For Christmas Parties
At Christmas parties, at which guests of all ages are found, it is sometimes a perplexing riddle to the hostess to know how to entertain them all. Musical items which may delight the older members of the company may only serve to render younger folk restless and dull, and dancing is not always possible in rooms of limited size. Moreover, there are still many young folk who are unable to set their feet nimbly to waltz and two-step, and would much prefer a romp to whirling round in time to a measure.
Self-consciousness and shyness are usually very evident when the party enters the drawing-room, and this coating of ice, if not thawed quickly, will rapidly freeze into impenetrable restraint and gloom. At such times a good game, quickly organized, is invaluable. The rules should be explained by the hostess in so simple a manner that the youngest person present can follow them, and everything necessary should be arranged beforehand to avoid awkward delays and pauses.
The Clothes-pin Game
The players are formed into two lines a few feet apart; at the top and bottom of the lines are two tables upon which as many pins as there are players are placed, and exactly divided into two heaps. The hands of all are crossed at the wrists. The first players of each line use the second player’s right hand to pick up a pin. The latter in the same way passes it to the next player, and in this manner it goes through the lines to the table at the end, upon which the last players place it. Meanwhile, of course, the first players are sending other pins down the rows.
The line that succeeds in removing all the pins in the heap from one table to the other in the shortest time wins the game. The fun lies in the awkward manipulation of one’s neighbor’s hand. Should a pin be dropped in the process, it must be picked up by the umpire and returned to the top table, and throughout the game the wrists must be kept crossed.
Proverbs
One of the party retires while the rest decide upon a well-known proverb. When he returns, he stands in the center of a semicircle. Some one taps three times with a stick, and at the third tap each player shouts one word of the proverb loudly and simultaneously. This is repeated three times, and it is amazing how difficult it is to distinguish even the most well-known proverb in the uproar.
Should one word give the key to the player not in the secret, the individual who speaks it takes his place. For instance, in the proverb, “All is not gold that glitters,” it may happen that the word “glitters” provides the keynote. Therefore, he or she who speaks it takes the place of the one who guesses.
The proverb must contain as many words as there are players, and each shouts only the one word allotted to him.