Part 7
Have the table long enough (even if it must be extended with boards the whole length of the barn or attic) to accommodate all the guests at once. Arrange huge platters of gingerbread at each corner, with dishes of plain candies and nuts here and there, and pyramids of fruit that will be quickly demolished when the guests are grouped about the table. No formal waiting will be desirable.
HALLOWE'EN SUGGESTIONS
Have mirrors everywhere: big mirrors, medium-sized mirrors, and little, wee mirrors, all reflecting and multiplying countless candles that burn in candlesticks of every description (most novel are those made from long-necked gourds and tiny squashes).
Across the top and down the sides of each doorway hang festoons of yellow and white corn and turn the husks back to show the firm, glistening kernels. Each window can be garlanded in like manner as well as the tops of mantels and picture frames. Clusters of red ears may depend from the chandeliers. Here and there, in the most unexpected corners, can be placed Jack-o'-lanterns, smiling or gnashing their teeth, amid great shocks of corn. The great hall and stairway can be draped with fish-nets through the meshes of which are thrust many ears of corn. A stately Jack must point the guests up the stairs where two other individuals will usher them to the dressing-rooms.
Drape one doorway with a portière of apples--apples strung on strings of varying lengths. As the guests pass through, the tallest stoop for those suspended on the longest strings and the shortest reach for those on the short strings. Those who succeed in throwing three tiny apples through the horseshoe, which is hung in the midst of these apples, are assured of phenomenal luck for the ensuing year.
In another doorway hang a big pear-shaped pumpkin, on whose shining surface all the letters of the alphabet have been burned with a hot poker. Keep this rapidly twirling while the guests, in turn, try to stab some letter with long meat-skewers. The letter that is hit will establish beyond question the initial letter of one's fate.
Place in a tub of water red, yellow and green apples. Provide each guest with a toy bow and arrow. The young man or maiden who succeeds in firing an arrow into a red apple will be assured of good health; plenty of money is in store for those shooting arrows into yellow ones; and good luck is in store for those hitting the green ones.
Blindfold each girl present and, presenting her with a wand, lead her to a table on which have been placed flags of the different men's colleges. The flag her wand happens to touch will indicate the college of her future husband.
Browning nuts, popping corn, roasting apples, and toasting marshmallows will add a great deal to the pleasure of the evening.
The dining-table should be draped in pale green crepe paper, the lights above being shrouded in gorgeous orange. Pumpkins of various sizes should be scooped and scraped to a hollow shell and, lined with waxed paper and filled with good things to eat, should be placed in the centre of the table. Lighted candles and quaint oriental lanterns will add greatly to the decorations.
The menu should include bannocks, scones, and other Scotch dainties. If desired, droning bagpipes might accompany the feast.
After listening to ghostly tales related by white-draped figures, the guests may receive all sorts of amusing souvenirs from a large pumpkin placed on a table at the door.
HANDKERCHIEF BAZAAR
Of all our friends, both far and near, We beg the kind attention; So please to lend us now your ear, While we a subject mention.
To carry on our C. E. work, In the country and the city, We need more money very bad, And hope you'll help us with it.
The committee intend to hold On a day not distant far A sale for both the young and old,-- A handkerchief bazaar.
So this, then, is our plea in brief: To aid our enterprise We beg of you a handkerchief, Of any kind or size.
_Please send by mail before April 5th to_
The above invitation, which should be printed on a neat card, explains itself. The details of the bazaar may be arranged as desired.
HATCHET PARTY
If the Hatchet Party is given at home appropriate invitations can be issued in the form of a hatchet, bearing the words in quaint letters:
"_Ye Young Women's Christian Temperance Union extends ye invitation to meete ye Hatchet Familie of ye anciente tyme at ye home of Miss May Caspel, 236 Bell Avenue, on Wednesday evening, ye 22d of Februarie of ye year of our Lorde 1905, at eight of ye clock._"
The decorations should conform to the spirit of the evening. A large hatchet covered with white curled tissue paper may be hung in the hall. Plaques of little red, white and blue hatchets may take the place of flowers, and in the hall or reception room there should be a little table of "Souvenirs." These should be little bronze hatchets with the letters Y. W. C. T. U. on one side. Their handles should be tied with narrow ribbon--red, white and blue--and each guest should be allowed to select his color. Thus everybody has the opportunity offered to him of becoming a member by selecting the white ribbon, and in this way everybody is compelled to "show his colors."
If simple refreshments are served, let the Japanese napkins have a big hatchet gilded on them, and let there be some plates of hatchet cookies, formed by the cutter that any tinsmith will make from a pattern.
Have old-fashioned candy--peppermint, wintergreen, sassafras and molasses--instead of bonbons. Play the old games--hunt the slipper, blind man's buff, hide and seek.
Names for the members of the Hatchet Family who are to receive the guests:
Johanna Adams Hatchet,
Tomazine Jefferson Hatchet,
Jamesina Madison Hatchet,
Jemima Monroe Hatchet,
J. Quinciana Adams Hatchet,
Andrewsia Jackson Hatchet,
Wilhemina Henrietta Harrison Hatchet,
Johnesetta Tyler Hatchet,
Marty Van Buren Hatchet,
Jinny Keturah Polk Hatchet,
Zacherina Taylor Hatchet,
Millarella Fillmore Hatchet.
Ask the girls who impersonate these characters to come in Martha Washington dress, a flowered chintz or silk overdress, opening in front to show a silk or sateen skirt of a plain color, which may be quilted if desired. The waist is made to open over a white neckerchief and has elbow sleeves. A little round mob cap of muslin or lace, with a frill, a band of ribbon around it, and a coquettish bow complete the costume.
ICE FESTIVAL
To step from midsummer into winter was a surprise, when the admission ticket was dropped in the box at the door on the night of the festival and its erstwhile owner passed into the hall. Small tables stood by pine and cedar trees that were covered with alum icicles and sifted over with diamond dust. Here groups of friends ate their cream and cake together, served by snow spirits in white tarletan gowns that sparkled with diamond dust, or ice fays whose white costumes glittered with glass beads. On the stage, white canton flannel and diamond dust, heavy gray wrapping paper folded into rocks, trees and a rustic bridge made a realistic representation of a snowclad landscape. The pleasing program consisted of dainty dances by children dressed as snowflakes, a pretty ball game played with snowballs, recitations and songs appropriate to the winter season. Another novelty was a tree covered with raw cotton snowballs, with numbers attached. These were sold for twenty-five cents--each purchaser choosing a number--and contained the small fancy articles usually sold at fairs--pincushions, needle-books, cups and saucers, etc. The windows were all screened and electric fans hidden by evergreens kept the hall from getting overheated. In one corner was a large pond, made of a shallow wooden tank surrounded by more gray paper rocks and white cotton snow, in which real cakes of ice were floating, and from which any one was at liberty to dip as much ice water as he cared to drink. This festival was a great success.
INAUGURATION DAY LUNCH
The guests at this luncheon are to represent the Vice-President and the eight members of the Cabinet, but if the hostess wishes to entertain a larger number, she can introduce one or two of the foreign Ambassadors. Give to each guest, as she arrives, a card bearing the title of one of the Cabinet, as the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General, and, if necessary, the English Ambassador. While waiting for luncheon, each one must guess the name of the man she represents, in order to know her place at the table, where only the proper names, not the titles, will be used. It will be surprising to discover how few of the members of the Cabinet are known by name to the majority of persons.
Pink carnations will be appropriate for all decorations. Have a large bowl of these in the centre of the table, and at each corner lay on the cloth as a doily a spread eagle cut from gilt paper, the pattern for which can be taken from a revenue flag or a ten dollar gold piece. Make the distance from tip to tip of the wings about twelve inches, and from the head to the tail seven inches. Place upon the eagles dishes of olives, nuts, and pink candies.
From the chandelier to the corners of the table have sound money festoons, which are made by cutting out of gilt paper a number of disks the size of a twenty-five cent piece. Paste these together in pairs, first laying between them a long thread which connects them through the middle and forms a chain.
For favors have cards of water-color paper painted around the edges with a festoon of pink ribbon, in which, at intervals, are knotted scrolls and documentary envelopes upon which are printed some of the principles of the Republican party, such as "The Monroe doctrine reaffirmed," "Reduction of war taxes," "Allegiance to the gold standard," etc. At the top of each card write the name of the person whom each guest is to represent.
In the centre of the card will be the menu, which is as follows:
Post Office Soup The Army The Navy Small Shot Agricultural Salad Cabinet Pudding Ices Philippine Cakes Coffee
A clear soup, with noodles for letters, fills the requirements of the Post Office. The second course is creamed sweetbreads served in small paper boxes, which stand upon large pilot crackers, or, in army language, "hard tack." A sheet of paper folded double, like an army tent, rests upon the crackers, covering the box; wooden toothpicks stuck through the sides of the tent into the paper box will prevent the former from slipping out of place, and can easily be removed after serving. On the outside of the tents paint in large, clear letters U. S. A. The crackers are to be eaten with the sweetbreads.
The navy is represented by having the chicken croquettes formed in the shape of a ship, flat, and having one end pointed, the other somewhat rounding. From a druggist get two or three straws, such as are used for soda water, cut them into short lengths, and just before serving, stand two or three in each croquette to represent smokestacks. If these straws cannot be obtained, toothpick masts with paper sails will be quite as effective. The croquettes should be served with green peas--small shot--and scalloped potatoes.
Agricultural or vegetable salad, served in beets, makes a most attractive looking dish. Beets of medium and uniform size are first boiled until tender, then peeled and placed on the ice. When cold cut off a slice at the bottom, so they will stand firm, scoop out the insides, leaving only thin walls. For the filling use peas and apples, celery and beets, cut into small pieces, and mixed well with mayonnaise; fill the beets, serving them on lettuce leaves. The cabinet pudding is that which is to be found in any cook book, baked in individual forms, and served with foamy sauce.
The ices are in the form of horseshoes for good luck, and with them are the Philippine cakes. These are small cakes having in the centre of each a tiny black china doll, two of which can be purchased for a cent at any toy shop. These are put in after the cake is baked and before icing, leaving them just far enough out to show the arms.
The "coffee which makes the politician wise," may be served at the table or after returning to the parlor.
INDEPENDENCE DAY NECESSITIES
1. A powerful submarine weapon of offense.
2. A destroying element, and an accompaniment to an oyster-stew.
3. An ancient civilization, and a feeble means of light.
4. A woman's toilet necessity, and part of a wagon.
5. A color, and the means of warmth.
6. The chief implement of warfare.
7. A two-wheeled vehicle, and the peak of a house.
8. Where Nature's wealth is stored.
9. A kind of stone used in paving.
10. Bardolph's companion in King Henry IV.
11. One kind of headgear.
12. What a wise mother does not do to her baby.
13. A carnation with u instead of i.
14. A musical organization, and a long lapse of time.
15. An Irishman's name, a disorderly uprising, and an intellectual fad.
The answers are held by the hostess, of course, and are only divulged after all the guesses are in. They are as follows:
ANSWERS
1. Torpedoes.
2. Fire-crackers.
3. Roman candles.
4. Pinwheels.
5. Red fire.
6. Guns.
7. Cart-ridge.
8. Mines.
9. Flag.
10. Pistol.
11. Caps.
12. Rock it (Rocket).
13. Pink P(u)nk.
14. Band-ages.
15. Pat-riot-ism.
INDEPENDENCE DAY MENU
Soup a la Americaine (Potato) Colonial Pot Roast Baked Tomatoes Stewed Corn Butter Beans Columbia Salad, with Star-shaped Wafers Virginia Corn Bread Independence Pudding, Hard Sauce Washington Pie Election Cake Nuts Fruit Coffee
INDIAN DINNER PARTY
Invitations may be printed or written on birch bark or paper imitations of same, or on paper cut into the shape of tomahawks, tepees, etc., and may be hand-painted if desired. Decorations should be Indian blankets (as portières, couch covers, and mantel draperies), Indian rugs, baskets, tomahawks, bows and arrows, war clubs, chromos, colored photographs, clay or papier-mâché Indian heads, plaques and busts, etc., any of which would make suitable favors. A miniature wigwam made of blankets in an out-of-the-way corner, adds effectiveness. Footman and maids may be dressed in Indian costumes made of burlap with bright colored trimmings and fringes; or the guests may be invited _en costume_.
For table decoration a skin should be placed over table cloth through the centre of the table and upon it an Indian basket filled with any red or yellow common flowers, such as marigolds or nasturtiums (red and yellow), or better still with wild flowers, red or yellow.
The menu cards and name cards, of stiff ecru paper, have Indian decorations in brilliant red, green and orange; the candles are also striped in the same vivid colors and the candle holders are made of corn husks. The canoe, designed for the entree, which is the chicken, is made of heavy brown paper.
MENU FOR INDIAN DINNER
Squaw Soup (Bouillon) Wigwam Croquettes (Fish) Chicken a la Canoe Saddle of Mutton Choctaw Peas Apache Gravy Arrowhead Potatoes Calumet Squabs Pappoose Rolls Wickiup Salad (Romain) Prune Sioux (Feather Cream) Hiawatha Cakes Indian Punch Grasshopper Cheese Tomahawk Coffee
INDOOR LAWN PARTY
Our social committee, of which I was then chairman, wanted very much to have a lawn party; but the season for such things was quite over, as the evenings were too cool. However, a bright idea occurred to one of our number, and we decided to have an indoor lawn party.
The Saturday afternoon before it was to take place, four of the committee took a team, went out into the woods, and secured a lot of pine boughs, autumn leaves, etc., and Monday evening, which was the evening before it occurred, we increased our force of workers, and went to the vestry to turn it, as far as possible, into an outdoor scene. We trimmed the chandeliers, posts, and every available spot with boughs, strung Japanese lanterns all across the room, made a beautiful bower in one corner for the orchestra, for which we had three pieces, a piano, a violin, and a cornet. In the opposite corner of the room we had a canvas tent where fortunes were told at five cents each (by palmistry) by one of our young lady gypsies. Hammocks were swung from the large stone posts, and a standing double swing was placed on one side of the room, where the younger people enjoyed themselves hugely.
Small tables were put into odd corners of the room, where ice cream and cake were served by ten young ladies in pretty summer costumes. Lemonade was served from an old well, which was a large square box or packing case, covered with canvas, painted to represent a stone wall. To this we attached a well-sweep made from a branch of a tree, tied on a large new tin pail, and served the lemonade in small glasses at two cents a glass. During the evening we had a male quartette gather around the well and sing "The Old Oaken Bucket," and other selections. The orchestra played the whole evening with very short intermissions. On one side of the room was arranged an artistic corner where peanuts were sold at the usual price of five cents a bag.
INITIAL CHARACTERISTICS
1. Popular Bishop Phillips Brooks
2. Fought Every Wine Frances E. Willard
3. Serio-Comic Samuel Clemens
4. Fearless Navigator Fridtjof Nansen
5. Won England's Greatness W. E. Gladstone
6. Little Misses' Admiration Louisa M. Alcott
7. Military Suitor Miles Standish
8. Rollicking Bard Robert Burns
9. United States General U. S. Grant
10. Moral Light Martin Luther
11. Eulogizes Antipodes Edwin Arnold
12. Tamed Ambient Electricity Thomas A. Edison
13. A Cunning Delineator A. Conan Doyle
14. Handles Christians Hall Caine
15. Rabid Iconoclast Robert Ingersoll
16. Histrionic Interpreter Henry Irving
17. Serpentine Belle Sara Bernhardt
18. Equality Benefits Edward Bellamy
19. Just Mother's Boy James M. Barrie
20. Frames Many Chronicles F. Marion Crawford
21. Lord High Celestial Li Hung Chang
22. Original, Witty, Humorous Oliver Wendell Holmes
23. Nipped Bourbonism Napoleon Bonaparte
24. Surgeon, Writer, Metrician S. Weir Mitchell
25. Intelligent Zealot Israel Zangwill
26. Collected Delectable Writings C. D. Warner
27. Curiosity Depicter Charles Dickens
28. Cuba's Benefactor Clara Barton
29. Eminently Zealous Emile Zola
30. Character Revealed Charles Reade
31. Caused Revolutionary Discussion Charles R. Darwin
32. Joyous Lark Jenny Lind
33. Fearless Nurse Florence Nightingale
34. Conspicuous Senator Charles Sumner
35. Ever Frolicsome Eugene Field
36. Suffrage Brings Advantages Susan B. Anthony
37. Pens Lyrical Dialect Paul Laurence Dunbar
38. Always Loyal Abraham Lincoln
39. Great Deed George Dewey
40. Won Recent Surrender W. R. Shafter
JACK-O'-LANTERN PARTY
The little guests at this particular party were invited from three o'clock until seven, and when they arrived they found the rooms were darkened. The lamps had yellow shades, and as such an occasion would not be complete without pumpkin Jack-o'-lanterns, there were
"Pumpkins large and pumpkins small, Pumpkins short and pumpkins tall, Pumpkins yellow and pumpkins green, Pumpkins dull and those with sheen."
They hung in every nook and corner. Even the jardinières filled with flowers were made of them. Wood was crackling and blazing in the large fireplace, as if anxious to do its part to make every one happy, and hanging from the chandelier was a branch of evergreen, with nuts suspended in such a fashion that they readily fell to the floor when given a slight shake. Before this was done, however, each child was given a paper bag to hold the nuts, which tumbled in all directions. Then a huge pasteboard pumpkin covered with yellow crinkled paper was brought in. I do not know what else it was made of; I only know that it looked like a real pumpkin. Bright-colored ribbons hung over the sides, and when the small boys and girls took turns in pulling them, out came all sorts of comical little toys and pretty knickknacks.
Before supper was announced the children were given French snappers in fringed paper, in which they found either a gay cap or apron. After putting them on they marched around the parlors, out into the hall and into the dining-room, while the mother of the little girl who had planned this delightful Hallowe'en party played a marching tune for them.
The greatest surprise of all awaited them in the dining-room, for the walls were covered with large branches of evergreens, making it seem like "real woods"; not a chair was in the room; the little ones were invited to seat themselves on soft cushions placed on the floor, in true picnic style, and they had the jolliest time eating their picnic supper from the yellowest of yellow gourds, which had been hollowed out, lined with Japanese napkins, and filled with just the things children like best. On top of each one was an apple--or at least they thought it was, until taking it in their hands, when it proved to be a bonbon box filled with delicious nut candy. Then there were dainty sandwiches, pop corn balls and salad in orange baskets. But better than these were the gingerbread animals; these were so natural looking that the little ones knew right away which animals were represented.
After supper they played games until seven, when they went home, laden with their bags of nuts and toys and souvenir lanterns.
JAPANESE CARD PARTY
Invitations may be written as the natives write--up and down, instead of across, on rice paper or paper napkins; or little Japanese dolls may be sent, each clasping a note of invitation.
For decorations, use Japanese draperies, cushions, bead curtains, rugs, baskets, swords, scrolls, umbrellas, vases, fans, lanterns, screens, bamboo tables and chairs, Japanese fern balls, with tiny Japanese flags and fans stuck in here and there, red, or red and white Japanese lilies, ferns combined with red and yellow ribbons, etc.; or the walls of the rooms may be entirely covered with branches of trees profusely decorated with cherry blossoms made of pink paper, representing the beautiful gardens of Tokio. Burning Japanese incense will add to the effectiveness. The playing cards used should be lacquered designs in red and yellow--Starlight, Sunlight, Storm, Japanese Lady (Congress brand), and Japanese Garden, Japanese Scenery, and Sunset (Lenox brand). For the signals a Japanese gong should be used in place of a bell. The favors may be Japanese fans, toys and novelties. For keeping score, Japanese paper fans may be had in pairs (for finding partners), and punched with a conductor's punch for games won. Or Japanese dolls may be used, punching their paper kimonos. For prizes, select Japanese incense burners, vases, cloisonné, tablewares, white metal and bronze novelties, lacquer goods, handsome fans, or embroidered kimonos.