Part 1

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.

—Bold text have been rendered as =bold text=.

Popular Pastimes

FOR

Field and Fireside,

OR

Amusements for Young and Old.

CAREFULLY COMPILED BY

AUNT CARRIE.

SPRINGFIELD, MASS.:

PUBLISHED BY MILTON BRADLEY & CO. 1867.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

MILTON BRADLEY & COMPANY,

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

SAMUEL BOWLES AND COMPANY. Printers, Binders and Electrotypers.

AUNT CARRIE

DEDICATES

TO HER YOUNG FRIENDS

THIS BOOK,

IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL ADD TO THEIR

HOME PLEASURES.

Preface.

I WOULD like to make a few suggestions on “home influence,” before I commence a list of amusements. They may be superfluous; if so, I trust you will pardon me.

All parents, I am sure, must feel a deep interest in this subject, and I think will agree with me that judicious praise is quite as necessary in the training of a child as wholesome correction. But if we wish our children to have a genuine love for us, and our homes, we must sympathize with them, and never forget we were once children, and loved childish things.

Mothers have by nature far more sympathy and patience than most fathers. Some fathers are apt to think that home is only a place in which to eat, sleep, and be generally comfortable; but as to giving any of their valuable time to entertaining their own children, why, the very idea is preposterous! A wife is presuming to expect it! Let me appeal to your selfish instincts. You all wish to be loved and revered, and are gratified if your children are attentive to your comforts. Can you expect such manifestations, unless you set them an example, and prove by a real interest in their pleasures, that you sincerely love them? Is it not better to devote at least an hour a day to your children, than to spend every moment in earning money for them, which, unless you rightly direct and train them, will surely prove their ruin?

There is no time in the day when home is so pleasant as at twilight, or in the early evening hour. Then all are gathered (or should be) together at home. In the country it is after tea; in cities, particularly New York, it is after dinner. Then, I entreat you, fathers and mothers, assemble your children around you, devote your time for an hour or two in being children with them, join heartily in all their plays; let them tell what has interested them during the day; draw them out, and encourage them to open their little hearts freely and confide in you.

Some think it childish and silly to play games. Yet if we would only keep our hearts young and happy, we should retain our youth longer, and love our friends and homes better. A good hearty laugh is wholesome.

Mothers, I intreat you to train your own children. Do not leave them to servants. Hire them to relieve you of the care of your house, and to do your sewing; but give your time to your children. “Verily, you will have your reward.”

I have compiled this book to assist you in your home amusements. May it carry to your home circle that spirit of enjoyment which is natural to the young heart, and which should not be absent from the more mature.

Contents.

PAGE

PREFACE, v

CROQUET.

MATERIALS used in the Game—Preparation of the Ground—Choice of Sides—General Principles of the Game—Arrangement of the Bridges—Diagrams—Rules of the Game—Striking the Ball—Running a Bridge—Striking Out—The Rover—Roquet—Croquet and Roquet-Croquet—The Flinch—Suggestions to Beginners—Hints to Players—Carpet Croquet—The Board Game—Vocabulary of Terms, 13

BASE BALL.

Origin of the Game—Rules adopted by “the National Association of Base Ball Players”—Selection and Measuring of Ground—Diagram—Pitcher’s Point and Home Base—Use of the Bat—Description of the Game—The Catcher—The Pitcher—The Short Stop—First Base—Second Base—Third Base—Left Field—Center Field—Right Field—The Umpire—The Scorer, 42

ARCHERY.

Position of the Targets—Attitude in Shooting—Directions—Bows—Targets, 64

GARDENING AND FLOWERS.

Benefit of Children’s Gardens—The Woods—How to Plant Seeds—Ferneries—Ivies—Pressed Flowers—How to Plant and Grow Strawberries—Grapes—Designs for Flowers—To Produce various Flowers from one stem—To Preserve Roses till Winter, 67

ILLUMINATION.

Materials—Lists of Selected Colors—Brushes—Coloring—Table of Colors and Mixed Tints—Design, 85

HOUSE AND HOME ARTS.

Decalcomanie, 98

Engraved Boxes, 101

Coral Flowers and Baskets, 102

Imitation of Inlaid Ivory, 103

Alum Baskets, 103

Painting on Glass, 104

Painting on Velvet, 106

Casting in Plaster, Sulphur, &c., 109

Leather Work, 111

Cigar Boxes made Useful, 116

Potichimanie, 118

Ornaments in Rice Shell Work, 120

Allspice Baskets, 124

Rice or Shell Baskets, 125

Wafer Baskets, 125

Impressions of Butterflies, 126

How to take Impressions of Leaves, 126

Paper Landscapes, 127

NATURAL MAGIC.

The Æolian Harp, 128

The Magic of Acoustics, 129

How Sound travels through a Solid, 129

Singular Example of Superstition, 130

Theory of the Voice, 131

The visibly growing Acorn, 132

DANCING.

Pop goes the Weasel, 134

Lancers, 134

Le Prince Imperial Quadrille, 137

Common Cotillion, 139

Basket Dance, 140

White Cockade, 141

The Waltz and Polka Quadrille, 141

Sir Roger De Coverly or Virginia Reel, 141

Nine-Pin Dance, 142

Caledonian Quadrilles, 142

DRAMATIC AMUSEMENTS.

General Directions for Private Theatricals, 144

Dramatic Reading Clubs, 147

Charades and how to Act them—Examples, 149

Tableaux Vivants, 154

THE SIBYL.

Sibylline Leaves—The Fiat of Fate—Flower Fate—Fate Box, 156

THE PUZZLER.

Conundrums, 160

Enigmas, Charades and Riddles, 162

An Enigmatical Dinner, 168

Paradoxes and Puzzles, 170

Arithmetical Problems, 173

Answers to Conundrums, 175

Answers to Enigmas and Charades, 176

Answers to Paradoxes and Puzzles, 178

Answers to Arithmetical Problems, 180

GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG.

Blind Man’s Buff, 182

Shadow Buff, 183

Blind Man’s Wand, 183

Chinese Shadows, 184

The Comical Concert, 184

The Menagerie, 186

Quaker Meeting, 186

Resemblances, 187

Put in a Word, 188

Proverbs, 188

Game of Characters, 189

Lawyer, 190

Consequences, 190

Fox and Geese, 191

Stage-Coach, 192

Hunt the Fox, 193

Sneezing, 193

The Ready Writer, 193

Rhyming Words in Pantomime, 194

Exhibition of the Modern Giant, 196

The Shadow at Command, 197

The Wizard of the East, 198

How to Bring a Person down upon a Feather, 199

The Apparent Impossibility, 200

The Turned Head, 200

Statuary, 201

“He can do little who can’t do this,” 201

“Brother, I’m Bobbed,” 202

“How do You Like it? When do You Like it? And Where will You Put it?” 202

The Bird Catcher, 203

Questions and Answers, 206

The Magic Wand, 206

The Rhyming Game, 207

The Game of Twenty Questions, 208

Game of Photograph, 210

York and Lancaster, or the War of the Roses, 212

Post-Office, 214

Hand-writing on the Wall, 214

Graces, 215

Family Newspaper, 216

GAMES OF MEMORY.

Grand Panjandrum, 218

“Le Jardin de ma tante,” 219

A Good Fat Hand 219

PARLOR GAMES.

Squails, 222

Parlor, or Carpet Bowls, 226

The Union Game, or Red, White and Blue, 227

Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life, 229

Grecian Games, 230

Jack-Straws, 231

GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.

Dance, Thumbkin, Dance! 233

Uncle John, 234

Mother Goose, 234

Clap out and Clap in, 235

Fingers and Thumbs, 236

“You are nothing but a Goose,” 237

Buzz, 238

The Puzzle Wall, 239

Dolls, 240

Boys, 241

Play-Ground Rhymes, 243

Forfeits, 244

Croquet.

CROQUET has been for several years one of the most popular pastimes in England, and is now very justly receiving a large and rapidly increasing share of attention in this country. It is unmistakably a game of _science_, in which the brain, as well as the muscles and nerves, has an essential part to perform,—thus very closely resembling billiards, to which game it is in some respects superior, in that it is a more social game, and gives an opportunity for healthful open air exercise.

Unlike most of out-of-door sports, it does not require the possession of great strength or powers of endurance, or severe muscular exertion on the part of the player. Excellence in it is almost equally attainable to the weakly and delicate as to the healthy and robust. Old and young meet on its arena on more nearly equal terms than in any other known game of skill. A “correct eye,” steady hands and nerves, and good judgment, are the essential qualifications for a good player, and the possession of these advantages of course is not dependent upon the age, sex, or condition of the person.

And it may perhaps be considered as the chief excellence of this game that it gives this opportunity, which very few other games, combining scientific play and physical exercise, afford, for persons of the opposite sexes and disparity of age to join in one common amusement. It should be a matter of congratulation to all to see the rapidly increasing popularity of any healthful open air sport in this country.

We predict for Croquet a success wider in this than it has reached in any other country. When we work or fight, we work and fight harder than any other people, and we should be as enthusiastic in our play.

In preparing this chapter on Croquet we have endeavored to explain the general principles of the game, and to present a code of rules, simple, concise, and shorn as far as possible of technicalities of expression, but comprehensive enough to include all points necessary to a thorough understanding of the game.

In Rules of the Game, explanatory remarks are enclosed in brackets.

MATERIALS OF THE GAME.

A COMPLETE set of Croquet consists of _eight balls, eight mallets, ten iron bridges, and two posts_.

The balls should be about ten inches in circumference, perfectly spherical, and should weigh about eight ounces. They should be designated by different colors, either by painting the entire surface of the ball, or by a stripe of the color merely. But the first method is much to be preferred, as a ball needs all the protection it can have to preserve it from the effects of the weather, and for this purpose nothing is better than good oil paint and varnish. There is a universal predisposition towards large balls by all novices in the game; but experience will invariably give the preference to a ball not more than ten inches in circumference, if of rock maple or birch, and if of box-wood, not more than nine and one-half inches.

The mallet head should be about 2⅜ inches in diameter, and 4¼ inches long, shaped somewhat like a dice-box; and the handle 33 inches long, 15/16 of an inch in diameter in the largest part, and ⅝ of an inch in the smallest. It is customary to paint some portion of the mallets to correspond to the colors on the balls. This is a very great advantage in distinguishing the different players and assisting the memory to connect them with their respective balls, and we much prefer it; but some players prefer to leave the mallets undistinguished, and to allow each player to select his own,—choosing such weight, size and length as he may desire—and perhaps there is no objection to this. A feeble or delicate person may not be able to play as well with a mallet of the standard size as his opponent, and thus will be upon an unequal footing with him at the outset; while, if each selects such as is suitable to his or her condition, all will be satisfactorily equipped, and, of course, upon equal terms, as far as the implements are concerned. For balls and mallet heads good rock maple is the most desirable of all our native woods, and hickory is the best for mallet handles. Box-wood is very good for mallet heads, but is too heavy for balls. Box-wood mallet heads and good rock maple balls, well painted, make an elegant and superior set, and are preferable to a complete box-wood set, while rosewood and lignum-vitæ balls are little better than iron, and entirely unfit to use.

The bridges should be made of iron wire about 5/16 of an inch in diameter, in form like an ox-bow. The width of the bridge should be equal to the circumference of the ball, and the hight such that when firmly set it will stand out of the ground a distance equal to its width. They should be uniform in color. White is best, as it is more easily seen, and contrasts more pleasingly with the green of the turf. Some have adopted the practice of painting them of different colors, but the reason assigned seems not to be a good one, and experience almost unanimously pronounces in favor of a uniform light color.

One manufacturer has adopted and patented the happy idea of galvanizing or plating the iron bridges with zinc, which gives them a _permanent_ light color, and at the same time perfectly preserves them from rust.

Some writers assert that withs or firkin hoops answer very well for bridges. They may answer as a very poor substitute, but a good croquet player would no sooner play with such materials than a billiard player with a slack rope for a cushion or an umbrella for a cue. In many of the scientific “shots” of the game, the player calculates upon the rigidity of the bridges, and an iron bridge, when set in sandy soil, is at best none too rigid; and with loose or springy bridges the game loses much of its attraction to a good player.

The posts should be about 28 inches long, 1½ inches in diameter in the largest part, and pointed so as to be driven into the ground. They should have rings painted on them corresponding to the colors of the balls, and of such width that the bottom ring will be as high from the ground as the top of the bridges. Thus, supposing the post to be 28 inches long, commencing at the top, make each ring 1¼ inches wide. This will occupy 10 inches, and hence allow the posts to be driven into the ground 8 inches, and still have the lowest color so high from the turf that it can be easily seen from any portion of the ground. The order of the colors on the post is not essential so long as the light and dark colors alternate; but the two uppermost colors belong to the chiefs of the two sides, and therefore most properly should be black and white, as those are the best representatives of dark and light colors. The exact arrangement of the succeeding colors is immaterial, but the following is very good, commencing at the top:

1. Black. │ 5. Brown. 2. White. │ 6. Red. 3. Blue. │ 7. Green. 4. Yellow. │ 8. Pink.

As the order of the colors on the posts governs that of the play, and since those on each side play alternately, it follows that in a game of eight the dark balls, black, blue, brown, and green, are matched against the light ones, white, yellow, red and pink.

Many devices have been suggested for marking the bridges when run, such as clips or markers, painting the bridges different colors, &c., &c., but they have all proved to be useless, as a player who is interested in the game will remember his own position more easily than he will remember to change the marker.

THE GROUND.

IN contemplating the preparation of a Croquet ground, the first question that occurs is, how much and what kind of ground is necessary. The size of the ground, as well as the distance between the bridges, is governed very much by the taste and accommodation of the owner.

A model Croquet ground has been defined as an elliptical field one hundred feet long and sixty feet wide, with the bridges from nine to twelve feet apart; but persons possessed of only a limited plot of ground need not conclude that the above dimensions are absolutely necessary, for a very interesting game may be played on ground not more than sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, with the bridges from six to eight feet apart. The bounds may be imaginary lines defined by corner bounds, or they may be walks or other natural bounds suggested by the nature of the ground; or if a plot is prepared expressly for the purpose, a ditch about eight inches wide, and six inches deep, well turfed is probably the best bound that can be made.

A smooth, closely cut turf is always to be chosen, and is improved by a thorough rolling with a very heavy roller, or, if that is not available, a few hours’ work with a heavy mall will bring the ground into very good condition. Next to having the turf smooth, the most important point is to have the ground level; and yet a very good game can be played on an uneven or sloping ground, if in making the strokes and determining the necessary force and direction, a proper calculation is made with reference to the condition of the surface over which the ball is to pass. It in fact shows more skill to play a good game upon a poor ground than upon a perfect one.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE GAME.

TWO players being designated captains or chiefs, one for each side, sides are chosen in the usual manner. The privilege of first choice of players is very conveniently decided between the chiefs by each placing his ball under the first bridge and striking for the starting post; the one who thus drives his ball nearest the post gaining the first choice.

The chief who has the first choice takes the ball corresponding in color with the top of the post, and the other chief the next ball according to the order of the colors on the posts, while the remaining balls are given to the other players in the order in which they are chosen. (See remark under Rule II.)

Eight persons can play, but a game of four or six is the most interesting. If four or more play, each player uses but one ball; but if only two play, the game is improved by each player taking two balls and playing them alternately as usual. If there be an odd number of players—either three, five or seven—the players play against each other individually, or one person takes two balls and plays each in its proper turn.