban- 
 ner, having on it a staff, clef and signature. The men 
 and women were each given half of a strain from a 
 familiar musical composition, which were to be 
 matched ; and each pair were assigned to a table hav- 
 ing the banner with the signature corresponding to 
 the key of their strain. Nearly all the strains could 
 be found in the music they had studied during the 
 winter. 
 
 At the tables were cards bearing anagrams of com- 
 posers' names, four on each card. For instance, on 
 one table the cards bore the letters: ^^mahbrs,'' 
 ^'bsecrhtu,'' '^zoramt'' and '4ahden,'' which were 
 
AND PARTIES 11 
 
 translated into Brahms, Schubert, Mozart and Handel. 
 At the stroke of a bell all four at each table moved 
 to the next, having written on paper as many of the 
 names as they had succeeded in forming. When all 
 had progressed the papers were taken up to be cor- 
 rected, and prizes were awarded. The first prize was 
 a small bust of Schubert, and the last prize, a mouth- 
 organ. 
 
 Then twelve familiar motifs from the different 
 music studied during the winter were played, and 
 each guest wrote the name of the piece from which 
 the motif was taken. The one who had the most cor- 
 rect list received a St. Cecilia photograph, and he 
 who had guessed the fewest, a music primer. 
 
 The banners were now turned, showing on their 
 reverse sides small pictures of twelve great composers. 
 Four cards for each composer were distributed, two 
 tied with blue ribbon for the women, and two with 
 red for the men. Thus the four who recognized 
 Mozart's face would be seated at his table. The 
 object of the committee, of course, was to bring 
 strangers together. When they were seated supper 
 was served. 
 
 Camilla J. Knight. 
 
 Clever "Character" Game 
 
 One of the company leaves the room. A name con- 
 taining as many letters as there are persons remain- 
 ing is chosen, and to each one a letter of the name is 
 assigned. Each is expected to choose a character 
 whose name begins with that letter. 
 
 The one outside is called in and told where the 
 name begins and ends, all, of course, sitting in the 
 order of the letters. He has either a certain time or 
 so many questions allowed him to find out each letter 
 and thus spell his way to the end. 
 
 Frederick S. Law. 
 
12 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 A Period Party 
 
 ''Will you give us the pleasure of your company 
 Friday evening, dressed in a costume of the period 
 of 1830? 32 Main Street.'' 
 
 The invitations for the evening read like the above, 
 except that each date was different; the invitation 
 cards were circular. On the evening of the party the 
 electric lights in the room had colored tissue-paper 
 balls over them (representing periods), and many 
 balls were festooned throughout the rooms. 
 
 The guests were requested to compose a story that 
 might happen in some period to come, say 1950. Each 
 gniest wrote one sentence, and the one who could carry 
 the story along fastest in the shortest sentence and 
 reach a period first received a prize. The sentence, 
 *^I came, I saw, I conquered,'' was an illustration 
 of a good deal of action. 
 
 The hostess announced to her guests that each lady 
 should grasp, unaided, that floating period in the 
 dining-room on which was the date corresponding with 
 her costume. The floating periods were toy balloons 
 flying loose — an electric fan is an excellent device for 
 keeping them bobbing up and down. The string of 
 each balloon had a small package at the end holding 
 paper hats for the lady and her escort. 
 
 The place-cards were round, and below the name of 
 the guest was written : 
 
 Periods — Mayonnaise dressing 
 
 Periods — Wheat 
 
 Periods — Sweet 
 
 Periods — ^Frozen 
 
 Periods — Crinkled and broken 
 
 Periods — Split, browned, brewed 
 
 The first was potato salad, the ingredients cut 
 
 round; the second, sandwiches cut round; third, round 
 
 cakes; fourth, ice cream formed like snowballs; and 
 
 English walnuts and coffee were the last two named. 
 
 Myrtle Marguerite Minor. 
 
ST. VALENTINE FEOLIOS 
 
 AN ENTERTAINING way to ©pen a Valentine 
 party is to have the guests shoot at a heart 
 with bow and arrows. 
 
 In the center of a sheet of cardboard paste a large 
 red heart, ten inches across. Then with a penknife 
 cut this red heart out from the rest of the cardboard. 
 Make it like a little door, fastening it on the left side 
 with paper-fasteners in place of hinges, and an im- 
 provised turn-buckle on the right side. 
 
 Have ready one small bow and a number of arrows. 
 Allow each guest two turns to shoot the heart. If 
 the heart is pierced the archer may unfasten the turn- 
 buckle and reach in for a tiny heart-shaped box of 
 candies, a number of which should stand*in readiness 
 behind the target as trophies. 
 
 Love is Blind. — Put the boys and the girls in 
 separate rooms, and appoint a doorkeeper. The first 
 boy is blindfolded, and the doorkeeper brings in a 
 girl. She must go up and shake hands with the 
 ** blind'' man. 
 
 *'How do you doT' asks the '^ blind'' man. The 
 girl must reply, but she may disguise her voice, or 
 even whisper. He is allowed one more question, and 
 then if he cannot guess correctly who the girl is he 
 pays a forfeit, and the girl is free to return. If he 
 guesses correctly she is blindfolded and the question- 
 ing repeated by her to a boy chosen by |he door- 
 keeper. 
 
 The Game of Tasks. — For this game, too, the boys 
 and the girls are separated. Let each side determine 
 13 
 
14 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 on one, two or three tasks, according to the number 
 of guests — the more guests, the fewer tasks. 
 
 When the tasks have been decided upon a girl goes 
 into the room where the boys are and sets to work. 
 Meantime a boy has also gone into the girls' room to 
 do their bidding. When each has finished a second 
 girl and a second boy are detailed. 
 
 The tasks may consist of any little every-day bit 
 of work. For instance, the girl may be told to step 
 on a chair and lift down a picture from the wall; to 
 take a handkerchief and bind up the wrist of a boy 
 supposed to be hurt. A boy may be obliged to help a 
 girl on with her coat; to fasten a flower in her hair. 
 When all have had a turn the girls vote to decide who 
 is the most graceful boy, and the boys vote for the 
 most dexterous girl, and prizes are awarded. 
 
 Cinderella. — If the girls at the party have on low 
 slippers have them go back to their dressing-room and 
 each remove one. Take the slippers to the library 
 and place them in a row on the table. Have the boys 
 guess the owners; give a prize to the girl whose 
 slipper is rated the daintiest, and another prize to 
 the boy who guesses correctly the largest number of 
 owners of the slippers. 
 
 Progressive Wishes. — Arrange tables as for pro- 
 gressive euchre. Provide each guest with a red paste- 
 board heart about four inches across. It may have 
 two or three hearts of white notepaper fastened on 
 the back, and it must have a red lead pencil attached 
 by a cord. When the bell rings partners exchange 
 hearts, write a brief wish, sign their names, and re- 
 turn the hearts to their owners. A man might write, 
 for instance: 
 
 May you always have 
 
 * ' Bonnets and slippers, collars and shawls, 
 Dresses for breakfast, for dinners and balls." 
 or: 
 
 I wish you ' ' The homage of all mankind. ' ' 
 
AND PARTIES 15 
 
 A girl might write : 
 
 I wish you "Great riches, great authority.'* 
 or: 
 
 I wish you ' ' The possession of the hearts of all 
 whom you meet in life." 
 
 After time has been given in which the wishes may 
 be exchanged the bell rings and the players progTess, 
 or change seats. They exchange hearts with their 
 new partners, and receive more wishes. These hearts 
 will make most charming souvenirs for the guests to 
 carry away. 
 
 Who Said So *? — Provide the guests with paper and 
 pencils. Read a quotation, and ask the guests to name 
 its author; give a few minutes' grace. They are to 
 write at the top of the paper: *^ Number 1,'^ and 
 then the name of the author of the quotation. A sec- 
 ond quotation is read, and so on until twelve have 
 been delivered. As it is St. Valentine's Day the quo- 
 tations may all be of a sentimental turn. The player 
 who has guessed the greatest number of authors of 
 the quotations wins a prize. 
 
 It is well to select such quotations as: 
 "But I'll love him more — more — 
 Than wife e'er loved before. 
 Be the days dark or bright." 
 
 — Jean Ingelow. 
 "A perfect woman, nobly planned. 
 To warn, to comfort, and command. ' ' 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 "Did never mortal eyes behold such heavenly grace.'* 
 
 'I warrant thou art a merry fellow and earest for 
 nothing. ' ' 
 
 — Shakespeare. 
 "O, Eleanor, thou fair and good. 
 Thou perfect flower of womanhood. 
 Thou royal rose of June." 
 
 — Tennyson. 
 
16 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Hearts Up! — This is something like the old game 
 of ' * Up Jenkins, ' ' but more fun. Have the company 
 sit around the longest table you can get, the places 
 occupied by ladies and gentlemen alternately. The 
 company is divided in two sides, lengthwise of the 
 table. 
 
 Provide each player with half a dozen counters; 
 these may be dominoes, cards, beans, matches, or any 
 small articles which are at hand in a quantity. Then 
 have a small heart which is to be passed from hand 
 to hand beneath the table. A celluloid heart, a glass 
 heart, or anything of that sort will do. 
 
 Those on the side which is to play first take the 
 heart. They make a great show of passing it dili- 
 gently under the table from one player to another. 
 
 The leader of the other side calls : ' ^ Hearts up ! * * 
 All those on the playing side double their hands into 
 fists and hold them up. ^'Hearts down!'' calls the 
 opponent. Then the players all slap their hands, 
 palms downward, on the table (which, by-the-way, 
 must be without a cloth). 
 
 The opponents guess who has the heart. They 
 begin at the left end of the table, the guesser saying 
 to a certain player, *^Take up your right hand, 
 please.'' The player takes it up. If the heart is 
 there it goes to the opposing side. If not the player 
 who guessed gives the other a counter, and the person 
 next him takes a guess. They keep guessing and pay- 
 ing counters until they get the heart. Then they play. 
 The game is to get all the counters away from one 
 side or the other. 
 
 Retta K. Tourison. 
 
 A St. Valentine Party Favor 
 
 For a pretty work-bag, cut from white denim three 
 heart-shaped pieces, each with a diameter of thirteen 
 inches. Around the edge of each embroider or paint 
 small red hearts as a border, each an inch and a half 
 
AND PARTIES 17 
 
 in diameter. In the center of each large heart stitch 
 a smaller one, six inches in diameter, to serve as a 
 pocket. Embroider on it a red arrow, piercing it 
 through. Join the three large hearts by whipping 
 their edges together, leaving the top open so that 
 they form a bag. If desired the border of hearts may 
 be omitted, and the large hearts bound with red rib- 
 bon. Sew loops of red or white ribbon to the three 
 places near the top of the bag where the three hearts 
 join, and carry long ends of the ribbon upward and 
 tie together to hang the bag by. 
 
 Mrs. N. B. Mathes. 
 
 A Pretty Rose Luncheon 
 
 A most charming affair was a luncheon given by a 
 a girl friend, and the whole house was abloom with 
 roses, made of crepe paper, great branches of them 
 banking mantels and decking bowls and vases every- 
 where. 
 
 The luncheon-table was artistic in its decorations of 
 roses that in their almost natural beauty suggested 
 the warmth of June. The table was covered with 
 bobbinet over pink, with a fluffy ruffle around the 
 edge. A large basket overflowing with roses and real 
 ferns fonned the central decoration; the handle was 
 wrapped with asparagus ferns caught with roses, and 
 at the top of the handle was a fetching bow of pink 
 tulle ; the basket rested on a mirror base. At the four 
 corners of the table were single candlesticks with 
 fluffy shades caught with roses. Placed about on the 
 table were small pink baskets of spun candy, the han- 
 dles tied with ribbon in which small roses were caught, 
 and the baskets were filled with bonbons. The favors 
 were little baskets made of rafiia and filled with pink 
 confections. 
 
 The doilies on this table were unusually dainty — 
 the idea for them was original with the hostess, who 
 is a clever girl, and perhaps a description of them 
 
18 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 will bring a welcome suggestion to some other girl 
 who may want to make some like them. They were 
 made of wash blond lace; the edge was finished in 
 buttonhole-stitch done with an opalescent floss. Roses, 
 tinted with tapestry dyes in the delicate tints of the 
 natural flower, were scattered over the doily, the out- 
 lines of the flowers being darned with floss of rose 
 color. 
 
 The salad was served in rosy apples. The dessert 
 course was particularly pretty ; the cream was brought 
 on in little glass dishes set in a large rose, the flower 
 concealing the dish. Little pink, heart-shaped cakes 
 were served with the cream. Lillie Martin. 
 
 For Trimming St. Valentine Cakes 
 
 After the cakes for a St. Valentine party-table 
 have been smoothly iced with a plain boiled icing 
 long sprays of roses may be drawn in a design upon 
 their top by pressing through a cornucopia of stiff 
 paper some of the left-over icing, which has been 
 colored by mixing in it some cherry flavoring; the 
 tinted icing is pressed through the cornucopia in a 
 stream which is moved along to form the rose design. 
 If an elaborate design is desired it is best to mark it 
 out beforehand on the iced surface of the cakes. A 
 second cornucopia filled with icing colored green may 
 be used to form the stems and leaves. A running vine 
 of roses around the sides of the cakes enhances the 
 appropriateness of the decoration. 
 
 Another pleasing effect is made by covering the 
 cakes all over the top with white icing, a pink rose 
 in the center and a border of pink icing hearts around 
 the edge. Mrs. A. C. Connor. 
 
 Cupids Graced This Table 
 
 A St. Valentine's day table which delighted the 
 girls who sat around it had as a centerpiece a basket 
 loosely filled with pink roses, and a flying Cupid was 
 
AND PARTIES 19 
 
 suspended over it from the chandelier. The candles 
 had rosy shades, and by each place-card was a little 
 image, of St. Joseph, the kindly saint who brings a 
 girl her sweetheart. These little metal figures of St. 
 Joseph were bought in New Orleans, but they may 
 be found readily in almost any place. 
 
 With Oranges and Red Roses 
 
 An orange luncheon is quite easily arranged. At an 
 orange luncheon given in Southern California orange 
 blossoms and oranges on their stems entered largely 
 into the decorations, combined for relief with great 
 sprays of red roses arranged in tall Japanese vases. 
 Place-cards were hand-painted with roses and tied 
 with baby ribbon to wide bands of orange ribbon, 
 which passed from each plate to the center of the 
 table. Below the place-cards was a narrow fringe. 
 
 Oranges variously served formed an important part 
 of the menu, one of the prettiest dishes being orange 
 jelly cut in cubes, and served in orange baskets set in 
 beds of cracked ice, surrounded with the dark, rich 
 foliage of the orange tree. 
 
 At the close of the luncheon the ribbons were drawn 
 from beneath the centerpiece of orange blossoms, dis- 
 closing dainty and inexpensive valentine souvenirs of 
 orange wood. Violet Shipley. 
 
 A Valentine from Wall-Paper 
 
 Some kinds of wall-paper have extremely pretty 
 designs in large, freely-drawn flowers of bright but 
 not coarse coloring. Cut from a floral design of this 
 kind a single spray or blossom so that the cut piece 
 has an irregular, graceful outline; find the duplicate 
 of this part of the design, and tie them together at 
 the top or the side with ribbon that harmonizes. 
 Paste within a photograph or a little verse of greet- 
 ing for St. Valentine's Day. 
 
 Carrie W. Edwards. 
 
MARCH MERRYMAKING 
 
 A Progressive Party for March 
 
 A GROUP of high school friends, a social club 
 of boys and girls, or a church society of young 
 people will enjoy giving a new kind of pro- 
 gressive party on March 1st or March 31st. 
 
 Send out invitations written on cards reading as 
 follows : 
 
 March is the month of all the year 
 When lamb and lion do appear, 
 When pussy willow comes anew 
 And March Hare scampers into view. 
 If you would meet these creatures four 
 And maybe several others more, 
 Then come prepared for work and play 
 To Grangers ^ hall, March first, the day. 
 
 On the invitation cards, tiny hares, lions, lambs, 
 or sprays of pussy willows can be outlined or traced 
 by means of carbon paper from pictures. 
 
 The guests upon arrival draw from a basket con- 
 taining tiny toy or cracker lions, lambs, rabbits and 
 cats, whichever kind of favor they wish. 
 
 According to the favor each one draws the guests 
 take their places respectively at the March Hare table, 
 the lion table, the lamb table, or the pussy willow 
 table. Each table is marked by a distinguishing cen- 
 terpiece; at the March Hare table is a plaster rabbit, 
 at the lion table a toy lion, the lamb table has a 
 woolly lamb on wheels, and the pussy willow table 
 a bunch of pussy willows or a stuffed cat. 
 20 
 
AND PARTIES 21 
 
 The fun is now ready to begin, for with the imple- 
 ments and materials provided at each table the guests 
 are required to produce a facsimile of the animal for 
 which the table is named. Different materials are 
 provided at each table, so there is no monotony as 
 the guests progress from table to table after half 
 an hour's stay at each one in turn. 
 
 ' Modeling clay is the medium in which the March 
 Hares are to be done, and no implements except fin- 
 gers are supposed to be used, though if a boy slyly 
 makes use of his jackknife there are no embarrassing 
 questions asked. 
 
 The lions are to be carved from potatoes with tho 
 aid of little kitchen vegetable knives, and the lambs 
 are to be fashioned from cotton wool, matches, and 
 mucilage. 
 
 At the pussy willow table the guests must show 
 how expert they can be at cutting cats, free hand, 
 from flannel. Beads for eyes, and floss and bristles 
 for whiskers, are also furnished. 
 
 Prizes are given for the best and the worst speci- 
 men at each table. 
 
 A rabbit's foot charm, a small reproduction of the 
 Barye lion, or the well-known Perry picture of a lion, 
 a Dresden-china lamb or shepherdess, and a pussy- 
 cat plate, pincushion or paper weight are suggestions 
 for first prizes, and four little tin horns painted 
 green may be given as booby prizes to the four 
 ** greenhorns'* who have the worst showing. 
 
 Emily Rose Burt. 
 
 A March Hare Easter Party 
 
 A party of children were delightfully entertained 
 by one of their number at a March Hare Easter 
 party. 
 
 The invitations were bits of cardboard, folded dou- 
 ble and cut in the shape of an old-fashioned silk hat, 
 such as the Hatter wears in the illustrations of Alice's 
 
22 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Adventures in Wonderland. The fold, coming at the 
 top of the hat, formed the hinge. A tiny sketch of 
 the Mad March Hare decorated one of the cover 
 pages and the expansive smile of the Cheshire Cat, 
 the other. When unfolded the following lines were 
 disclosed : 
 
 The Looking-Glass people delighted will "be 
 If you will consent to come and take tea 
 On March twenty-ninth — very soon after three — 
 With Alice, the Hatter, the March Hare and me. 
 
 Dorothy Blake. 
 
 The guests were received by the little hostess and 
 her small brother. Dorothy was gowned in a quaint 
 white frock with short puffed sleeves, full skirt, ruffled 
 pinafore with pockets, blue and white striped stock- 
 ings, blue sash; and with her hair brushed straight 
 back and bound with a blue ribbon she looked as 
 though she had just stepped out of one of the Lewis 
 Carroll books. Her brother *s collar and tie of mon- 
 strous size and his tall hat unmistakably proclaimed 
 him to be the Hatter. 
 
 Besides the usual childish games, a Caucus-race was 
 a feature of the party. This Caucus-race differed 
 somewhat from the one described by the Dodo in 
 *' Alice in Wonderland.'* A basket of small inex- 
 pensive toys with an Easter bunny mounting guard 
 was placed in a corner of the room, and the chil- 
 dren marched around the room in a circle to the 
 music of the piano. When the music stopped the 
 child nearest the basket selected a toy and dropped 
 out of the race. The other children again took up the 
 march, and this was repeated until each had a toy. 
 
 Just before going home the children joined in a 
 Humpty Dumpty hunt. A tiny basket was given to 
 each and these they filled with the Humpty Dumpties 
 (candy eggs) which were concealed about the rooms, 
 and carried home with them. Anna Nixon. 
 
THEEE NEW BIETHDAY 
 PAETIES 
 
 A Marine Birthday Supper 
 
 ONE of the girls in our bachelor girls' home 
 would soon have a birthday. She had been 
 sighing for a *' whiff of sea air/' being a 
 sea-lover, but it was not to be had. The artist smiled 
 meaningly, and when the ** Birthday" girl went out 
 for the evening, unfolded her plan; it was hailed 
 with delight and acted upon. The evening of the day, 
 as ^* Birthday'' entered her room she found a note 
 on the dressing-table requesting the pleasure of her 
 company at a '^Marine Supper," and she was to 
 dress accordingly. 
 
 Three of the girls came in to escort her to the liv- 
 ing-room. What a transformation had been effected ! 
 Across the ceiling, over the mantel, and in corners a 
 long piece of fish-net had been picturesquely draped. 
 From its meshes hung seaweed and moss. In other 
 meshes were cool-looking water views, and some of 
 these were also grouped on the walls. Through it all 
 ''Birthday" plainly sniffed the odor she was home- 
 sick for. 
 
 Out in the dining-room the conglomeration of clams, 
 seaweed and salt-water was perfect. In the center of 
 the dining-table was placed a mirror, its edge encir- 
 cled with pink-tinted seashells and seaweed. The 
 center of the glass reflected a little yacht with its 
 ''white wings" spread, tiny lanterns with red and 
 green lights swung from its masts, and corresponding 
 23 
 
24 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 lanterns of larger size depending from the fish-net 
 furnished all the light needed. Seaweeds trailed all 
 over the white cover, and large shells were utilized for 
 the relishes. 
 
 The supper commenced with clam bouillon. Then 
 followed other marine dainties — lobster salad served 
 on crisp lettuce leaves, baked clams on the half -shell, 
 crabs served whole, and oysters. The dessert was 
 Irish moss jelly, marshmallow cakes and a fruit 
 punch. 
 
 This delightful little surprise cost only three dollars 
 — for the supper menu. The picture-dealer of whom 
 tJae artist bought her supplies was glad to lend her 
 any number of views, merely framed in *'mats.'' 
 One of the girls had borrowed the piece of fish-net, 
 and at the fish-market quantities of seaweed could be 
 had for the asking. Another girl had a beautiful 
 collection of seashells, little lanterns and ship models 
 bequeathed her by an uncle who was a sea-captain. 
 T. Celestine Cummings. 
 
 An Overall Birthday Party 
 
 These invitations were written: 
 
 Dear Friend: 
 
 Thursday will be my seventh birthday, 
 And Mamraa says will you come and play 
 From three o'clock till half -past six 
 And help eat the 'freshments she will fix. 
 We'll play outdoors if the weather is fair, 
 So you needn't primp with very great care — 
 Your second-best suits and dresses will do. 
 And you'd better bring your overalls, too. 
 Your Httle friend, 
 
 Julia Brown. 
 
 Several tables were placed together, making one 
 long one to accommodate all the children. This was 
 draped in snowy linen and decorated with clusters 
 of green leaves. Delicious little home-made cakes iced 
 
AND PARTIES 25 
 
 white with red candied cherries in the middle, and 
 cherry ice cream served on old-fashioned blue dishes, 
 were the ^ ^ 'f reshments. ' ' A large home-made birth- 
 day cake, iced white, formed the centerpiece. A 
 wreath of cherries and leaves surrounded the base, 
 while seven red candles in green holders ornamented 
 the top. In the middle was a pile of brown sugar 
 representing a sand heap, surrounded by a crisscross 
 ■ ring of tiny spades made of red icing. On the top 
 was a funny doll in blue overalls and red three-cor- 
 nered cap. One hand apparently held a spade stick- 
 ing in the sand, the other the staff of a flag that 
 waved bravely overhead. At each place was a red, a 
 white or a blue cap similar to the doll's, but larger. 
 These the children put on when they came to the table 
 each arrayed in the required blue overalls. 
 
 From the table they went to the back yard, where 
 three large piles of sand, with seven little spades to 
 a pile, were in readiness. The children were formed 
 into companies of seven, the reds, the whites and the 
 blues, and at the tap of a drum marched to an allotted 
 sand-pile, where each seized a spade and tried to see 
 which company could make the handsomest fort in the 
 given time. The reds won, and had the honor of 
 carrying the flag and leading the way in the grand 
 triumphal march about the premises. 
 
 No prize was offered, but the children carried home 
 their caps and spades and a package of the birthday 
 cake. A mother who wished to add to this plan might 
 put a doll in overalls at each place, and offer as a 
 prize either a flag, a doll or a drum. 
 
 Mrs. J. E. Heinzerling. 
 
 An Old-Fashioned Birthday Surprise 
 
 A party made up of delightful surprises was an 
 old-fashioned one given by a bright, young girl in 
 honor of a friend's birthday. The guest of honor 
 understood that she was merely to call at the friend 's 
 
26 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 home for her to accompany her to spend the evenmg 
 at the home of another friend. The delusion was car- 
 ried, still further by the darkened house and silent 
 halls which met her. The lights flashed out, however; 
 and the guests appeared from all corners simul- 
 taneously. The party was an old-fashioned one; a 
 buffet supper was served and consisted of good, old- 
 fashioned edibles, the table being lighted by Colonial 
 candles shaded with pink papers and decorated with 
 pink roses. 
 
 The birthday cake occupied a pedestal in the cen- 
 ter of the table. It was iced in an old-fashioned 
 fancy design, and attached to it were twenty-four 
 ribbons to be held by the guests, all of whom pulled 
 at once to find the ring, the thimble, the dime, the 
 key and other souvenirs. 
 
 Quaint, old-fashioned candy shapes in white, with 
 all sorts of odd sentiments painted in red, were a 
 satisfactory mode of communication; paper poppers, 
 ABC books, etc., furnishing all sorts of fun. The 
 birthday gifts to the guest of honor were a wonderful 
 and mystifying collection of toys and trifles. Some 
 of the young men laid great coffee-pots of sweet- 
 meats at her feet, the handles tied with butterfly 
 bows of gay ribbons. 
 
 LiLLiE Martin. 
 
HOME PAETIES FOR 
 GEOWN-UPS 
 
 A Sampler Party 
 
 AS THE hostess on this occasion was a Colonial 
 Dame and her husband a member of the Cin- 
 cinnati she was the possessor of many household 
 treasures. Among others, she one day miearthed a 
 sampler worked by one of her grandmothers in 1806, 
 and the thought occurred to her to give it a one- 
 hundredth birthday party. Invitations with quaint 
 phraseology were sent out to about twenty friends, 
 ending with : 
 
 Come at four of the clock ; 
 Bring your sampler and its history; 
 Wear your granddam's clothes; 
 Stay to tea. 
 
 There was an immediate response, and a great rum- 
 maging of garrets and trunks ensued, for all decided 
 to wear whatever ^'grandmother'' garments they had 
 or could borrow. 
 
 The samplers were all dated, and ranged from 
 1730 to 1835. As the guests' names were drawn 
 from a hat each in turn occupied the center of the 
 floor, displaying and describing her costume, sampler 
 and other heirlooms. 
 
 At six o'clock an old-fashioned supper was served, 
 all the food having been cooked by recipes handed 
 down from olden times, the long tables being set with 
 old silver and china. Mrs. John B. Church. 
 
 27 
 
28 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 New Quotation Party 
 
 The first of the players announces a word, as, for 
 instance, ^Markness^'; the second must immediately 
 repeat a quotation containing the word given, such as : 
 
 * ' The darkness falls from the wings of night, 
 As a feather is wafted downward from an eagle in his 
 flight. ' ' 
 
 The next player must seize upon any word in this 
 quotation and announce it — as, for instance, ' ' eagle, ' ' 
 and simultaneously produce his own quotation, which 
 may be, perhaps, '^ ^What is that, mother?' 'An 
 eagle, boy?' '' The next takes the word ^^Boy," 
 for example, and proceeds with ** Little Boy Blue, 
 come blow your horn.*' 
 
 Any word may be chosen, and everything goes 
 — Byronic flights or Mother Goose verse. 
 
 The paying of forfeits as penalty for failure to 
 produce a quotation in turn gives the hostess ample 
 opportunity for bringing into prominence the talents 
 of her guests. For instance, on an evening when this 
 game is used, one penalty was the playing of an 
 exquisite violin sonata; another was a flne recitation, 
 etc. 
 
 A dainty book of poems may be given as a first 
 prize, and a waste-paper basket might insinuate to 
 the booby that heretofore, apparently, he had found 
 all literature fit only to throw away. 
 
 Anne Waller Cocke. 
 
 A Burnt-Wood Parly 
 
 Coal is scarce! 
 
 Come and burn wood at the home 
 
 of 
 
 Clara May Justice 
 
 254 Woodland Avenue 
 
 on January the ninth, nineteen hundred and fifteen 
 
AND PARTIES 29 
 
 On the morning designated I received this invita- 
 tion printed on a square piece of wood. My note of 
 acceptance was not so original as that of a young 
 man who sent a box in imitation of a lump of coal 
 filled with pieces of licorice, and had written on the 
 bottom of the box, ^^I will furnish my own fuel for 
 the ^burning* — expect me!" 
 
 After the guests had assembled our hostess an- 
 nounced that we must collect the wood before we 
 could burn it, and that we would find pieces of it 
 hidden in the room. Small pieces of wood had been 
 marked with numbers, and a few were burnt all over. 
 We were told that the number indicated the value of 
 the wood and the ones burnt were worth twenty plain 
 ones. The prize for the victor was a large burnt- 
 wood plaque. 
 
 Next our hostess produced a large breadboard and 
 a pyrography set. The board was placed on an easel 
 and we were told that she desired a composite picture 
 of *Hhe artistic efforts of those present." A sister 
 of the hostess began by burning a tree, and each one 
 was given a minute to burn his or her favorite ob- 
 ject. The board was kept by the hostess as a souve- 
 nir. A burnt-wood picture frame was given for the 
 best '^one-minute" sketch. 
 
 Our hostess next passed telegraph-blanks and en- 
 velopes with the word '' Pyrography " written at the 
 top of each blank. This word was to be the cipher 
 to our telegrams. After we had racked our brains 
 for our messages they were inclosed in the envelopes 
 and each addressed to the neighbor on the left. They 
 were then collected, delivered and signed for in a 
 book, which was afterward kept by our hostess as a 
 treasure of autographs of those who were present. 
 
 Each telegram was read, much to the amusement of 
 all; for example: 
 
 (a) Put your rubbers on, Grace! Eain at present 
 harms youngsters. 
 
30 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 (&) Please your real old girl right away! Propose! 
 Hurry yourself! 
 
 The last one won a burnt-wood calendar. 
 
 We were next invited to the dining-room, where a 
 flashlight picture was taken after we were seated at 
 table. The table was laid for twenty-two. A brown 
 vase in the center held a huge bunch of flaming red 
 carnations, while at each end, between the candle- 
 sticks covered with red shades, were large burnt bowls 
 filled with red apples and nuts. The dishes contain- 
 ing relishes, etc., were all of burnt wood, as were 
 also the large serving forks and spoons. At each 
 place a burnt clothespin held a red folded paper nap- 
 kin, and the plates were wooden, burnt in beautiful 
 floral designs, each different from the other. We 
 were served with cold sliced jellied chicken, dainty, 
 little odd-shaped sandwiches, tomato salad with may- 
 onnaise dressing, escalloped oysters, rolls, olives, dark 
 fruitcake, bonbons, coffee and cocoa. 
 
 After the refreshments had been partaken of, and 
 all the dishes had been removed, a tray was brought 
 in on which were tiny wooden cups and saucers. Our 
 hostess passed one to each of us, calling us by our 
 favorite nickname as she did so, and each one was 
 surprised to find it burnt on the side of the cup. 
 Mary Martha Campbell. 
 
 Novel Birthday Present for an Invdid 
 
 A young woman who had been identified in many 
 of the activities of life was laid upon a bed of suf- 
 fering and rendered almost helpless. 
 
 At the beginning of her sickness she was a member 
 of a choir, a missionary society, the Daughters of 
 the American Revolution, and a literary club of young 
 women who for several years had met weekly to 
 study Greek art and literature. The members of this 
 club, all busy women (nearly all breadwinners for 
 themselves and others), found time to read their club 
 
AND PARTIES 31 
 
 papers to the invalid, and took turns in reading to 
 her selections from the book they were studying. For 
 her last birthday they made a novel scrapbook. The 
 idea originated with one of the club members. They 
 selected rather stiff cardboard of different colors: 
 dark red, green, gray, brown, black or white, as best' 
 suited their purpose. This cardboard was bought 
 in sheets twenty by thirty inches, and each member 
 decorated one sheet on both sides according to her 
 own fancy. One member of the club being a good 
 photographer took the pictures of each member and 
 filled one of her pages with these photographs, which 
 she arranged to good advantage. This page especially 
 delighted the invalid. 
 
 A music-teacher decorated her two white pages with 
 beautiful musical pictures which are so easily ob- 
 tained. Above some of the pictures she wrote the 
 notes of a strain or two of an appropriate song. 
 
 A fellow-member of the Missionary Society made a 
 missionary page, using pictures of missionaries, scenes 
 from mission lands, and short articles about the work 
 that the sick girl loved. 
 
 A gray backgTound was selected as suitable for a 
 Greek page. On this were artistically arranged pic- 
 tures of the Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, temples 
 and scenes, with a quotation or two from the Iliad 
 or some of the Greek plays. 
 
 There was a Children's page, a Madonna page, a 
 Daughters of the American Revolution page, a 
 Christmas page and other appropriate pages. 
 
 There were twelve of these sheets, each having 
 both sides filled with pictures, interspersed with 
 poems, sketches, bright jokes and music. Two holes 
 were made in the top of each sheet, one inch from 
 the top edge and niae inches from the outer edge; 
 soft ribbon one inch wide was run through these 
 holes. This held all the sheets together. 
 
 Henrietta E. Story. 
 
WAYS THAT INSUEB GOOD 
 TIMES 
 
 THE hostess wlio was at her wit's end for a way 
 to decorate her luncheon table, as she could 
 not afford the expense of buying cut flowers, 
 turned to her window-box of geraniums for help. 
 The inspiration bore fruit, and six geranium plants 
 were soon grouped in the center of her party-table. 
 The pots were covered with green paper, and later, 
 from the woods she gathered enough wild grapevine 
 leaves to mass around the pots — close up to the bright- 
 hued flowers. The effect was charming. 
 
 A happy girl designed and made some linen card- 
 cases for souvenirs of the luncheon that was to be 
 given in honor of an October bride. The ends of 
 pieces of linen, each four inches by eleven in size, 
 were folded over towards each other, almost meeting 
 in the center. The edges — top and bottom — ^were 
 turned in and neatly stitched together; the two inside 
 edges were scalloped with buttonhole-stitch. Small 
 monograms were embroidered in the lower right-hand 
 comer in the front of the case, appropriate, of course, 
 for each of the invited guests. The cardcase for the 
 bride-elect was made of white linen, others of light 
 green, a few of blue, and one or two of tan color. 
 The guests were charmed with these dainty souvenirs, 
 which proved most acceptable for use all of the fol- 
 lowing summer. 
 
 It was a bright idea to make ribbon photograph- 
 folios for souvenirs of an autumn bride's party. 
 32 
 
AND PARTIES 33 
 
 Three-quarters of a yard of satin ribbon was used for 
 each souvenir — white ribbon for the bride and moss- 
 green ribbon for the guests. On the white ribbon 
 strip for the bride, at even spaces apart, snapshot 
 photographs of all the guests present were pasted, 
 and their four corners held firmly in place by trian- 
 gular-shaped pieces of green mounting cardboard. 
 On the folio for the guests, pictures of the bride and 
 hostess only were pasted and held in place by corner 
 pieces of gray cardboard. At the top of each rib- 
 bon the date of the luncheon and appropriate greet- 
 ing were lettered in gilt. White cord loops were 
 sewed on at one end, and buttons at the other. After 
 being creased between each two pictures the strips 
 were folded up and fastened. Much curiosity was 
 aroused among the guests as to the meaning of the 
 closed folios; they looked like small books. A name- 
 card was tied to each one with ribbon to match. 
 
 Any one can do this and help to make a picnic 
 luncheon appetizing: Remove the skin from ripe 
 tomatoes, make a hollow in the top of each tomato 
 by removing part of it, and wrap each tomato in a 
 large lettuce leaf or a cabbage leaf and pack closely 
 into a pan. In a separate dish carry salad dressing, 
 and just before serving fill the hollows in the toma- 
 toes with the salad dressing. 
 
 Don't be discouraged if you are not the owner of 
 glass or silver candlesticks with which to decorate 
 your party-table. One girl recently did this clever 
 thing. She purchased a dozen carrots as even and 
 regular in size as she could get them. Each one was 
 sliced off at the wide end to form a base, while a 
 hole large enough to hold a candle was hollowed out 
 of the top. When finished with a little green vine 
 twisted around each one they were extremely pretty 
 and decorative and gave the finishing touch to a table 
 trimmed with leaves and autumn fruits. 
 
CHILDREN'S MEREY FROLICS 
 
 The Dukes of Marlborough 
 
 JUDGING from its name this game must have 
 come to us originally from across the Atlantic. 
 Two children, a boy and a girl, if possible, are 
 chosen to represent the Dukes. The others stand in 
 a long line opposite them. The Dukes advance toward 
 them singing: 
 
 *'Here come two Dukes of Marlborough, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee. 
 Here comes two Dukes of Marlborough, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tee." 
 
 The line responds, singing: 
 
 ' ' What is your will with us, sirs. 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee? 
 What is your will with us, sirs, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tee?" 
 
 The Dukes: 
 
 ''Our wish is to be married. 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee. 
 Our wish is to be married, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tee." 
 
 The line: 
 
 ''Will any of us do, sirs. 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee?" etc. 
 
 The Dukes : 
 
 "You're all too black and brown, sirs. 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee," etc. 
 34 
 
AND PARTIES 35 
 
 The line: 
 
 ''We're good enough for you, sirs, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee, ' ' etc. 
 
 The Dukes: 
 
 "We'll take the fairest of you, 
 With a ransom, tansom, tismal, tee," etc. 
 
 The Dukes each choose a child from the line and then 
 advance again, singing: 
 
 ' ' Here come four Dukes of Marlborough, ' ' etc. 
 
 The verses are repeated again and again until all are 
 chosen or the game palls. 
 
 Elizabeth Robinson Scovil. 
 
 Peter in the Bramble-Bush 
 
 Two rows of children sit opposite each other, close 
 enough so that their toes can touch, and their out- 
 stretched legs are the ^'brambles." Place an empty 
 chair at the far end of the lin*, for this is "Peter's" 
 home, and a boy is chosen as ''Peter." Blindfold 
 * ' Peter, ' ' and then have alternate pairs stick out their 
 legs and make the ' ' brambles. " ' ' Peter, ' ' with hands 
 tied together, must leap over the ''brambles" and 
 reach his home in safety. As soon as "Peter" starts 
 on his homeward journey all "brambles" are silently 
 redrawn and the passage left free. To see "Peter" 
 trying to leap over the "brambles" which are not 
 there is very amusing. 
 
 Percy William Holt. 
 
 Birds in the Nest 
 
 In order to play "Birds in the Nest" three birds 
 must first be picked out. This is done by means of 
 a rhyme-and-mark arrangement. The mark is any 
 prominent object in the near baekgTOund. It may 
 be a door or window. Forming a circle, the children 
 
36 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 who are to play the game revolve slowly as they re- 
 peat the following verses. As the last word is spoken 
 they halt, and that child standing in line with the 
 mark, or most nearly so, is considered a *^bird.*' 
 This circling and rhyme are repeated three times: 
 
 ^'We make a nest all soft and round; 
 We build it up, we build it down; 
 No daintier shelter shall be found 
 Than this one for our birdies." 
 
 The last of the three having been selected, they 
 take their places inside the ring of children. They 
 are then in the ^^nest," and at once begin to struggle 
 .to get out. As the others brace themselves to with- 
 stand the attack they exclaim reprovingly ; 
 
 ''What, would you leave your cozy home? 
 Oh, naughty birds to wish to roam ! ' ' 
 
 Instead of restraining them this reproof seems only 
 to exasperate them, and they endeavor still harder 
 to free themselves. When they at last escape every 
 one else goes after them pell-mell. One set of 
 *' birds" having been caught, another is chosen, and 
 60 the game continues until there are not enough play- 
 ers left in the ring to make the fun enjoyable. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
 A Menagerie 
 
 Slips of paper, with numbers for answers, were 
 distributed and descriptions of animals native to the 
 State were read, and the children guessed the names 
 of the animals. A few of the descriptions given 
 were as follows: 
 
 I am a long, slender-bodied fellow with rich, brown 
 fur, and I live in the water. I am so quick in my 
 movements that I can dodge the shot from a gun if 
 I see the person shoot. I am very fond of fish. La- 
 dies have muffs and scarfs made of my fur. (Otter.) 
 
AND PARTIES 37 
 
 Negroes and dogs both like me so much that they 
 are conthaually hunting me. I am brown, with mule- 
 ears, short forelegs and long hindlegs. I can ever- 
 lastingly run up hill, but simply tumble all over 
 everything when I attempt to run down hill. Tur- 
 nips, potatoes and peach-tree bark give me a very 
 contented feeling. (Rabbit.) 
 
 My family name is Feline, but ordinary folks pro- 
 nounce it Cat. I am a distant relative of Tabby who 
 lives with you, and my home is in the woods. I 
 wear grayish clothes, and let my fingernails grow long. 
 Nothing pleases me better than to cry like a baby 
 in distress, for this helps me to find my prey, and 
 I pounce upon it fromj the branches of a trea 
 (Panther.) 
 
 Then came the making of the menageries by the 
 children. Grotesque human heads had been drawn 
 at the top of pieces of notepaper, and the paper had 
 been folded to hide the heads and show just the ends 
 of the necks, which were drawn to suggest different 
 animals. The children then drew bodies of animals 
 as fancy dictated, and the results were ludicrous in 
 the extreme. 
 
 When these drawings had been finished, and before 
 the *^ artists'' themselves had seen them, they were 
 hung on a string which was stretched across the room 
 and the crowd inspected the menagerie. 
 
 IVlRS. E. B. Mell. 
 
GAMES FOR THE PLAYaROUND 
 
 A Kitten Frolic 
 
 THE invitation notes, folded and placed in tiny 
 baskets, which go out in the name of the hos- 
 tess's mother, read like this: 
 
 Meow! 
 
 My three little kittens have lost their mittens and want 
 you to come and help hunt for them. Kitties Bob and 
 Janet and Margaret invite you to a party in their basket 
 on Thursday, at half -past three o'clock. They will do 
 their best to a-mews you. 
 
 The Kittens' Mother, 
 
 Mrs. Matthews. 
 The Basket, No. 231 Poplar Street. 
 Friday, May 3. 
 
 Real names must, of course, be inserted to fit the 
 occasion. These invitations may be carried to the 
 several houses by the children. 
 
 On the house door, the day the party is given, 
 hang a large basket containing one or two toy pus- 
 sies, letting the children tie it there just before the 
 hour named in the invitation. It will designate the 
 house with certainty and place the small guests. As 
 soon as all have arrived set the little ones hunting 
 the ^'lost mittens." A multitude of these articles 
 should have been got ready, cut out of different- 
 colored cloths, either in doll or in giant sizes. These 
 are to be strewn and hung about the grounds, in 
 sight, but partly concealed; and besides these there 
 should be a number of average-sized mittens carefully 
 38 
 
AND PARTIES 39 
 
 hidden. The little ones will at first rush for the ones 
 in sight, and will bring these to the * * kittens ' mother ' ' 
 to see if they are not the ones that are ''lost/' Only- 
 mittens that fit, however, count, so, after many fool- 
 ish attempts, the children will begin to show wisdom 
 in their hunting or will have gathered up all the 
 ''decoys" and will have begun to find the real mit- 
 tens. It will then be a matter of good fortune 
 whether they find any to fit, or nearly fit, their own 
 hands. The hostess will not be too strict in judging 
 this, of course, and as she examines each mitten will 
 slyly slip into it a simple candy, then drawing it on 
 again. In this way the reward will be sure to be 
 discovered, and will come as a delightful surprise. 
 
 When game-playing begins "Creepy Pussy" is 
 one that leaves no one out, and there should be 
 plenty of space for it. One of the little ones is 
 chosen "Pussy," and she heads and leads a proces- 
 sion of the others in a roundabout course through 
 the grounds. All who follow her constitute the 
 "tail." Slowly all move about in slightly-crouching 
 posture and with watchful eye, as if on a hunting 
 expedition, while "Pussy" constantly cries, "Pussy 
 wants to catch a mouse!" Each time she does this 
 the others chorus, ' ' Cree-e-py, creep Pussy ! ' ' Every 
 now and then, at her own whim, "Pussy" straight- 
 ens up and makes a dash at her "tail," seeking to 
 catch one of its members. They do not follow abso- 
 lutely close to her, so that there is a chance for 
 them to escape. When she jumps for them all the 
 children scatter and run, "Pussy" catching whom 
 she can. As suits the players, the children caught 
 at the various dashes can stand aside and wait until 
 all are captured, at the end the first victim becoming 
 "Puss." 
 
 The table, which may be outdoors if the day is 
 fine, should play an important part in the entertain- 
 ment, in its decoration at least. Fold the napkins 
 
40 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 and pin them in the mouths of small, stuffed, black, 
 furry kittens, standing one of these at each plate. For 
 a centerpiece a large cat with some kittens on her back 
 would please. 
 
 Encircle it at a little distance with a wreath of 
 green, and dot this with small bisque dogs all facing 
 the cat. Less expensive would be pussy-willow dec- 
 orations. Any child would like to find a ^^ Grimal- 
 kin'^ on a bread-and-butter plate at his or her place 
 at the table. These may be gingerbread cakes marked 
 with a cat's face in colored frostings. The mouth is 
 made of red, outlined with white, and with long, 
 white mustaches added. White is also used to make 
 the nose, and the eyes are irresistible when done with 
 the pupil of chocolate on a white ball, with half the 
 pupil covered with a small light-green bonbon. 
 
 The Organ-Grinder's Monkeys 
 
 All the little players are ''monkeys" with the ex- 
 ception of the ''Grinder." Going to each one the 
 "Grinder" asks it what its special trick is. One, 
 perhaps, can make a bow and doff his cap, while 
 another knows how to hold his cap and catch pen- 
 nies. Each has an accomplishment which the 
 "Grinder" finds so valuable to him that he decides 
 to take all the "monkeys" with him on his travels. 
 
 It is his intention to make use of several among 
 them to amuse the various crowds that he draws 
 about him, but as he tries each one he finds that it 
 does not perform its part well. As he calls each out 
 he becomes enraged with it, and cries: "You're a 
 bad beast! I'll shut you in my cellar!" And he 
 at once claps them into it by leading them to a 
 spot set apart as the cellar. The "monkeys" must 
 not move from that place until the last one is 
 brought there, when all run away. The "Grinder" 
 follows until he has caught one to take his place. 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
VACATION GAMES FOR 
 CHILDREN 
 
 The Russian Game "Gorelki'* 
 
 THE Russian games are mostly of the strenuous 
 order, for the sake of the health-promoting 
 exercise; the girls take part on perfect equality 
 with the boys. One game that is usually played upon 
 the lawn is called ^^Gorelki" (Burning). The chil- 
 dren are arranged in couples, number unlimited, and 
 not restricted in arrangement as to sex, two boys 
 pairing off, or two girls, or one of each kind, ac- 
 cording to convenience. Then they march in pro- 
 cession behind a single leader in the capacity known 
 in this country as * ^ It. ' ' Suddenly the leading couple, 
 who are directly behind this leader, cry out: 
 
 * ^ Gori, gori yasno ! 
 Shtobj mie pogasto; 
 Glian na niebo — 
 Ptehka letit." 
 
 ("Burn, burn brightly! 
 
 So the fire does not go out; 
 
 Look at the sky — 
 
 A bird is flying,") 
 
 At this the leader looks upward, and the couple 
 seize the opportunity to part and run, one on each 
 side of him, making a rush for the front. If they 
 can do this, and clasp hands again in front of him, 
 before he can grasp one of them, which he tries his 
 41 
 
42 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 best to do, they can then go to the bottom of the 
 liiie and continue to march, while the next couple try 
 the same thing. But if the leader catch one of them 
 before they have clasped hands the captive must be 
 **It,'' and yield his partner to his captor, when the 
 new pair thus made take their place at the foot of 
 the line, which keeps marching all the time. Some- 
 times they cover considerable space before all the 
 couples have had an opportunity to run. 
 
 Margaret Sullivan Burke. 
 
 The Canadian Game "C'est Ouvert'' 
 
 Besides games which French-Canadian children 
 share with us, there are many never seen except in 
 Canada. One of the liveliest is *'C'est Ouverf (It 
 is Open). The children playing, of whom there must 
 be an even number, are divided into two groups, each 
 having a leader. One leader throws a stick to the 
 other, who catches it in his right hand. Then the 
 two leaders alternately place a hand on the stick, 
 one above the other, till the top is reached. He 
 whose hand comes out on top takes the stick and 
 twirls it, holding it by the tip, three times around 
 his head. If he drops it the other side wins; if not, 
 his side hides first while the others cover their eyes. 
 After hiding his party he returns, and those who have 
 been blindfolded set out to find them. There are three 
 signals by which the leader may warn his foUowei^ 
 how to escape detection: ^^ Citron'' (lemon) sig- 
 nifies *'Go back"; '' Papier" (paper) signifies 
 ^^Keep quiet"; ''Potacks porrits" (rotten potatoes) 
 means ''Come out a little." Of course, a clever 
 leader uses the signals not only to warn his own side 
 but also to mystify his opponents. When at last the 
 other side is far enough from the goal he suddenly 
 shouts, ''C'est ouvert! C'est ouvert! C'est ouvert!" 
 At that every child in the game rushes like mad for 
 the goal; there is wild confusion of arms and legs 
 
AND PARTIES 43 
 
 and a Babel of voices. The side which first reaches 
 the goal hides the second time, and so the game goes 
 on. Ellen Paine Huling. 
 
 A Fourth-of-JuIy Frolic 
 
 The invitations were rolled tightly and put into a 
 tube made of red paper, having a cord in one end 
 in imitation of firecrackers. The first game played 
 was similar to the game ^'Nine Pins,'' nine *' fire- 
 crackers" having been cut from broom-handles and 
 painted red, with white ends, surmounted by a piece 
 of starched cord glued to each. The ** crackers'' 
 were arranged at one end of the room, and from 
 the opposite end each player rolled a large rubber 
 ball, aiming to knock down the ** firecrackers. " Each 
 player rolled once, and when all had had a turn they 
 started it again until every one had had three turns. 
 After each play the contestant was given a star for 
 each *^ firecracker" knocked over, and when the game 
 was over the child whose card showed the largest num- 
 ber of stars was awarded a small prize; a consolation 
 prize was also given. The stars were cut with a 
 punch from red paper, one side of which had been 
 brushed with the white of an egg. 
 
 Luncheon was served on the lawn, in a tent dec- 
 orated with bunting. The tablecloth was white, the 
 napkins were cut from blue tissue-paper. The cen- 
 terpiece was unique. By means of rather fine wire 
 the hostess had constructed the frame of a fort, and 
 had covered it with brown paper; with charcoal she 
 had outlined open portholes with jagged edges to 
 give them a battered appearance. Inside the fort 
 were small gifts, suggestive of the day, each wrapped 
 in red, white and blue paper and tied with ribbon 
 which was drawn through the portholes and ex- 
 tended to each white place-card. As the hostess 
 fired a toy pistol the ribbons were pulled and the 
 fort was blown up. The toys were kept as favors. 
 
44 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 The menu, as far as possible, was given a touch 
 of red, white and blue. 
 
 For an hour after dark the children were enter- 
 tained with a fine disjilay of fireworks. 
 
 Mrs. E. W. GoDrREY. 
 
 Sand Clock 
 
 On pleasant days the children played ^'Sand 
 Clock.'' As it calls for considerable running it was 
 not proposed until late in the afternoon, when the 
 warmest part of the day was over. Then a large 
 clock-face was marked out on the damp beach, and 
 thirteen children took part in the frolic. One was 
 chosen ^^ Striker,'' and she counted out the others 
 by repeating ^'Tick! Tock!" touching one at a time 
 as she spoke. All the '^Ticks'' represented the odd 
 numbers on the clock's face, and the ^^Tocks" the 
 even ones. Beginning with number one all the 
 ^'Ticks'' took their places in the order in which they, 
 had been counted out, standing just outside the clock 
 circle at the figures three, five, seven, nine and eleven ; 
 while the ^^Tocks" followed their example, begin- 
 ning, however, with the figure two. At a signal from 
 the *' Striker" each child faced about and took as 
 many steps away from the clock circle as she repre- 
 sented hours, whether it were one, five, or twelve. 
 When all stood in position there came a general out- 
 cry of '^What time does the sand clock say*?" 
 
 At this the ^'Striker," who had been skipping in 
 and out among them, suddenly slapped a player on 
 the back, and then ran around the clock as fast as 
 possible, with the child that had been struck hard 
 after her. The latter tried her best to catch the 
 ^'Striker," while that one strove equally hard to 
 reach the other child's position uncaught. She suc- 
 ceeded in doing this, although she had first to run 
 up to the figure on the clock to which the position 
 corresponded and there ^Hell the hour" by saying 
 
AND PARTIES 45 
 
 ' ^ Ding-dong !' ' before she could go to her goal. The 
 chaser having lost her position on the clock's face 
 in this way became ^'Striker/' and a new round of 
 the game was begun. 
 
 Hillocks 
 
 This game became almost as popular with the chil- 
 . dren during the summer as golf was with their gTown 
 friends. Everywhere in front of the cottages, until 
 the tide came up, the moist beach could be seen seem- 
 ingly laid out in a design of nine cones of sand. 
 They were really mounds or hillocks with cone-shaped 
 tops, and a broad, shallow ditch around their bases. 
 The children built them without any regularity of 
 position when making up a game, all that was neces-. 
 sary being that there should be nine of them and that 
 they should be at least a couple of yards apart. The 
 tops of the cones they flattened jjist enough to pro- 
 vide a resting place for a golf ball. Then they num- 
 bered the hillocks, and, having on hand a quantity of 
 small rattan hoops that they had spliced together 
 themselves, were ready to begin the game. One hoop 
 was all a player needed, and as many as chose could 
 enter a contest, each trying to be first to knock off 
 the balls from the nine hillocks with the hoops. One 
 at a time a child would begin at the first hillock, and, 
 tossing the hoop with such a skimming motion as one 
 uses in skipping pebbles over the water, would try 
 to strike the ball from the cone. Three trials were 
 allowed. When a player succeeded she moved to the 
 next hillock and awaited her turn again. If a hoop 
 slipped down over a cone, but did not knock off the 
 ball, the player lost her remaining chances for that 
 turn. If a hoop fell into the ditch then the player 
 moved back a hillock, unless she were playing at the 
 first cone, when she would merely forfeit the rest 
 of her chances. 
 
 There is a peculiar turn of the wrist in tossing 
 
46 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 the hoop that has everything to do with the success 
 of the game, and the fact that it takes practice to 
 acquire it undoubtedly adds zest to the sport. 
 
 The Innocents Abroad 
 
 A ** Courier" and a '* Chaperon'' accompany the 
 '^Innocents Aboard," and the number of ^^Inno- 
 cents" may be unlimited: the more children taking 
 part the merrier. 
 
 Very properly the *^ Conductor" starts the others 
 on their travels, supplying each with a letter of the 
 alphabet, marked on a slip of paper large and dis- 
 tinctly. Then he unexpectedly pounces upon some 
 member of his party and asks, ** Where are you 
 going?" The child called upon must give the name 
 of some country commencing with the letter he holds 
 in his hand, and must answer immediately. The 
 ^^ Courier" then rapidly asks four other questions, 
 which must be as quickly answered. If any one of 
 them is not answered at once by the player addressed 
 the chance is that the ** Chaperon" will answer it 
 for him and he must then take her place. It is the 
 *^ Chaperon's" sole effort to correct or ^'trip" a 
 player, for this alone frees her from her position. 
 She is enabled to answer the question because the 
 player addressed holds up to view the letter in his 
 hand as soon as he is spoken to. The '* Courier" is 
 not released until he has asked a question that neither 
 the player nor the ''Chaperon" can answer in time. 
 If, however, he does not succeed in doing this for a 
 very long time he should be replaced by a volunteer. 
 
 The game should move briskly; the questions should 
 be constantly varied in subject as well as in the order 
 of asking; and the ''Courier" should skip about 
 from one to the other, not addressing the players in 
 order. Many of the answers will be given so quickly 
 as to be absurd, but this will only help on the fun. 
 
 G. C. Moore. 
 
AND PARTIES 47 
 
 Three Sand Plays 
 
 The Game of Lobster Pot. — ^When it was a rol- 
 licking good time without any trouble that was wanted 
 some one would cry, ** Let's play Lobster Pot or 
 Fiddler Crab." The more players there were the 
 better the children liked it. 
 
 A third of the group would decide to be Lobsters 
 when the first-mentioned game was chosen, and the 
 others would form themselves into a long chain of 
 Fishermen. Wide bounds were then decided upon, 
 where the Lobsters could run about at will, and where 
 the line of Fishermen could seek to corner them and 
 close up about them, one at a time. Whenever they 
 succeeded in encircling a Lobster that child joined 
 the chain, and so the game went on until the last 
 had been captured. Then all the Lobsters dropped 
 out of the line, which closed up about them in a cir- 
 cle. This was the ** Lobster Pot,'' and then followed 
 a hard struggle until a fortunate Lobster succeeded 
 in breaking through. This freed all the others and 
 ended that turn of the game. 
 
 Fiddler Crab. — The child that was chosen to be 
 Fiddler Crab seated himself on the sand, drew up his 
 knees and dropped his head on them as if asleep. 
 Then the other children made a circle about him, 
 and, dancing around him, chanted: 
 
 ''Fiddler Crab, Fiddler Crab, 
 Crusty, cross old fellow! 
 Wake up and get your work done, 
 
 Or we'll beat you black and yellow." 
 
 As they flung this taunting threat at the Crab the 
 dancers kicked their feet out toward him, and he, 
 slyly watching his chance out of the comers of his 
 eyes, suddenly lifted his head and reached quickly 
 for an ankle or foot, and, if successful, fastened his 
 grip as tenaciously as any real crab would do. The 
 
48 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 circle tried to prevent this by drawing away on the 
 side toward which he was reaching, and by springing 
 back on the other side when he unexpectedly reached 
 out. As soon as he caught any one that player and 
 he changed places. 
 
 Sand Ball. — Among the boys this game proved a 
 great favorite, and the girls sometimes played it, too. 
 It is a game for seven players. Four of the children 
 indicated a rectangular field on the beach by seating 
 themselves at its four corners, and facing each other 
 diagonally. Another player seated himself in the 
 center, facing one of the comer sitters. At the ends 
 of the field two others stood, to catch the ball if it 
 strayed. It was a baseball, and the sitter at the right 
 of the center boy started the play by tossing it to 
 the sitter diagonally opposite him. Meantime the 
 center boy tried with a tennis-racquet to bat the ball 
 to the sitter directly in front of him. Five chances 
 were his, and if he lost all of them then the player on 
 his right changed positions with him. When he suc- 
 ceeded in striking it the ball usually went out of 
 bounds and had to be rescued by one of the end boys. 
 It then belonged to them to use, and they rolled it 
 back and forth to one another, directly across the 
 parallelogram in front of the center boy. This player 
 tried to catch it with his hands as it passed, having 
 the same number of tries as before. In catching the 
 ball he had to be careful not to withdraw his feet 
 from a stone that marked the center of the field. If 
 he missed all his turns the player on his right took 
 his place, as he would have done had the center lost 
 his former opportunities. When, however, he suc- 
 ceeded he had another five chances, this time facing 
 about toward the other diagonal sitters, whose turn 
 it then was to pitch the ball. 
 
 When the end boys were so fortunate as to put out 
 two center boys they took the places of those they 
 had just vanquished. 
 
AND PARTIES 49 
 
 It was only while the first center boy was on his 
 position that the player on his right succeeded to 
 his place. Afterward the successors followed around 
 the square, every center miss being followed by the 
 substitution of the unlucky one by a boy from that 
 comer next in order to serve. 
 
 Sometimes idle moments were whiled away by 
 guessing how far up a wave would come, the best 
 guesser crowing loudly over the others. 
 
 Then, ^^just for fun,'' the children would write 
 out a longed-for wish, inclose it in a tin box and bury 
 it in the sand where the tide would rise over it at 
 night. Early the next morning they would be out 
 to search for their boxes, and if they found them 
 felt sure that their desires would come true. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
 Child's Botanical Outing 
 
 ''Now, children," I said when we reached the pic- 
 nic grounds, *'I want each one of you to search this 
 bluff and the surrounding fields and pick a sample 
 of every flower you can find. In half an hour I 
 shall call you, and the two who have the largest col- 
 lections will receive prizes." 
 
 Immediately there was a rush and a scattering in 
 every direction, and until time was called the woods 
 and fields rang with their eager cries. 
 
 When I called them in and examined their collec- 
 tions one boy had found twenty-six different varie- 
 ties of flowers, and the girl who came second had 
 twenty-six. 
 
 With the help of a botanical handbook we found 
 their names, after which I placed them in the books 
 between sheets of blotting-paper. 
 
 For the first prize I gave a copy of ' ' How to Know 
 the Wild Flowers," and for the second, a small 
 magnifying glass. 
 
50 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 The flowers when pressed were neatly mounted with 
 their names, and are still a source of great pleasure 
 to the children. William E. Grant. 
 
 A Juvenile State Ball 
 
 A clever hostess invited a party of children to a 
 State Ball on the evening of the Fourth of July. 
 The mothers were requested to come in Colonial cos- 
 tume and each was requested to dress her child to rep- 
 resent one of the States. 
 
 On the eventful evening the lawn was illuminated 
 with red, white and blue lanterns, while the interior 
 of the house was gayly decorated with red, white and 
 blue bunting. 
 
 The hostess herself was dressed as Columbia, in 
 red and white skirts and a blue bodice trimmed with 
 stars. The host impersonated ,Uncle Sam. 
 
 When the children gathered they presented a pretty 
 sight. Florida was trimmed with imitation orange 
 blossoms and leaves ; Kentucky with gilt horseshoes and 
 imitation blue gi^ass. Kansas wore a little gown 
 trimmed with strung grains of red, white and pur- 
 plish-blue corn. Maine was decorated with pine- 
 cones and imitation pine-needles; Iowa with wheat- 
 heads. California was enriched with gold ornaments, 
 and Mississippi wore a trimming of Southern moss. 
 The little girls had their hair powdered and arranged 
 high on their little heads. 
 
 Music had been provided and floated out from be- 
 hind the trees. The tables were set out under the 
 branches and draped with the National colors and 
 lighted by red, white and blue lanterns. The re- 
 freshments were very light, consisting of angel and 
 strawberry cake, and strawberry and raspberry ice 
 cream. 
 
 Patriotic airs, ^^ Yankee Doodle,'^ ^* Dixie,'' etc., 
 were played, and later there was dance music to which 
 the children danced on the lawn. Clara Lehrke. 
 
AND PARTIES 51 
 
 For a Midsummer Day 
 
 When the children are off for a day's pleasure dur- 
 ing their summer holidays, suggest to them that they 
 spend part of their day in gathering wild flowers and 
 making bouquets for any sick children whom they 
 may know, or any children who, for any reason, have 
 not been able to go with them. Then during the heat 
 of the afternoon let some one who happens to have 
 a lead-pencil and some paper get the children to dic- 
 tate some little personal messages to go with the 
 bouquets. The children, if encouraged to spend part 
 of their holiday in thinking about and planning for 
 others, will remember the day as one of the happiest 
 in their lives, for upon it they will have learned the 
 lesson that *Ho give is more blessed than to receive.'' 
 
 Jane Benson. 
 
 July Military Bubble Party 
 
 The invitations sent out for this Fourth of July 
 had daintily-sketched soap-bubble pipes and flags in 
 the comer, giving an artistic touch to the little cards. 
 
 The house and porch were gayly decorated with 
 flags of all countries. There were three tables placed 
 conveniently about the grounds, each table represent- 
 ing some country, with a glass jar in the center filled 
 with sand, flaunting the flag of the chosen country. 
 There was also a bowl of sparkling soapsuds on each 
 table. Each child was given a clay pipe gayly dec- 
 orated with ribbons in the Fourth's own colors, red, 
 white and blue. Three '* blowers" bearing flags of 
 one country would be sent to fight those of another. 
 If they won they planted their flags and stayed there 
 to defend the country ; otherwise, they fled to another 
 country to try their powers. America, England and 
 Germany were the Powers, represented. 
 
 At the first table the fight was to blow the biggest 
 bubble, the countries represented blowing in turns. 
 
52 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Then at the second table each country tried to see 
 who could throw the most bubbles from a pipe dipped 
 only once in the suds. 
 
 At the third table each country fought to lodge 
 the bubble on the flag in the center of the table. 
 
 A drum was used instead of a bell to make the 
 progressions. 
 
 America won, and her representatives received little 
 drums filled with candy, with a tiny American flag 
 stuck in each. 
 
 The little supper that followed, in deference to the 
 day had its decorations all of a patriotic nature. On 
 the white cloth were strips of red, white and blue 
 bunting, which extended the length of the table. In 
 the center was a bowl appropriately filled with red 
 clover, white daisies and blue bachelor-buttons. At 
 the left of each plate stood a huge giant cracker, 
 with a bunch of firecrackers tied on one side with 
 blue and white ribbon ; the cracker was filled half-way 
 with bonbons, and a paper napkin with flag ornaments 
 was stuck in it. As far as possible the dishes were 
 all in red, white and blue. Red, white and blue rib- 
 bons were used to tie the sandwiches. The cream was 
 in little red, white and blue drums, with a little sol- 
 dier with tiny drumsticks tied to one side, and with 
 the cream novel little firecracker cakes were served, 
 which were made in this manner: A thin sponge- 
 cake was cut while hot into pieces about six by four 
 inches, the sides were pinched together forming big 
 firecracker shapes; these were covered with an icing 
 tinted a deep pink, and for fuses, twine two inches 
 in length was coated with the icing and placed in 
 each cracker. 
 
 It might be well to add that a tablespoonful of 
 glycerine and half a teaspoonful of sugar were added 
 to the bowls of soapy water, which gave size, beauty 
 and durability to the bubbles. Lillie Martin. 
 
OLD GAMES THAT CHILDREN 
 LOVE BEST 
 
 THE simple games that have amused countless 
 children in past generations have dropped out 
 of use in modem days, and it is high time they 
 were revived. Mothers will be glad to be reminded of 
 games they have forgotten. 
 
 Entertainments, even for the very little ones, have 
 become so elaborate that the idea of showing them 
 how to amuse themselves is lost sight of. If they 
 will kindly be interested in a musical top, a sym- 
 metroscope, a kinematograph or a graphophone the 
 hostess congratulates herself, and the one whose turn 
 it is to entertain them next racks her brain to find 
 some novelty. 
 
 Healthy, normal children like a good romp, and 
 find pleasure in games that to the grown-up mind 
 seem simple to the verge of inanity. 
 
 The following may all be played with enjoyment 
 by children from five to ten years old, and the first 
 by those even younger: 
 
 The Gooseberry Bush 
 
 The children join hands and dance around in a 
 ring singing: 
 
 '^Here we go round the gooseberry bush, 
 The gooseberry bush, the gooseberry bush, 
 Here we go round the gooseberry bush, 
 So early in the morning.** 
 
 They stop and the leader sings, all singing with her 
 53 
 
54 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 and imitating her action as she rubs her face with 
 
 her hands: 
 
 "This is the way I wash my face, 
 I wash my face, I wash my face, 
 This is the way I wash my face, 
 So early in the morning. ' ' 
 
 Joining hands again they dance as before, singing: 
 '^Here we go round the gooseberry bush,'' etc. At 
 the next stop the leader sings: ^'This is the way I 
 brush my hair,'' repeating as in the first verse. 
 
 After the next dance she sings: '^This is the way 
 I wash my clothes," etc.; then: ^'This is the way I 
 iron my clothes," etc., illustrating with appropriate 
 action of rubbing and smoothing, all the children 
 joining. 
 
 After the next refrain she sings, taking a few slow 
 steps and dragging her feet: '^This is the way I go 
 to school," etc. Then jumping joyously with smiling 
 face: '^This is the way I come from school," etc. 
 
 The refrain, ^^Here we go round the gooseberry 
 bush," and a merry dance end the game. 
 
 Fox and Goose 
 
 This game is simplicity itself, yet it provokes 
 shouts of merriment from the players. 
 
 Two of the taller members of the party are chosen 
 as Fox and Goose. Mother Goose gathers her flock 
 in a long string behind her. The Fox stands facing 
 her, trying to dive under her outstretched arms and 
 capture the last of her train. If he succeeds the 
 victim is put out of the game, which lasts until all 
 the Geese are caught by the Fox, or a time limit may 
 be imposed by the hostess. 
 
 Little Sally Waters 
 
 Two cushions are placed on the floor and the chil- 
 dren form a ring around them, holding each other's 
 
AND PARTIES 55 
 
 hands. One child sits in the middle pretending to 
 cry, representing the weeping Sally. The children 
 dance around her singing: 
 
 ''Little Sally Waters sitting in the sun, 
 
 Crying because her mother hasn't come; 
 
 Else up, Sally, dry up your tears. 
 
 Turn to the East and turn to the West, 
 
 And turn to the one that you love best." 
 
 Sally rises, wipes her eyes and walks slowly around 
 the ring until she reaches the companion she intends 
 to honor, when she takes her by the hand and leads 
 her to the cushion prepared for her. Both seat them- 
 selves and the children dance around them singing: 
 
 ''Oh, Sister Phoebe, how happy were we 
 The day we sat under the juniper tree. 
 Put on your cap to keep your head warm, 
 And two or three kisses will do us no harm." 
 
 The two in the middle exchange kisses, the first 
 child rises, takes her place in the ring, and the game 
 is repeated until all have been chosen. 
 
 My Lady's Toilette 
 
 The children are seated about the room. One of 
 the older ones stands in the middle of the floor with 
 a plate, a tin pie-dish or a wooden bread-platter in 
 her hands. Each child takes the name of some article 
 required in a lady's toilette, such as hairpin, brush, 
 mirror, scent-bottle, etc. The leader spins the platter, 
 at the same time calling the name of one of the arti- 
 cles. The child who has chosen that article must 
 spring and catch the platter before it falls. If she 
 fails she must pay a forfeit. 
 
 Redeeming the forfeits is a game in itself. 
 
 Oranges and Lemons 
 
 Two of the taller children stand facing one another, 
 the right hand of each clasped in the left hand of the 
 
56 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 other. They decide secretly which will be oranges 
 and which lemons. The remaining children form a 
 long line, as in Fox and Goose, and march toward 
 them. When the foremost child reaches them all in 
 the line sing: 
 
 ''Open the gates as high as the sky, 
 And let King George's men go by." 
 
 The two with clasped hands raise them as high as 
 possible to form an arch, and let the line pass under. 
 As the last child is going through, the hands are 
 dropped on each side of her to hold her prisoner, 
 and one of the leaders asks her in a whisper which 
 she will have, oranges or lemons. She replies, also 
 in a whisper, and goes behind the leader who bears 
 the name of the fruit she has chosen. When the 
 choice is made the line again approaches singing, and 
 question and answer are repeated until all have 
 chosen. Each child then puts her arms around the 
 waist of the child in front of her and the two lines 
 pull, as in tug-of-war, until the clasped hands of the 
 leaders separate and the children are breathless with 
 laughter. 
 
 Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow 
 
 This is a very old game, and is especially popular 
 among the children who live in the country and to 
 whom grain is something more than a mere name. 
 Two children join hands and dance around and 
 around, singing: 
 
 ''You, nor I, nor nobody knows 
 How oats, peas, beans or barley grows." 
 
 Imitating with the right hand the motion of sowing 
 seed they sing: 
 
 "Thus the farmer sows his seed," 
 (then, standing at ease), 
 
 "Thus he stands and takes his ease; 
 Stamps his foot and claps his hand," 
 
AND PARTIES 57 
 
 (suiting the action to the word), 
 
 "And round he goes to view his land." 
 
 (twirling rapidly around), 
 
 "Waiting for a partner, waiting for a partner. 
 Open the ring and take one in, 
 And kiss her when you get her in." 
 
 Each chooses a child from the company, and then 
 all sing the first verse again, repeating the lines until 
 all have been chosen. 
 Another old favorite is : 
 
 I Sent a Letter to Mj Lore 
 
 The children form a ring, leaving out one to send 
 the letter. She folds a pocket-handkerchief in oblong 
 shape to suggest an envelope and walks around the 
 inside of the ring, singing: 
 
 "1 sent a letter to my love; 
 I lost it, I found it." 
 
 (holding it first behind and then before her), 
 "I sent a letter to my love; 
 Oh, what is this around it ? " 
 
 She looks doubtfully at the packet in her hand, 
 then around the circle, and sings: 
 
 "Who will take my letter, my letter, my letter, 
 Who will take my letter to my love from me?" 
 
 Having chosen a boy she approaches him, singing: 
 "You will take my letter to my love from me." 
 
 At the same moment she drops the handkerchief at 
 his feet, and springs across to the other side of the 
 ring: the child who received the handkerchief runs 
 and breaks through the ring after her. If he can 
 tap her with the handkerchief before she gets back 
 to his place, she must send the letter again; if not 
 the new holder sends it, and so on until all have 
 had it. 
 
58 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Hunt the Squirrel 
 
 The children stand in line, the squirrel at one end, 
 the hunter at the other; all sing: 
 
 ''Father, hunt the squirrel, the squirrel, the squirrel. 
 Father, hunt the squirrel round the hickory tree; 
 Up the hickory, down the hickory, round the hickory 
 tree. ' ' 
 
 The squirrel sings: 
 ''Father, hunt the squirrel, the squirrel, the squirrel. 
 If you'd catch the squirrel you must climb the tree.** 
 
 As he finishes he runs up the line behind the chil- 
 dren; the hunter^ starting from his place, runs down 
 the line in front of the children, hoping by his su- 
 perior speed to be able to overtake the squirrel. If 
 he cannot do this after he has followed him around 
 the line twice he may double back, the squirrel, of 
 course, being allowed to double also, until he catches 
 him. They then take their places in the middle of 
 the line, the child at the head becoming the hunter 
 and at the foot the squirrel, until all have been one 
 or the other. 
 
 Post Town 
 
 This is an interesting game for children of nine 
 or ten who know something of geography and are 
 familiar with the names of places. One is chosen 
 postmaster. Each child takes the name of any town 
 she prefers. If there are too many for the post- 
 master to remember he writes down the names and 
 holds the list in his hand. He then calls out, ^'I 
 am going to send a letter from Richmond to Boston, ' ' 
 for instance; the children hearing the names of the 
 towns mentioned exchange seats. If they fail to do 
 so the one who does not respond pays a forfeit. 
 
 When he cries, *^ General post!" all change places; 
 if any does not secure a seat she must pay a forfeit, 
 to be redeemed when the game is over. 
 
 Elizabeth Robinson Scovil. 
 
GAMES FOR LITTLE GIELS 
 
 The Game of French Coiffeur 
 
 A COMPANY of girls twelve and fom-teen years 
 old spent a merry evening playing ^'French 
 Coiffeur," which created much fun. To play 
 it some preparation was needed. A corner of a pil- 
 low-case was first stuffed with cotton and rags until 
 it was as round and as much like a head as possible. 
 Then one side was flattened, and a face made on it 
 with colored chalk. This head was fastened to the 
 corner of a sofa-pillow and set up in a chair. Bunches 
 of raffia in shades of straw, tan, brown and red were 
 tied up separately, and there was a bunch for every 
 player. 
 
 On beginning the game the raffia was piled up on 
 the table, and each girl selected a bunch, making 
 of it some hair formation : a bang, frizzes, knot for 
 the back of the head, a parted piece or any other 
 thing of this kind that she was ingenious enough to 
 construct. This finished, a long pin was stuck into 
 it. Properly blindfolded, each girl was then guided 
 to the head, reached out and pinned her hair piece to 
 the first spot on the head that she touched, trying to 
 locate it in the proper position. Not only the absurd 
 places in which the hair was pinned, but also the 
 strange combination of colors, proved most laughable. 
 A prize was given for the one that was most nearly 
 in place. 
 
 This will be recognized as an adaptation of the 
 ' ' Pinning the tail on the donkey ' ' game. 
 59 
 
60 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 How Will You Make Your Bed? 
 
 The players sat on the floor in a horseshoe group. 
 The leader was at one prong of the shoe, and it was 
 her duty to ask each person in turn the question, 
 ^^HJow do you make your bed*?'* The girl opposite 
 the leader began. The floor was, of course, well 
 cleared, and at the end of the room toward which 
 the horseshoe pointed, a box stood on a table. There 
 was a distance of several feet between the players 
 and the box. As each player sat down she was given 
 a letter of the alphabet, until the entire twenty-six 
 had been taken. 
 
 Should there be fewer girls than twenty-six give 
 out the following letters in preference to using the 
 whole alphabet: b, c, d, e, f, g, h, 1, m, n, p, q, s, 
 t, w. These are the first letters of the most common 
 words that might be used to describe how a bed might 
 be made. They stand for such words as sheets, pil- 
 lows, mattresses, cases, blankets, quilts, comforters, 
 down, wool, satin, silk, sateen, linen, cotton, soft, 
 hard, smooth, wrinkled^ broad, long, narrow, thick 
 and firm. The answers sounded like this: *^With 
 sheets! With pillows!'^ or ^^Of silk!'* or merely 
 '^Soft!'* and the like. 
 
 From a box of anagrams each player was supplied 
 with all the cardboard duplicates of her letter. When- 
 ever an answer was given whose descriptive word 
 began with a letter owned by some one in the group, 
 that person jumped up and ran and deposited a 
 letter in the box. If the answer chanced to be **My 
 bed is hard ! ' ' the one who held ^ ' H * ' was the one to 
 run. Before she got back to her seat the person 
 whose answer sent her to the box had to tell one 
 new fact about beds or drop out of the game. The 
 box being close by and speedily reached, the one who 
 answered had to think quickly. 
 
 As the game progressed new facts became harder 
 
AND PARTIES 61 
 
 and harder to find, and so the horseshoe became 
 steadily smaller through failure. If the last two are 
 very bright thinkers the situation becomes decidedly 
 interesting. 
 
 Go Find Your Fortune 
 
 Before beginning this game seven daisy petals 
 were cut out of red or yellow paper and hidden 
 ' about the room. Each was large enough to contain 
 a ** fortune/' written on it in short sentences. 
 
 Besides disclosing fates the chief aim of the game 
 was to find a ** recipe for good living" that would 
 be beneficial to all. This proved a balm to those who 
 were not so lucky as to find one of the seven fortunes. 
 Each petal was numbered and on each was written 
 in order the following prophesies: (1) Beauty is 
 her dower; (2) Gold in plenty; (3) Admired by 
 all; (4) Youthful in old age; (5) Will win laurels; 
 (6) Best of luck; (7) Honor to her name. Placing 
 the petals in a column on the table, after they were 
 found, the first letter of each fortune stood for the 
 first letter in one of the seven words in the recipe. 
 This was the familiar maxim: ^^Be good and you 
 will be happy, '* an old rule for the best kind of 
 living. Whether this was guessed from the letters 
 or not, a long strip of paper was pinned on the wall 
 at the close of the game on which the quotation had 
 been pasted in gilt letters. 
 
 The Picture Postal-Card Game 
 
 At a recent party a pleasant game was played 
 with picture postal-cards. About twenty-five showing 
 fairly familiar scenes and buildings were chosen, 
 made into a pack and laid in the center of the table 
 around which the players sat. On each the descrip- 
 tive titles were carefully covered with India ink, and 
 the pack was placed face downward. Each player in 
 order turned up a card and tried to guess what it rep- 
 
62 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 resented. If she could not identify it the card went 
 the rounds. Players held all cards that they guessed. 
 It was found best to discard the ones unrecognized, 
 and the hostess explained them at the end of the 
 game. 
 
 A pretty prize for the winner was a picturesque 
 foreign card framed in black. The view was well 
 chosen and had the charming effect of a water-color 
 sketch. A ten-cent frame was bought with a cheap 
 picture in it. The latter was removed and the postal- 
 card was put in its place. 
 
 Cuckoo 
 
 '* Cuckoo'' is the game of '^Hide-and-Seek*' with- 
 out any running. Before the one selected to be Cuckoo 
 conceals herself the other children seat themselves in 
 one comer of the room, their faces to the wall and 
 eyes tightly shut. Then the Cuckoo hides in that 
 room or the next, and when ready calls, ^* Cuckoo, 
 Cuckoo!'' The others try to guess her hiding place 
 from the sound of her voice, so she has to keep up 
 her cry at intervals to guide them in their guessing. 
 The one who at last names the place of concealment 
 becomes Cuckoo. Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
AN OLD-TIME CANDY-PULL 
 
 I WANT to tell you how a score of young people 
 spent a very pleasant evening. Others searching 
 for something new, yet old, may gain as much 
 pleasure from it as we did. 
 
 Fortunately, I teach in the neighborhood of my 
 home and so can live at home. My sister and I 
 wished to give our friends a pleasant evening, and 
 so decided to extend invitations to an old-fashioned 
 candy-pull. Y\e have a large, roomy kitchen well 
 adapted to just such a gathering. Mother was called 
 into consultation, and, as three heads are certainly, 
 at times, better than one, we made our plans then and 
 there, and the invitations were written in this wise and 
 sent by messenger : 
 
 Ye are asked to Ye Old-Fashioned Candy-Pull at ye 
 
 home of , at eight of ye clock, on ye Saturday eve, 
 
 ye ninteenth of April. 
 
 Ye maids wear ye gingham aprons, and ye men bring 
 ye bibs, and come prepared to labor at ye work, decor- 
 ously and conscientiously. 
 
 These were written on sheets of plain linen paper, 
 folded, sealed, without envelopes, all reaching their 
 destinations safely. Ten couples were invited, and 
 nine accepted. A stock of sugar, molasses, nuts, 
 flavorings, etc., was laid in. Recipes for old-fash- 
 ioned candies were chosen with much care and written 
 out, each on a separate slip, and each was numbered 
 from one to nine, as follows: (1) Molasses Taffy, 
 (2) Peppermint Creams, (3) Butter Scotch, (4) Pea- 
 63 
 
64 PAELOR GAMES 
 
 nut Taffy, (5) Wintergreen Drops, (6) Lemon Taffy, 
 (7) Popcorn Balls, (8) Cream Taffy, (9) Walnut 
 Taffy. 
 
 These were made in the order in which they were 
 numbered, and there was a reason for so numbering. 
 
 From sad experience we learned that those who 
 made molasses taffy must needs utilize every moment 
 of their time. The unfortunate couple to whose lot 
 fell the making of this especial taffy alternately 
 stirred their candy, mopped their brows, and mut- 
 tered things strange and weird under their breath, 
 and yet, in spite of all their efforts, when they left 
 for home the candy had not sufficiently boiled. This 
 little experience taught us a lesson from which others 
 may be glad to profit. 
 
 Had we started the boiling of the molasses before 
 the guests arrived the candy would, in all probability, 
 have been successfully finished. Then, too, this ar- 
 rangement gives those who have nuts to shell or com 
 to pop time to do it while the first couples are busy 
 with their candies. 
 
 Baby ribbons of nine colors had previously been 
 selected, and two tiny bows of each color were made. 
 The bows were divided and put into two dishes, one 
 of every color in each dish. Upstairs, as the girls 
 laid aside their wraps, they were requested to choose 
 a bow and to pin it on. Downstairs the gentlemen 
 were asked to do the same, and, when all had arrived, 
 each was to search for the young woman who wore 
 his color. Thus partners were formed for the candy- 
 pulling. The young women were each in turn asked 
 to choose a slip, the number on it deciding the kind 
 of candy she and her partner were to prepare as well 
 as the order in which they were to make it, as not 
 more than three couples could gather around the 
 range at the same time. If one has a good gas stove 
 that, also, may be utilized along with the range, and 
 considerable time may be saved. 
 
AND PARTIES 65 
 
 Recipes, stewpans and cooking materials were 
 found, placed conveniently on a large table in the 
 center of the kitchen. Each appropriate receptacle 
 and spoon bore a number to correspond with a recipe. 
 Some succeeded in making delicious candy, and some 
 didn't, but all thoroughly enjoyed the fun and the 
 novelty of the situation. Young women with their 
 dainty white gowns nearly enveloped in huge kitchen 
 aprons, and young men with bibs fastened around 
 their necks bent flushed faces over the glowing coals, 
 and watched anxiously for their candy to boil. When 
 it finally reached the proper consistency with what 
 an air of triumph was the kettle lifted off ! And then 
 came the pulling. Sticky? Oh, yes, but, oh, wasn't 
 it sweet? 
 
 Late in the evening the calidy was declared finished, 
 and arrangements were made for a lively dance. A 
 *' fiddler" had been engaged to come in at about half- 
 past ten o'clock to furnish old-fashioned music for 
 a kitchen frolic, and I am sure no country lads and 
 lassies of a hundred years ago went through the 
 "Virginia Reel" and the old-fashioned square dances 
 with more zest than the twentieth-century boys and 
 girls did that night. 
 
 At half-past eleven the music stopped, and the 
 warm and weary couples were led to the dining-room, 
 where they were served with old-fashioned molasses 
 gingerbread, sugar cookies, fruit (pears, apples and 
 grapes) and sweet cider. 
 
 At midnight the young people departed, each and 
 all declaring that it was an evening they should recall 
 with pleasure for many a long day. 
 
 Frances Velma French. 
 
A CLEVER SIJRPRISE PARTY 
 
 WHEN Margaret told us of her plans for a trip 
 to Mexico we had a consultation, and decided 
 to ask several of her friends to meet her at 
 our home as a surprise, and also planned some small 
 gifts which would be a pleasure to her on her jour- 
 ney: a cushion containing pins of all sizes, a small 
 tumbler heavy enough not to be broken in her satchel, 
 a washcloth and an oilskin case for it, a cake of soap, 
 a postal-card case made of two pieces of cardboard 
 covered with dark linen containing a pencil and sev- 
 eral cards, a small box of preserved ginger, etc. Each 
 article was daintily wrapped and marked with the 
 name of one of the guests. The girls, all unsuspect- 
 ing, came to the party, and the packages were dis- 
 tributed. Margaret was asked to open hers first; then 
 Grace was told she might open the one with her name 
 on, and to her great surprise she found beneath the 
 first paper another wrapping of paper and ribbon 
 and the words, ''Margaret, from Grace'' — so she was 
 obliged to pass it on to Margaret, who was, of course, 
 surprised to receive a second package. Thus each 
 guest found herself provided with a gift for the guest 
 of honor. Helen Crane. 
 
 66 
 
GAIVIES FOR THE KIDDIES 
 
 Poppies in the Wheat 
 
 THE *^ Poppies*' kneel or sit on the grass in 
 a large circle, with space enough between them 
 for a child to pass through. This is what the 
 '^Stalks'' dO; at the same time repeating some verses 
 that tell how the poppies and wheat grow together. 
 The ^^Wheaf begins, chanting: 
 
 Drowsy little Poppies, nodding in the wheat, 
 Dream you aU the summer there is naught to do but 
 sleep? 
 
 This does not rouse the *' Poppies,'' however, and 
 they continue to nod drowsily. 
 
 Every one at hand can hear the wind blowing, for 
 the ''Wheat Stalks" immediately begin to make all 
 sorts of whistling noises with their lips. When the 
 ''Poppies" hear these they shrink and shiver, but 
 sleep on. Then the "Wheat" comments wamingly: 
 
 Hear the autumn wind blow, buffeting the Wheat! 
 Shivering in slumber, shrink the Poppies at its feet. 
 Across the field a sound comes, click the knives of steel 1 
 Hurry, little Poppies, or their sting you '11 feel ! 
 
 (Loudly calling and shaking the "Poppies") : 
 
 Waken, Poppies, wake and flee. 
 The field is ripe to cut! 
 
 The moment the last word has passed their lips 
 
 the "Stalks of Wheat" begin to count twelve as 
 
 rapidly as possible, at the same time stepping back 
 
 so as to form a second circle outside the circle of 
 
 67 
 
es PARLOR GAMES 
 
 kneeling '^ Poppies/^ The '* Poppies'' have mean- 
 time sprung up, for they must each run across the 
 ring and pass out between two of the ' * Wheat Stalks ' ' 
 directly opposite them before the end of the count 
 has been reached. The '* Stalks'' will try to catch 
 them, but may not endeavor to do so until after they 
 have counted twelve. Each child may hasten that 
 process as much as possible, and begin to catch as 
 soon as done. They do not, however, interfere with 
 any ** Poppies" but those that pass between them- 
 selves and another ^* Stalk." 
 
 If the circle is a very large one it may be necessary 
 to count to fifteen or twenty, in order to give the 
 "Poppies" a fair chance to run across. When the 
 players have been reduced to two or three ** Pop- 
 pies" the game may be considered at an end. 
 
 The Game of DanJIcIian 
 
 "Dandelion" has two chasers and but one person 
 to be caught. 
 
 Two volunteers face one another, clasping hands 
 and lifting their arms high for the others to pass un- 
 der. As they do this they ask, "Oh, who has seen a 
 dandelion this fine May morning?" and immediately 
 answer themselves, "Oh, we have found a dandelion 
 this morning fine in May." Speaking the last word 
 they drop their arms over the child beneath, who is 
 thus made "Dandelion." 
 
 He at once takes his position in the middle of the 
 field and the others crowd close about him in a shoul- 
 der-to-shoulder group. Suddenly "Dandelion" ex- 
 claims : 
 
 I must away; 
 I cannot stay; 
 To seed I go! 
 
 And with that he reaches out his arms and pushes 
 the crowd away. Every one else does likewise, each 
 
AND PARTIES 60 
 
 standing still where the push has left him. In this 
 way the * ^ Dandelion ' ' stands surrounded as if by a 
 radiation of seeds, and ^ ' Seeds *^ is the name given 
 to the other players. No sooner is the shoving over 
 than the chasers, who are the two volunteers, utter 
 .these words : 
 
 Do it, 
 
 But you'll rue it, 
 
 For we'll blow, blow, blow. 
 
 And they do blow three times, just as if they were 
 questioning dandelion clocks by blowing away the 
 seeds from a ^'gone-by*' blossom. 
 
 At the last puff of breath * ' Dandelion ' ^ darts away 
 with his pursuers hard after. Where the '* Dande- 
 lion '* has the advantage is in his privilege of being 
 considered *'safe'' every time he chooses to take a 
 position behind one of the '^ Seeds. '* Whenever this 
 occurs he calls ^'Safe!" and the chasers are obliged 
 to stop short wherever they happen to be, so that 
 when the ^ ^ Dandelion ' ' starts out again the pursuit 
 can be taken up where it was left. The game ends 
 when the ^ ^ Dandelion ^ ' is captured. 
 
 A Battle Between Winter and Spring 
 
 For this game the children take sides according to 
 the seasons and each side tries to overthrow the other 
 by striking a child in the one vulnerable point about 
 him. Balls of cotton covered with crepe paper are 
 the weapons used. 
 
 Twelve small breast-shields must be made and 
 trimmed in sets of six. These shields are the vulner- 
 able points on each player, and at them the balls are 
 aimed. Each child should have a dozen of the latter, 
 and standing ten feet away from and facing each 
 other, child to child, the sides begin pommeling one 
 another. No harm can possibly be done by the blows, 
 for the balls are soft. As soon as a child is struck 
 
70 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 on the shield he drops out of line. If there are re- 
 freshments the losing side waits upon the winners. 
 
 Fireflies 
 
 All but the catcher are ^ ^ Fireflies ' ' in this game. 
 These choose positions about the playground, select- 
 ing a post, window, etc. As all running in the game 
 is from the first goal to a smaller one, therefore 
 neither posts nor windows should be too many nor 
 too near together, or the catcher will have no chance 
 to take any player prisoner. 
 
 Just as real fireflies open and close their wings so 
 the player ^' Fireflies^' constantly close their hands 
 over their bright eyes and open them out again as 
 they stand on their goals. Among them the catcher 
 moves about, trying to tap some one while his hands 
 are open. Should the blow happen to fall while the 
 hands are closed, then the catcher is chased by all the 
 others, each one of whom cuffs him lightly when 
 caught, in punishment for his clumsiness. 
 
 When the tap is rightly given the child struck runs 
 for a goal like his own. If he reaches it he is safe, 
 but if he does not he becomes catcher himself. It 
 will hardly happen that the catcher is so unfortunate 
 as not to secure any one. Yet, if this is so, he has the 
 right, after reasonable effort, to call out * ' Fireflies ! ' * 
 Then every player must seek a new goal, and in this 
 general change some one is sure to be captured. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
 Bedside Botany 
 
 All winter we had been at our wits' end to devise 
 amusement for the little niece whose fall and injury 
 to her knee had made her a prisoner on her lounge 
 for many weary months. Now, with the spring at 
 hand, and all the Nature world calling her to come 
 out and play, it seemed as though the active little 
 
AND PARTIES 71 
 
 body could no longer be restrained; and we began a 
 despairing search for the occupation that would keep 
 her quiet and happy a little while longer until the 
 lame knee had grown strong again. One afternoon 
 I found at the village store just the idea I had been 
 seeking; and armed with a book and a paiut-box I 
 hurried back to make the child glad with a new play. 
 On my way through the orchard I stooped and picked 
 the first frail, shy blossom of the rue anemone, that 
 had pricked its way through the greening grass; the 
 little flower had a part of its own in the play. 
 
 I showed the book to my niece. On each page was 
 drawn in outline the picture of a different wild 
 flower; and together we turned the pages till we 
 found the rue anemone. Then I drew a table to the 
 side of the couch, opened the paint-box, and showed 
 the eager little girl how to touch the petals of the 
 blossoms with the faintest pink, like the flower she 
 . held, and to mix the yellow and blue for its leaves. 
 "When the copy looked as much like the original as 
 we could make it she wrote in the comer of the page : 
 * ' Found by Aunt Mary in the orchard, May 1, 1904. ' ^ 
 
 This was just the beginning of the '^Bedside 
 Botany";- for as spring grew more lavish with its 
 blossoms, and the child's friends heard of the new 
 play, not a day passed without a fresh flower being 
 brought to have its picture taken; Quaker ladies, 
 arbutus, sheep's laurel, jacks-in-the-pulpit, cowslips, 
 ragged robins, mallow, St. John's wort, and many 
 more; the date being written each time in the corner 
 of the page when the painting was finished. 
 
 Legends of flowers, and stories about their habits, 
 were learned as a part of the play; and by the time 
 the child was well enough to walk and run, and pick 
 flowers for herself, the little book, with the study and 
 pleasure it represented, had become a cherished part 
 of childhood experiences. 
 
 Mary Augusta Rand. 
 
RAINY-DAY FUN 
 
 Cake Shop 
 
 ^^T 'LL be Buyer! Let me be Buyer'/' somebody 
 X. calls out as soon as *'Cake Shop'' is pro- 
 posed, for this is the one distinctive title in the 
 game, and every one likes the part. 
 
 The one to whom it falls goes out of the room and 
 closes the door behind her, while the others all choose 
 some kind of cake to represent. One will be ' ' fruit, ' ' 
 another ^'sponge," and a third ^'chocolate," per- 
 haps, but all different. These are the Cakes in the 
 Cake Shop, and when all are arranged in a circle 
 the Buyer is called in, and a certain part of the room 
 set aside as the cake box. 
 
 Then, quite unaware who will respond to her call, 
 the Buyer names a cake she wants. If she should 
 call the name of one not taken by a player no one 
 will respond and she must try again. Whenever she 
 calls a cake that is represented the player that has 
 chosen it dashes out of the line and runs for the cake 
 box. If she reaches it she remains in that safe space 
 until she thinks she can run back to the circle and not 
 be captured. If, on the contrary, she is caught by 
 the Buyer, she merely stands at one side until a new 
 game is formed. Although the Buyer endeavors to 
 catch each Cake as she runs to the cake box, she tries 
 even harder to catch each one as she runs back to the 
 circle, for it is the first Cake caught on the way back 
 that takes the original Buyer's place. Then the circle 
 is formed again and a fresh game begun. 
 72 
 
AND PARTIES 73 
 
 The Picture-Frame 
 
 Four children mark out the '* Picture-Frame ' ' by 
 standing at the four corners of an oblong space; a 
 fifth child makes the picture, while the others declare 
 .what it shall be and sit about to view it, doing their 
 best to make the child in the frame laugh. The one 
 who is making the picture stays in the frame until 
 this happens, when the player whose suggestions has 
 trapped her takes her place. Every time another 
 child steps into the frame the four children compos- 
 ing it are changed. 
 
 Of course, the pictures posed will be of simple 
 childish subjects that are easily expressed in panto- 
 mime. * ^ A crying baby, " "sl lame duck, *' '*a, proud 
 lady'' are such caricatures as the auditors will be 
 likely to demand. Any child would feel equal to 
 representing all of them, but would be liable at any 
 time to become self-conscious and laugh. 
 
 Four Touches 
 
 She who moves swiftest comes off best in a ''Four 
 Touches" contest, for it is a finger duel between two 
 children, to see which can soonest finish touching the 
 other on chin, right shoulder, left shoulder and chest 
 In reaching toward one another there are likely to 
 be collisions of hands. These make the finish more 
 uncertain, and when the entanglements last several 
 seconds are amusing even to the players. 
 
 Some one having been selected for ''first turn," 
 the others form a line and she places herself before 
 the first in it, to try conclusions with this one. If 
 the leader wins the first time she passes on to the 
 next player, and in this way progresses down the line. 
 Whenever one of the others wins in a contest she 
 becomes leader, and continues from the point where 
 the previous leader left off, going to the head when 
 she has reached the last one, and then working down 
 
74 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 to the player she commenced with should she have 
 good fortune. Rarely, however, can a leader go the 
 length of the line without being vanquished, but when 
 this happens she at once runs off and is chased by 
 the others until captured. Whoever takes her pris- 
 oner then becomes leader. 
 
 An Elephant Party 
 
 At Little Jim's party his small guests had a good 
 time playing games both in and out of the house, 
 but all were told to go into the parlor promptly when 
 the great clock in the hall struck five. As soon as all 
 were in a rear door opened and a tiny elephant en- 
 tered, on whose tail hung a card upon which were 
 the words, ^^ Follow me.'' Following the elephant 
 the children came into the dining-room, and to their 
 wonder found in the center of the room a stage on 
 which were a number of other elephants moving 
 about, and after all the children were seated the 
 elephants gave them a delightful entertainment, at 
 the end of which each elephant broke in half, and out 
 of each half stepped two men who acted as waiters. 
 Ice cream and cake were served, while little elephants 
 filled with candy were given the children as souvenirs. 
 
 Three Games to Be Playekl Indoors 
 
 The Apple Game. — An apple feat that makes fun 
 and is not too easily accomplished consists in walk- 
 ing across the room with one on the head. If all the 
 children try at once it will be more enjoyable. They 
 are likely to run into one another, but will laugh over 
 this as much as if they had succeeded with the bal- 
 ancing. 
 
 Apples are pretty objects to use in a memory test. 
 Six or seven of them are placed about the room in 
 plainly visible positions, and the little ones are taken 
 in and allowed to look at them for a few minutes. 
 
AND PARTIES 75 
 
 They are told to see how many apples they can spy, 
 and when they get back to the other room try to tell. 
 Unless the children are very small the list had best 
 be written, perhaps, for few but very tiny tots are 
 so utterly guileless as to be able to resist the tempta- 
 tion to add to their list lacking apples that have been 
 remembered by others. Those who remember all cor- 
 rectly might be rewarded with badges of red silk 
 ribbon on which an apple, in gilded outlines, has been 
 drawn. 
 
 White Eose. — In a wholly natural way ''White 
 Rose" creates some delightful postures and groups. 
 These are accompanied by some verses about a ' ' white 
 rose" and a ''willow tree," and when beginning to 
 play, a couple of children are chosen to represent 
 these two, preferably a short one and a tall one. 
 Near them stand the others in a group or circle, and 
 these repeat; 
 
 There stood a white rose by a willow tree, 
 And it grew, and grew, and grew. 
 
 Oh, little white rose, will you blossom for me, 
 
 As you stand in the sun by the willow tree? 
 
 Oh, do! Oh, do! Oh, do! 
 
 As the last line of the first couplet is repeated the 
 children express the growing of the rose in panto- 
 mime by stretching out their arms in front of them 
 and slowly spreading them apart, gradually widening 
 the distance between the palms. When the words^ 
 "Oh, do!" are spoken, those in the line assume all 
 sorts of supplicating attitudes. 
 
 Then the White Rose cries: 
 
 I'm spinning my roses and weaving the dew 
 Eight now in a sweet little nosegay for you. 
 
 As she says these words she advances and waves 
 her hands about, as though making the nosegay, 
 selecting meanwhile four of the largest and strongest 
 children from the group. All go back to the Willow 
 
76 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Tree, where they kneel at the feet of the Rose, to 
 form the nosegay. Then the Rose turns to the others 
 and says: 
 
 But before you may pluck it you '11 have to break through 
 The hedge of my thorns; and, whatever you do, 
 Look out for the willow tree. 
 
 Upon this the nosegay springs up to become a 
 protecting circle of thorns about the Rose, for the 
 rest of the players immediately rush upon them in 
 efforts to '^ pluck'' her. The Willow Tree, almost 
 immovable up to this time, now throws himself into 
 the scramble at the points where danger of breaking 
 through the line seems most imm&nent, trying to 
 thwart the attempts of these players and to ward oS. 
 others who may be coming to their aid. When, at 
 last, the Rose is reached, a new game is formed, with 
 different children in the center. 
 
 '^ Three Black Crows" is a game that can be 
 played either indoors or out in the open. For it there 
 must be ready three times as many balls of cotton 
 covered with cloth as there are players. A leader 
 being chosen, the others form a circle about her and 
 she starts the game by crying, '^ Three black crows 
 are in the corn. Peck! Peck! Peck!" As she 
 utters the last three words she touches three of those 
 in the circle, and they step out and back from it, so 
 as to be about four feet away. They are the Crows. 
 Each one faces so as to be able to run around the 
 circle and back to her place, always keeping four feet 
 away from the others. When the Crows are in posi- 
 tion the leader cries, ^^The farmer shoots them every 
 dawn. Crack! Crack! Crack!" At the last 
 '^ crack" the Crows begin their race, and the mem- 
 bers of the circle, who are all farmers and each of 
 whom is armed with three balls, throw these at the 
 runners as they pass in an effort to strike them. 
 Should they be hit no penalty follows, for the excite- 
 ment of the game lies chiefly in the attempt to strike 
 
AND PARTIES 77 
 
 the Crows. The cries and the expectancy of the 
 moment when the start is to be made will cause suffi- 
 cient exhilaration and laughter. When the runners 
 have reached their places the first one *' peeked'* 
 becomes leader; the balls are collected and again dis- 
 .tributed for a new round of the fun. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
 Tke Acrobatic Corks 
 
 This is an amusing, new rainy-day game for the 
 children, and I guarantee that the grown-up children 
 will enjoy it just as much as the little ones, for the 
 reason that the corks when perfectly adjusted assume 
 the most grotesque positions, hardly ever twice alike, 
 and seem endowed with frolicsome life. 
 
 Take half a dozen small corks five-eighths of an 
 inch long. (Those longer than three-fourths of an 
 inch cannot be used to advantage.) Into the edge of 
 the small end of the cork stick two large-headed car- 
 pet tacks, and they will look like ^^ Brownie'' legs 
 and feet; near the upper edge of the cork stick two 
 short brass pins for arms, having them on a line 
 with the carpet-tack legs. Into the center of the top 
 of each cork stick a large-headed brass upholstery 
 tack, letting it project well, for the neck and head. 
 
 Now half fill your bathtub with water; throw in 
 the corks, and if your tacks and pins are properly 
 placed they will balance perfectly. The current cre- 
 ated by the water, which must be kept running in a 
 moderate stream, will cause the corks to sail around 
 the tub until they arrive under the stream of water, 
 and then you will learn why I call them acrobatic 
 corks. If the tub is of large size a whole dozen of 
 corks will create more sport than half that number. 
 If you want the children to have a thoroughly enjoy- 
 able rainy-day indoors give them a bathtub with run- 
 ning water and a handful of the acrobatic corks. 
 
 Anna Wulf Davis. 
 
78 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Tke Game of Bird's Nest 
 
 Make little imitation birds' nests out of straw or 
 hay, and in each one place a small favor. Hide the 
 nests in the grass or in low bushes and trees near the 
 house or in the woods. Have one or two nests for 
 each child. Then tell the children that there are 
 birds ^ nests hidden all around in the grass, bushes 
 and trees, that they must go and look for them, and 
 that as soon as they find one they may have the little 
 favor within. This is a very amusing game, as all 
 small children love so much to hunt for anything, 
 either indoors or outdoors. 
 
 Mrs. Frank Cole. 
 
 A Silver Ship Game 
 
 More pleasure will be derived from soap-bubbles 
 if the mere blowing is complicated by a requirement, 
 and a kind of fairy marine game has been evolved. 
 The children repeat, as they blow each bubble and 
 start it on its way; 
 
 I send my silver ship (bubble) afloat upon a silver sea 
 
 (air). 
 And, if my bonny boat comes back, 'twill bring a gift 
 
 to me. 
 
 The gift is a favor, which can be won only by 
 fanning a bubble back to the basin from which it 
 was made. Each child has his or her own basin and 
 pipe, and these are set on low rests in a circle around 
 the room. In the center the hostess sits with a sup- 
 ply of tiny favors, such as insects, mice, frogs, etc. 
 Besides the pipes the little ones must be pro\dded 
 with small, pretty fans and little covered baskets.. 
 Standing at one side of the basin each child blows a 
 bubble, then gently tries to fan it back. The lucky 
 blower receives a favor for the basket. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
VAEIED AMUSEMENTS 
 
 An Amateur Vaudeville Evening 
 
 MY HUSBAND and I had been invited out to 
 so many parties that we wished to entertain 
 in return, but were not so well provided with 
 means to do so as were our more fortunate friends. 
 The party we gave was a great success, nevertheless. 
 The invitations were sent out over the telephone, and 
 each guest was asked to wear a funny costume, as 
 much as possible in the style of the grotesque vaude- 
 ville ^* artist, '^ and a dozen special friends were 
 asked to '^perform.'' 
 
 We have a small house, with an archway between 
 the parlor and the diniag-room. We moved the 
 chairs and the divan out on the side lawn and bor- 
 rowed two hammocks, which, with our own, helped 
 toward seating the guests; most of them, however, 
 preferred to sit on rugs or the grass itself. We 
 strung up a few Chinese lanterns, but as it was a 
 moonlight night they were almost unnecessary. 
 
 The refreshments were lady-fingers and a very good 
 temperance punch (lemonade made very strong and 
 sweet, with the addition of a little strawberry flavor- 
 ing, a can of sliced pineapple, an orange sliced thin, 
 and plenty of effen^escent water) ; we also placed a 
 big cake of ice in the punch-bowl. The refreshments 
 were put on a table on the lawn and the guests helped 
 themselves. 
 
 The program consisted of songs, duets, recitations, 
 monologues, etc., by the guests. One of our really 
 79 
 
80 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 funny men was induced to announce the performers. 
 One trio was announced as ^'the world-renowned 
 family, the Signors Piano, Pianissimo and Pianola" 
 — a kind neighbor had sent over her pianola and some 
 music-rolls, and they helped out wonderfully. The 
 performers used one end of the parlor for a stage, 
 and most of the audience stood up; in true continu- 
 ous-performance fashion, some of the audience stood 
 outside on the porch or came and went *' between the 
 acts. * ' One of the numbers was a song by the Floro- 
 dora sextet. They had been given palmleaf fans with 
 the words typewritten on paper and pasted on one 
 side, so when memory failed they read their fans, 
 and they used them again in the final dance. 
 
 After the performance ended half of the guests 
 went home, while the younger ones made themselves 
 at home on the lawn or in the parlor, and the pianola 
 furnished the dance-music. 
 
 Our party cost about five dollars, and was truly a 
 shining success. 
 
 Eleanor Wright Jewett. 
 
 Brushing the Cobweb* from the Moon 
 
 This is fully as difficult a task as it may seem to be. 
 It amuses players of all ages. To prepare for the 
 game some one must first have cut out of heavy yel- 
 low paper, or drawing-paper that has been colored 
 yellow, a huge half -moon, and through it innumer- 
 able long ends of yam must have been thickly 
 threaded with a needle. The moon is then suspended 
 to a chandelier with ribbons or tapes. Those who 
 *' brush" it enter into a contest to strive to pull out 
 the most cobwebs in three minutes, using the left 
 band only, and drawing out one at a time. When 
 grown persons are playing the prize may most aptly 
 be a pot of green cheese. 
 
 Grace Campbell Moore. 
 
AND PARTIES 81 
 
 Labor-Day Party 
 
 The invitations were written on white paper pasted 
 on cardboard cut in the shape of spades, picks and 
 other laborer's tools, and read as follows: 
 
 '^You are invited to spend an evening at the home of 
 ■ Mrs. Blank on the workingman 's holiday, Labor Day. 
 Please bring your jeans and ginghams, for this is just 
 a friendly gathering, and not a formal affair." 
 
 The members of the party entered into the spirit 
 of the thing, and wore onting-elothes. 
 
 Each man was given a card containing the first half 
 of an appropriate quotation, and each woman's card 
 bore the second half. Below the quotation or senti- 
 ment the card had ten numbered spaces. The guests 
 were then told that various workmen were scattered 
 about the lawn in disguise, and that they were to 
 guess at the craft of each, and to write their answers 
 on the numbered spaces on their cards. On the trees 
 on the lawn there were various small lanterns; these 
 lamps lighted certain objects which formed the names 
 of trades. For instance, under one lamp stood the 
 small son of the house, with an old broomstick 
 dressed like a Maypole to represent Mayson (mason). 
 A child's toy car with the syllable ^Her" written 
 across the top with a pen which was stuck through 
 the wood of the car, read *' carpenter. " A piece 
 of brick and a picture of a hen read bricklayer. A 
 rude pen-picture of a hod and a picture of a messen- 
 ger-boy read hod-carrier. Any number of trades may 
 be represented in the same way and the pictures may 
 be cut from magazines or drawn rudely with a pen. 
 
 At the ringing of a bell the couples started in the 
 direction of these little lamps, which were numbered. 
 One couple went to lamp number 1, one to lamp 
 number 2, etc. Five minutes were allowed to guess 
 each riddle, then the bell was rung and the women 
 moved from 10 to 9, 9 to. 8, etc., while the men moved 
 
82 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, etc., thus changing partners each 
 move. The young girls who acted as guides saw to 
 it that no communication was held regarding the 
 game with any one but one's own partner. When 
 the game had been completed prizes were awarded. 
 
 The party were then rowed across the lake to a 
 little wooded knoll which was iStted up with a small 
 log shelter where our hostess was in the habit of 
 spending her afternoons. A camp-fire was burning 
 brightly, and each guest was given a long, forked 
 stick, and an ear of com to roast. There were also 
 rye bread, cheese sandwiches and hot coffee. As we 
 all sat about the fire one of the men told ghost stories 
 while some of the girls made fudge. After an hour 
 or two spent in this delightful spot we were rowed 
 back to the house. 
 
 Our hostess bundled her guests into a large farm- 
 wagon which drove down the country road, drenched 
 in the moonlight, and deposited each one at his or 
 her own house. 
 
 A. C. RUGGERI. 
 The Lighted Wedding Ring 
 
 A new and very pretty idea for a recent wedding 
 anniversary dinner was the lighted wedding ring. It 
 was a wooden ring somewhat larger around than a 
 large dinner-plate and thick in proportion. It was 
 brightly gilded so that it looked exactly like the usual 
 gold circlet. 
 
 ''The handy man about the house" can easily 
 make one. The best way is to make it in two half 
 rings and glue the parts together. In the upper edge 
 little borings are made for the insertion of tapers. 
 The tapers tell the years, as on a birthday cake, 
 although for a first anniversary twelve tapers might 
 be used, indicating the twelve months. 
 
 Two pieces of wire are secured to the inside of the 
 ring by tiny screw-rings, stretched tightly and crossed. 
 
AND PARTIES 83 
 
 At the exact center these wires are fastened together 
 by a long piece of wire, the other end of which is 
 attached to the chandelier. The wires do not show, 
 as the ring is hung just a little space above the flowers 
 in the center of the table. The chandelier is twined 
 about with drooping sprays of smilax, one spray 
 twining itself accidentally (?) about the center wire, 
 effectually concealing it. The ring thus appears sus- 
 pended by magic. Ida Bunce Sammis. 
 
 Sentence-Forming Fun 
 
 Each person participating in this game was sup- 
 plied with a sheet of paper on which was a list of 
 words, ten or twelve in number. Each person then 
 wrote a few words before or after each of the ten 
 given words, in such a way as to make a sentence. 
 For example (the italicized words were the original 
 ten) : 
 
 awed by the 
 
 Sultan, whose appearance was 
 
 unusual, the people 
 
 dwindle to the 
 
 thatehed and lowly 
 
 huts, where 
 
 spices and gold 
 
 inset with jewels, as well as 
 
 politeness, were unknown to the 
 
 crawling people. 
 
 The idea was to make as much sense as possible out 
 of the given words, and this is sometimes hard to do, 
 as there is often no connection between them. It is 
 a good idea to have a spelling-book at hand when 
 preparing the list, otherwise there may be a tendency 
 to choose words which belong together, making it too 
 easy to make a sentence, and thus spoiling the fun in 
 the game. 
 
 After all had finished writing the sentences were 
 read aloud and compared, and the person who wrote 
 
84 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 the best sentence was presented with a book. The 
 booby prize was a small grammar. 
 
 MiNCHElsr RUSACK. 
 
 A Recipe Party 
 
 At a gathering of women of different ages and 
 tastes this form of entertainment proved interesting. 
 Each guest was requested to bring her favorite recipe. 
 The result was a queer collection, from cosmetics to 
 the daintiest of desserts. Then each in turn read her 
 recipe, not giving its name, while the others wrote 
 upon cards furnished them the name they thought 
 should belong to the recipe. As the recipes were read 
 they were copied in a dainty booklet, given as a prize 
 to the one who guessed correctly the largest number 
 of names. 
 
 Each lady's copy of her recipe was then cut into 
 halves and shuffled with other halves. Two halves — 
 of different recipes — ^were returned to each of the con- 
 testants, the hostess asking that they make original 
 recipes from the ingTedients called for on the odd 
 halves. She remarked that all of the ingredients 
 named need not be used, but that no additional ones 
 would be allowed. 
 
 In another test of originality the hostess had some 
 lists prepared of such things as the housewife occa- 
 sionally finds in her larder when the marketing has 
 been neglected. One list was given to each guest. 
 She was told to imagine herself in the following em- 
 barrassing situation : unexpected company has arrived 
 and luncheon must be served; no market or grocery 
 is accessible ; the luncheon must be prepared from the 
 supplies which are in the house, namely, the things 
 mentioned in the list. The privilege was allowed to 
 all of using flour and seasonings and of adding a 
 beverage. 
 
 One woman ^3 list was as follows: '^Some cold 
 
AND PARTIES 85 
 
 roast beef, a dry loaf of bread, a box of salt wafers, 
 butter, cream, salad dressing, one banana, head of cab- 
 bage, some cucumber pickles and a little left-over 
 peach pickle/' 
 
 She arranged the following: ^^ Whipped a pint of 
 the cream and stirred into it the one banana mashed 
 to a pulp, addiag a little sugar, and one teaspoonful 
 of gelatine dissolved in as little water as was possi- 
 ble. I set it on the ice to stiffen. The meat I 
 chopped, seasoned highly and mixed with cream sauce; 
 then I put it into toast shells, made from very thick 
 slices of the bread with the centers scooped out. The 
 cabbage and the cucumbers and peach pickles I 
 chopped fine and mixed with the dressing, making a 
 delicious salad.'' E. D. Innis. 
 
HALLOWEEN FIJN 
 
 Fortune's Wheel 
 
 AT A MERRY Halloween party the game of 
 Fortune's Wheel was played. The guests were 
 formed into a circle sitting two feet apart. An 
 eighteen-inch hoop, with gay ribbon spokes and a 
 bunch of violets and sleigh-bells for the hub, was 
 started by one of the players, the one sitting next 
 giving it a push and sending it on to his neighbor, 
 and thus around the circle. The wheel should not 
 roll fast, and as it goes around all should chant; 
 
 ''Fortune's wheel — oh, speed along j 
 As we sing this mystic song, 
 Give happiness, fame, power and wealth, 
 True love, long life, good friends and health, 
 Success in business, music, art. 
 And — ^best of all — a merry heart." 
 
 If a player fails to touch the wheel as it passes, 
 or sends it into the middle of the ring instead of 
 sending it to his neighbor, or if the wheel falls at his 
 feet, his fortune is deferred for that year, and he 
 leaves the ring. The game keeps on until one player 
 remains who will be given all the gifts in the power 
 of the fickle goddess to bestow. If the players are 
 at all skillful the wheel can be kept rolling for some 
 time. Marie Eulalie Moran. 
 
 Jolly Forest Halloween 
 
 A girl who lives in the suburbs invited her city 
 friends out to a Halloween frolic in an imitation 
 86 
 
AND PARTIES 87 
 
 forest. The furniture, pictures and bric-a-brac were 
 removed from the rooms. The floors were strewn 
 with leaves, and branches of autumn leaves decorated 
 the walls, doors and windows. Boughs of brilliant 
 oak screened the upper part of the sideboard and 
 ferns and vines the lower. Fern leaves covered the 
 marble shelf, and on it were straw trays of apples. 
 Jack-o'-lanterns lighted the rooms — pumpkins of all 
 shapes and hues carved into grotesque faces of vary- 
 ing expressions, and lined with red and green tissue- 
 paper, a little glow-lamp burning inside each lan- 
 tern. 
 
 When supper was announced the guests were sur- 
 prised on enteriug the dining-room to be invited to 
 the pumpkin patch — a row of little pumpkins in a 
 comer. Closer inspection showed a pumpkin marked 
 by a tag for each guest. When seated around the 
 log fire they found that each pumpkin contained a 
 picnic luncheon wrapped in waxed paper and also a 
 paper napkin printed with autumn leaves. Bright 
 new tin-cups were passed and coffee was served from 
 the big tin pot on the hearth. Then apples were 
 roasted and corn popped. 
 
 Later in the evening the ^'Nut-witch'* held court 
 in a leafy bower and distributed nut fortunes to the 
 curious. This witch was dressed in orange and brown, 
 and had a brown splint basket filled with nuts of dif- 
 ferent varieties, each containing a fortune or prophecy 
 written on a bit of paper. The ''Nut-witch'' also 
 read the palms of those who wished to peer more 
 deeply into the mysteries of Fate. 
 
 A Halloween Housewarming 
 
 A young couple gave a Halloween housewarming 
 to their friends. Pumpkin Jack-o'-lanterns with 
 staring eyes and wide-open mouths lighted the way 
 from the road to the house and hung in the bushes in 
 the garden. 
 
88 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 To give full scope for the Hlalloween rites the 
 parlor and dining-room furniture had not yet been 
 moved into the house. There were plain kitchen 
 wooden chairs and a table of planks instead. Shaded 
 lights peeped out from autumn vines and leaves, 
 bunches of leaves, chrysanthemums and berries 
 drooped over the mirrors and pictures, while leaves, 
 cornstalks and boughs hid the corners of the rooms. 
 A gipsy kettle held cool fruit punch, tin dippers be- 
 ing tied to the poles. A pine tree was thickly hung 
 with bright red apples. From this tree the guests 
 gathered the apples for the Halloween games. 
 
 Supper was served on the wooden table decorated 
 with autumn flowers and leaves. At each wooden 
 plate there was a paper napkin in a carrot ring. 
 Oysters were served from pumpkin shells, the chicken 
 salad was in individual cases of hollowed-out turnips, 
 while purple cabbage bowls held pickles and crackers, 
 and squash boats the bread-and-butter sandwiches. 
 The ice cream was tinted orange and frozen in melon 
 moulds, making very presentable pumpkins, and it 
 was but the work of a few minutes to add the eyes 
 and nose of candied cherries and the citron teeth just 
 before serving. A fortune cake, containing a thim- 
 ble, a ring and a dime, was brought on with the 
 cream, the cake being iced, and fancifully decorated 
 with nuts and candied fruits. 
 
 The Spinning WKeel 
 
 A Wheel of Fortune will furnish much fun at a 
 Halloween gathering. Cut a large pasteboard disk 
 and paint it to represent a wheel. Fasten with a nail 
 on a large wooden board to turn easily. Draw a cir- 
 cle outside the wheel and paint numbers around it. 
 This wheel is presided over by a gipsy or witch in 
 costume. She has a large, rustic basket filled with 
 fancy envelopes, each numbered and containing a for- 
 tune in verse. The guests in turn give the wheel a 
 
AND PARTIES 89 
 
 spin, and receive from the presiding genius an en- 
 velope with the number corresponding to the one be- 
 fore whom the wheel stopped. 
 
 A Halloween Weight Test 
 
 A special room is set apart for the weighing- 
 machine, which may be borrowed for the occasion. 
 This room should be decorated appropriately, con- 
 taining a sufficient number of pumpkin lanterns 
 hanging over the machine to enable the guests to 
 ascertain their respective weights. 
 
 The guest whose weight is determined by three even 
 numbers may look for a life of good fortune; three 
 odd numbers are unlucky. The highest even number 
 means wealth; the one whose number represents any 
 multiple of five will win health. A number contain- 
 ing a figure 2 and a cipher in conjunction signifies 
 a journey; the number 4 proves you are a favorite, 
 while the appearance of number 8 brings three im- 
 mediate pleasant surprises. Two odd numbers in con- 
 junction with a cipher signifies the failure of a pet 
 scheme; the number 9 appearing in the sum total of 
 pounds means a coming letter. A 6 means an invita- 
 tion within two weeks from a man friend. The num- 
 ber 3 denotes a gift. 
 
 A preponderance of ciphers signifies fruitiest 
 quests. Thirteen added to a cipher brings keen dis- 
 appointment in one's dearest wish. The number 7 
 brings continued happiness, and if one weighs one 
 hundred and seventy-seven pounds he must neee«- 
 sarily become a humorist. 
 
 Mary Estes. 
 
 A Mystic Halloween Party 
 
 A number of college girls, famed in their univer- 
 sity town for their originality, provided from ' ' some- 
 thing old" that ^'something new" which is forever 
 in demand. 
 
90 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 Each man who accepted the invitation to the ^ ^ Mys- 
 tic Party '^ was given on his arrival a padlock fash- 
 ioned from cardboard on which was lightly sketched 
 a lock, and beneath the lock these lines were written : 
 ''Here's the padlock; find the key, 
 And learn what Fate's prepared for thee." 
 
 Obedient to the rhymed instructions, the owner 
 searched for the girl whose cardboard key fitted his 
 lock. 
 
 When all had found their keys the fun began, for 
 beneath that cardboard cover were sheets of paper 
 containing instructions for the evening — and on each 
 page each man found a girPs name. When a bell 
 was struck he took the girl the first page called for 
 and followed instructions; then the others in turn, 
 and so on to the end. Following are samples of the 
 instructions : 
 
 Page I 
 
 Take Miss Smith out to the spring 
 
 Which eternal youth will bring; 
 
 Tonight the fairy in her bower 
 
 Gives the drink of magic power. 
 
 Page II 
 Go take Miss Leslie to the cave 
 Where dwells the wizard wise and grave; 
 His telescope's far-reaching eye 
 Will read your fortune in the sky. 
 
 Page III 
 With Miss Black, but not alone, 
 Go to the Sibyl's mystic home; 
 Past and future she can see 
 In her magic cup of tea. 
 
 Page IV 
 Take Miss White into the bower, 
 Where Ophelia, with a flower 
 Opening wide Fate's golden door. 
 Tells what Cupid has in store. 
 
AND PARTIES 91 
 
 Page V 
 Take Miss Green, and well defend her 
 From the wicked Witch of Endor, 
 Who for love, and not for gold, 
 Will thy future fate unfold. 
 
 Page VI 
 Awful, last and best of all, 
 Take Miss Canby to the ball, 
 
 "Mystic Chamber" named j 
 Let twenty enter at the door, 
 Clap your hands three times or more, 
 
 Wait the answer strange. 
 
 Page VII 
 When it's twelve by the clock 
 Turn the latch-key in the lock; 
 Take the sweetest girl you know, 
 Say "good-night," and home you go. 
 
 The first, the "Spring of Perpetual Youth,*' was a 
 large crock surrounded with moss, in a moss-covered 
 well-sweep. From this spring two little girls dressed 
 as fairies served fruit punch. 
 
 The next was "A Famous Astrologer'' in a booth 
 like a hermit's den. He was dressed in a flowing 
 robe and wore a false wig and whiskers. About him 
 were charts and diagrams and a telescope, by means 
 of which he told fortunes. For a light, alcohol 
 poured over salt was used; for a telescope, a field 
 glass. He began by asking each one his or her age. 
 
 The "Sibyl of Terefia" told fortunes with tea- 
 grounds. She was dressed in a fantastic flowing robe. 
 
 *' Ophelia" told fortunes in a white tent covered 
 with autumn leaves. On her arm hung a basket of 
 flowers from which the visitor must make a choice; 
 then she repeated the verse applicable to each one. 
 
 The "Witch of Endor" told fortunes by means of 
 cards. Her booth was red and black arranged in 
 gipsy fashion. She was a real gipsy. 
 
92 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 The *^ Mystic Chamber'' came last. This was the 
 dining-room. The guests, according to the rules, 
 '* clapped their hands three times, no more,'' and 
 two boys appeared, dressed as Oriental slaves in black 
 bloomers with yellow turbans and sashes; they served 
 the refreshments, which consisted of ice cream and 
 cake. Every one sat Oriental fashion on cushions 
 on the floor, which was covered with a great rug. The 
 center was an artificial pond — a tub completely sur- 
 rounded by plants and moss. 
 
 The electric lights were covered with red tissue- 
 paper and the newel-post in the hall masqueraded 
 as a tall and sheeted ghost. 
 
 Elizabeth Burroughs. 
 
 Fortune Hunting 
 
 From a sheet of black paper cut a large figure of 
 a witch, with a cat just in front of her, mounted on 
 a broomstick. Have this figure pinned to the center 
 of a sheet, which is to hang at one end of the room. 
 Have written on slips of paper (as many as there 
 are guests) some clever fortunes, in rhyme, and place 
 them in small envelopes. Pin these promiscuously 
 over the sheet, placing those promising the brightest 
 future nearest the witch. When all is ready let each 
 guest in turn be blindfolded, turned about several 
 times, and allowed to seek and find his fortune by 
 touching the sheet with the end of a small broomstick. 
 The envelope nearest the point he touches will be his. 
 
 Do not remove the envelopes until everybody has 
 finished, but pin each one's name (written on a slip 
 of paper) to the spot where he touches the sheet, to 
 keep tally. If prizes are given let the one who secures 
 the f ortmie which is placed in the witch 's outstretched 
 hand receive an appropriate volume, such as ''The 
 I'ortunes of Oliver Horn " or ' ' The Queen of the Air. ' ' 
 Bertha C. Thorne. 
 
CHRISTMAS IDEAS 
 
 Santa's Housecleaniny 
 
 THE invitations were sent direct to the children 
 from Santa Claus in the following form : 
 
 Santa Clause invites to help him clean and put 
 
 in order his cupboard on Christmas Eve. Some toy« 
 have been mislaid, and Santa Claus offers a prize to the 
 child who finds the oldest mislaid gifts. 
 
 He also invites you to lunch with him on Bnowballs and 
 ice at his home near the North Pole. 
 
 All the decorations were white. The cupboard was 
 made of boxes of all sizes, and gifts were hidden in 
 them. Strips of white outing flannel were tacked in 
 front of and inside the boxes to help screen the gifts. 
 A curtain was drawn before the cupboard while the 
 search was going on, so as to have but a dim light 
 to search by. There were any amount of pockets 
 hidden in the top and sides, and there were some old- 
 fashioned toys hidden. These were searched for more 
 eagerly than the newer ones. Some were found 
 marked with the names of the children's older broth- 
 ers and sisters, and these, of course, were given to 
 the younger ones. One little girl found an old- 
 fashioned doll with her mother's name on it, and she 
 still takes pride in the doll *Hhat mamma should 
 have had.'' 
 
 Santa Claus 's house was an arch in white beside a 
 white pole. The table was all white, and around it 
 were made little seats shaped like snowbanks and cov- 
 ered with white outing flannel or sheet wadding. The 
 93 
 
94 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 sheet wadding glistened like snowbanks in very cold 
 weather. The snowballs were little cakes and cream 
 puffs covered with white icing. Rock candy was the 
 ice, and there was also ice cream. 
 
 Among the white decorations were hung icicles of 
 glass (glass pendants from a hanging lamp), and 
 there were also white candles among the decorations. 
 The white draperies consisted of sheet wadding, out- 
 ing flannel and cotton. All of this was entirely new 
 to the children, and they pronounced it much more 
 jolly than a Christmas tree. 
 
 Mrs. Luke Conneally. 
 
 From a City to a Country Girl 
 
 The most appropriate gift I saw last Christmas was 
 given by a city girl to a country cousin. The box 
 reached its destination Christmas Eve. When the 
 ugly outer wrapping had been ripped off, a paste- 
 board box tied with bright red ribbon was disclosed, 
 and under its lid a collar-case made of two pieces of 
 pasteboard covered with blue silk and caught together 
 at one edge was found. The girl opened it and 
 laughed. * ^ Just what I Ve been longing for — a turn- 
 over collar set in Hardanger. Oh! and a collar of 
 English embroidery and two tuckers.'' 
 
 The country girl wished in her heart that she could 
 make Hardanger collars; she wouldn't in the least 
 have minded the work. And then her mother sug- 
 gested that there was something else in the box, and 
 the good fairy who answers girls' ^'wishes in their 
 hearts" around about Christmastime answered this 
 girl's; because in the next layer of the box she dis- 
 covered the queerest kind of a book. Its cover was 
 blue cretonne, covering pasteboard, and in it were 
 pasted pages cut from the magazines filled with ideas 
 for and designs of collars. But that was not all— 
 the book also contained several pamphlets on Har- 
 danger, English cut embroidery and cross-stitch work 
 
AND PARTIES 95 
 
 — any fancy-work book will give these — with designs 
 for turnover cuffs and front pieces; and at the end 
 of the book were two pages with ideas gleaned by 
 the city cousin from the town shop counters. 
 
 The country girl^s eyes danced. Oh! if now she 
 could only rake up some materials. Again she 
 wished, and again the Christmas fairy must have 
 granted her unspoken wish, for in the bottom of 
 the box was a blue cretonne bag filled with many 
 remnants, scraps, odds and ends of linen, lawn, rib- 
 bon and lace, and some pieces that the country girl 
 guessed were not quite ^^odds and ends.'' 
 
 And last, in the very, very bottom, answering an 
 even unthought-of wish, was a blue linen floss-holder 
 with red, white and three blues in mercerized cottons, 
 and skeins of blue and pink silk, and a book of em- 
 broidery needles. Elizabeth Slevin. 
 
 The Country to the City Girl 
 
 A country girl who has more time and ingenuity 
 than money sent the following list of gifts to rela- 
 tives in the North: 
 
 To a city cousin who entertains lavishly she 
 shipped a large box containing a dozen small cedar 
 trees not over a foot high, all trimmed to the same 
 size and shape; one dozen flower-pot covers made of 
 screen wire covered with lichens and lined with heavy 
 gray wrapping-paper; a box of moss, the kind that 
 looks like miniature trees; twelve small star-shaped 
 baskets fashioned from screen wire and lichens, lined 
 with scarlet crepe paper, having sprays of holly tied 
 to the handles with red ribbons; a dozen cards cut 
 from heavy water-color paper tinted with water- 
 colors, representing five lar^ holly leaves arranged 
 to form a star, clusters of the scarlet berries painted 
 in the center, and appropriate quotations lettered in 
 gold on the leaves; a big bunch of mistletoe, and 
 every crack and crevice filled with sprays of holly, 
 
96 PARLOR GAMES 
 
 and a large star made of screen wire filled with ever- 
 lasting flowers that had been colored a rich red. 
 
 Then she sent the following suggestions: Use the 
 little trees as f avors, setting them in flower-pots, using 
 the covers and moss, and decorate with inexpensive 
 Christmas-tree ornaments. The baskets are for bon- 
 bons and a card for each place, also a small bouquet 
 of mistletoe and holly tied with red ribbon. The star 
 on a bed of holly is for a centerpiece. 
 
 Mrs. J. W. King. 
 
 Christmas Flower-Gardens 
 
 A small boy sent as gifts to five cousins last Christ- 
 mas five small packages looking exactly alike. When 
 . unwrapped they proved to be wooden boxes, neatly 
 made, stained with a dark green stain and trimmed 
 with strips of bark. Each box was filled with earth, 
 in which was stuck a placard, one side of which read ; 
 * ' Wait for me ! ' ^ and the other, ^ ^ Christmas Greeting 
 from Harold. '' The children guessed the puzzle and 
 put their boxes in a sunny window, watering them 
 faithfully, with the result that in a few weeks there 
 were five small flower-gardens filled with lusty blos- 
 goms. C. Beaumont.