IT IS TO LAUGH

EDNA GEISTER

IT IS TO LAUGH

A Book of Games and Stunts

BY
EDNA GEISTER
ADVISOR AND DIRECTOR OF RECREATION
Author of “Ice-Breakers,” “The Ice-Breaker
Herself,” etc.

THE WOMANS PRESS
600 LEXINGTON AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY

COPYRIGHT, 1922,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOREWORD

Amos R. Wells said, “Recreation is re-creation, or a re-fashioning of the soul in the image of God wherein it was created.”

Real recreation is just that. All through the war every effort was made to fill the leisure time of soldiers and sailors with recreation rather than dissipation, the kind of recreation that made leisure time an asset rather than a liability. Since the war, with the great impetus it gave the movement, recreation work in churches, in communities, in schools, and in almost every kind of social service work, has been put on the same constructive basis, and it is being looked upon not merely as a side issue or as “entertainment,” but rather is respected as one of the most vital forces for a re-fashioning of souls in the image of God wherein they were created.

“It Is to Laugh” was written for the purpose of answering requests of re-creators everywhere, who are in constant need of new material in their recreative work. The games and stunts described do “entertain,” but behind the inevitable resultant hearty, healthy laughter is the re-creation that gives one a new lease on life, that makes one sure that life is good to live, and that helps one to live life joyfully and abundantly. If “It Is to Laugh” may help in accomplishing this, it will have served its purpose.

Many of the ideas for these games are not original but have come from co-workers in the Y.W.C.A., from members of training classes at the University of Chicago, and from delegates to recreational conferences all over the country, and I wish in this way to express my sincere appreciation of their coöperation, and to thank them for their invaluable assistance in promoting the gospel of re-creation.

Edna Geister.

CONTENTS

IT IS TO LAUGH

IT IS TO LAUGH

CHAPTER I.
MIXERS.

The time set for the party is 8 o’clock, but by 8:15 there are about twenty arrivals instead of the one hundred expected, and they are standing about stiff and formal, politely ready to do anything the program committee asks, so that they may go home feeling virtuous in having done their duty, but dangerously near the attitude of mind that will tempt them, the next time a party is announced, to follow Rebecca’s example of “letting duty go to smash!”—all this unless something happens, and that, right away!

At one time we might have met this situation by putting on a simple little game to keep those twenty guests there until the rest of the crowd came, but it was hardly necessary to make that mistake twice to realize the futility of those tactics. Any game is a flat failure that does not call forth a real social spirit and a real play spirit, but that spirit does not just happen. It must be definitely worked for and created through socializing games, while just “fill-ins till the crowd comes” can utterly ruin the prospects for creating that spirit that makes recreation, re-creation. For example, “The Gathering of the Nuts” invariably brings down the house when it is given its right place in an evening’s program, but presented at the first of the evening when guests are straggling in, one by one, and there is as yet no relaxation and group spirit, it would inevitably be a dismal failure.

Therefore, instead of putting on some casual stunt just to keep guests from leaving, or just to fill in time till the other guests arrive, we have found it far more advisable to have informal group singing around the piano for the first ten or fifteen minutes, and then begin the evening proper, even if there are only some twenty or thirty guests present, with a game that is very definitely a mixer, the one purpose of which is not so much to entertain as to “socialize,” in almost every case the mixer being some big general movement in which there is a lot of fun and nonsense just like there is in the games that follow later, but with this important difference—that every person present is in this first event in some game that pries him loose from the corner he chose on arrival as his abiding place for the evening; a game that gives him an incentive other than a sense of duty for shaking hands vigorously with his fellow guests; a game that makes him feel this party as his own personal responsibility; in short, a game which shows him that he alone counts as nothing, but that he, together with every other guest present, counts for everything.

“Spots” is a splendid example of a mixer that will so thoroughly mix up a group of guests that they never will succeed in getting sorted out again into their original classifications:

Spots.

The leader has chosen seven or eight places in the room as the “spots,” and has a list of them at hand. All of them have been carefully chosen, and she alone knows where they are. Guests are standing about informally when the announcement is made that in about two minutes a whistle will be blown, at which time the couple standing on a certain spot will receive a handsome reward. At the same time however, anyone seen standing alone will be fined. A partner is essential to winning a prize or to make one immune to a fine. Even if a person is standing on the lucky spot at the time the whistle blows, if he is alone he must pay the fine, one cent.

To promote a general moving around, and to add to the spirit of the game, lively march music is played all the time the guests are supposed to be moving, although no definite line of march is encouraged.

Two additional rules insure the success of “Spots.” After the first spot has been found and the prize awarded, the game goes on and another spot in some other part of the room is the lucky one. But no person can have the same partner he had while the first spot was being sought. The same fine of one cent is imposed on any two people who seem to think they have an option on each other.

The same thing is true of location. Anyone found standing in the same place he occupied during the first round, is fined, with much publicity.

The game goes on until the seven or eight spots have been located and the “handsome rewards” given out. All the spots have been chosen with the purpose in mind to get guests absolutely relaxed, thoroughly mixed and free from any stiff formality. That is why a definite line of march would be fatal. Instead, let the first spot be behind the piano; the next on the platform; the next leaning up against a pillar, etc., etc.

To sum up, the rules are as follows:

1. Everyone must have a partner.

2. Partners must be changed for every round.

3. No one is allowed to stand in the same place for two successive rounds.

Four or five so-called “policemen” assist the leader in detecting violators of these rules and much publicity is given the fining of the offenders.

The success of the game depends entirely on the ability of the leader to make her guests feel the great desirability of finding one of those elusive lucky spots. No one knows where they are. All they know is that it behooves them to move, to get a partner, to keep moving, and to keep on getting partners!

Shake Hands!

Now shake hands, everybody, whether you know each other or not. Let’s be sociable. Shake hands!

You have heard that before? And immediately you started in to shake hands with friend and foe and foreigner? Hardly. No real incentive is offered there for shaking hands with people you have never seen before or people you see every day of your life, no incentive other than a sense of duty, and a sense of duty is not what one would call particularly successful in promoting the real spirit of sociability which makes a social evening, or the lack of which, breaks it.

It does seem so inane to ask people to shake hands with each other, and yet, if a leader can once get a group to laugh heartily as a group, if she can give them a sufficiently interesting incentive for grasping the hand of a neighbor with real vim and enthusiasm even if it is for the purpose of saving themselves from dire penalties!—they are won and one for the rest of the evening! But just telling guests to be sociable and to shake hands will not do it.

It is necessary to create a setting and furnish an incentive, and instead of playing on the guest’s sense of duty, to play on their sense of humor.

They are invited to shake hands with each other, but are warned that the only handshake allowed is a vigorous side-to-side swing, and are further cautioned that it is fully as great a crime to be seen using the ordinary handshake as it is to be caught not shaking hands at all; that several “policemen” in the crowd will see to it that these laws are enforced; and finally, that any violator of these laws will certainly repent at leisure and in public.

Some ten policemen are chosen, their number of course depending on the size of the group. At a signal the handshaking begins. The policemen are more than vigilant in discharging their duties, and several culprits who were caught standing about “just looking on”, and some of the ladies who shook hands in a manner not vigorous enough to suit the policemen, are escorted to the platform, there to sit in the public eye till the leader’s whistle stops the frantic, vigorous handshaking, which should be given about five minutes time.

The next game of the evening might well be a hoax, with these culprits used as the victims.

Southpaws.

This is very much like “Shake Hands” in its object and in its rulings. The difference lies in the kind of handshaking permitted. The rule is that the left hand only is to be used in shaking hands. At irregular intervals a whistle is blown and anyone caught not actually shaking the left hand of some other guest at that particular moment is punished in the same way in which culprits in the game “Shake Hands!” are taken care of.

Of course there are policemen, whose one object in life is to catch someone napping, or a bit negligent in the evidence he gives of a very active and left-handed spirit of sociability!

My Virtues!

“Mrs. Kalen, let me present Mr. Black.”

“Mrs. Frummly, have you met Mr. Stewart?” and so on, world without end! This, at a large gathering, the one object of which is to get members of a community to really know each other! And at that, if it were possible for the hosts to see that every guest was introduced to every other guest, would even that do a great deal toward helping members of a community to know each other, other than to have spoken one another’s names? Put a human and socializing element in those introductions, and they will know more about each other than just names, and what’s more, they’ll like each other!

The men form one line and the women another, all of them facing the front of the room. When the music starts the men march down one side of the room to the back, and the women down the other. They meet and take partners as they come in the line of march, coming up the center of the room with their partners. When they reach the front, all couples march to the right, forming a large double circle around the room. The leader then makes an announcement to the effect that in order to make sure that everyone knows all the virtues of his fellow guests, splendid opportunities will be given for the flaunting of those virtues. Partners face each other, shake hands, introduce themselves, and then, with hands on hips, begin telling all the nice things they know about themselves, real or imaginary.

The only difficulty is that they have to do it at the same time, which makes it hard occasionally for one’s partner to hear about all the lovely qualities one possesses or aspires to possess! They are given just a minute for this when another whistle is blown which is a signal for the men only to walk forward until a second whistle stops them. The woman nearest them is their next partner. They shake hands with these new partners, and one’s virtues again become the topic of importance.

This continues for not more than five minutes. That will be enough!

Is it necessary to say that next day, when Mrs. Kalen meets Mr. Black at the bank, that she doesn’t wonder, “Have I ever met that man before?” Rather, it is, “Why, good morning, Mr. Black! Are you still the perfect man you thought yourself last night?”

Prohibited Words.

We have used over and over again the game in which certain words are prohibited, but we used it as a game that had a definite time limit. It has proved far more effective to put a ban on those words for the entire evening. Perhaps these words are “Yes” and “No,” or “You” and “I.” All through the evening those words are forbidden. Anyone heard using them pays a fine to the one who caught him making that social error.

At each offense a fine of one candy or one bean or one of whatever thing is used as the means of exchange, is exacted from the one who made the error. This means of exchange may depend on the season. On Valentine Day it might be little candy hearts in small bags; at Easter, little candy eggs; or at Christmas, tiny bright red candies. However, just plain beans may be used, a small bag being provided in which to carry them.

Perhaps you think that if candy is used, your guests may eat their means of exchange before the evening is half over. Warn them against it. Then, at the end of the evening, just before the last game, ask for a count of their “money,” and as it happens, “To him that hath shall be given.” The richest one is given additional riches in the shape of a box of candy, with the assurance that he need not open it till he gets home! The ten who made the most lapses and consequently have the least money, and those who ate most of their money, are obliged to give up any they still hold and to sit on the platform as the infant class while their brighter and less greedy brothers and sisters march past them, munching their candy!

It is easy enough to remember not to say “Yes” or “No” to anyone, when that is the particular game of the moment, but to have to remember not to use those words through all the nonsense of the evening is a slightly different matter. Another very good phase of this game as a mixer is that it gives a real incentive for people to talk to each other, even if they have never seen one another before—all for the sake of a bean!

Gossip.

A circle is formed, with from three to six people in the center, their number to be determined by the size of the circle. Guests are warned that it is the object of these people in the center to get out of it, and that the only way they can do it is to get someone else in, in their place; that their method of doing this is very effective, and that it behooves every last one of them to learn the name and occupation of his neighbor on either side, together with one juicy bit of gossip concerning him.

At a signal from the leader, each one of the people in the center turns around, snaps his fingers at some person who did not expect it, and asks this victim to instantly give all the required information about both of his neighbors. If he fails, into the center he goes, changing places with the person who caught him napping.

The neighbor is supposed to offer the juicy bit of gossip himself, but sometimes his imagination fails him, or his egotism overcomes him, and it is up to the victim pointed at to use his own imagination. Therefore it is not unusual to have the following information shouted out by an excited victim who fears a place in the center: “My right-hand neighbor’s name is The Minister; his occupation is ministering and he has been in jail four times!”

All the others in the center have been asking for information at the same time and after a minute or two the leader calls out, “Change your neighbors!” and everyone is to find a new set of neighbors for himself. A great deal of publicity and a place in the center is promised anyone who does not get into a new neighborhood!

This game is played not more than five minutes, for with such an incentive all guests will know each other intimately long before five minutes are over!

It Pays to Advertise.

As each guest comes in the door he is given a slip of paper on which is written a number. When all the guests have arrived the leader asks all “tens” to congregate at the piano, while “threes” get together in one corner, “fives” in another, etc., etc. As the different groups assemble the leader goes rapidly from one group to another, and reading from her list, assigns each group some advertisement which they are to dramatize. A few impromptu properties such as a shrunken sweater, candles, newspapers, and crackers, are available.

After the four or five minutes allowed for preparation, each group in turn dramatizes the advertisement assigned it, and must continue action until the audience guesses correctly what advertisement is being represented. To avoid the situation which often develops when such a contest is on, an announcement is made to the effect that there is to be no guessing until the actors have completed their stunt. Then if there is no correct guess, the dramatization must begin again and continue until it is made so realistic that the audience guesses what it is in self-defense, or else gives up in dismay!

The following suggestions may be helpful:

1. Ivory Soap. “It Floats.” Members of the group go flitting about the stage as though they were walking on air, waving their arms and in general acting in ethereal fashion.

2. Eversharp. Riddles which have been prepared beforehand are put to a class by the teacher. The class having been thoroughly drilled in the answers, respond with a snap and a brilliancy that amazes the audience!

3. Uneeda Biscuit. Let them pantomime exhaustion, plainly showing by their actions that they are starved. A doctor rushes in, makes them stick out their tongues, (which they do with artistic effect), sing up the scale, blow up their cheeks, holding them that way indefinitely, close one eye, etc. In short, he carefully diagnoses the case, after which he swells up with pride at having found what the trouble was. He dashes to his bag, takes out a box of crackers, and makes each patient eat one, whereupon they all hop around, exhibiting marvelous life and enthusiasm, apparently cured for life.

4. Blue Jay Corn Plaster. The men of the group take the part of the blue jays, blue because of aching corns which they indicate by a mournful expression and painful hobbling around. The “jay” element is taken care of by tousled hair and disheveled clothing. They give evidence of considerable pain, which evidence grows louder and louder until the women of the group come dashing in as nurses, with handkerchiefs or pieces of white cloth bound about their heads. They inquire in pantomime about the cause of such evident trouble and having learned it, bind up the entire foot of the patient, thereby making life again worth living for the “Blue Jays.”

5. Whistle. It speaks for itself.

6. Bon Ami. The men come running in with smudges on their faces, followed in great haste by the ladies, who are very evidently trying to catch them. Finally they succeed and holding their victims firmly by the shoulders, with handkerchiefs as instruments of torture they pantomime a vigorous face-scrubbing, polishing the face as they would a window. When they have finished, they view the results with much satisfaction, while their victims pantomime the discomfort they undoubtedly feel.

7. Pears’ Soap. All the members of a group are “paired” off and either wander about in pairs or busily wash each others’ faces, always in pairs.

8. Colgate’s Toothpaste. “Lies flat on the brush.” A man appears, throws a hairbrush on the floor and lies down “flat upon it.”

9. Wool Soap. A large lady whose arms are sticking through the sleeves of a white sweater many sizes too small for her, looks tragically at the result of her not having used Wool Soap, while the rest of the group go into spasms of mirth at the picture she presents.

10. Fiske Tires. “Time to Retire.” All the members of this group file stumblingly across the stage, each one carrying a candle and yawning, and looking so irresistibly sleepy that everyone in the audience yawns just to look at them!

With some groups it will not be necessary to provide advertisements, and it will be sufficient to announce that each group is to think of its own and that a prize will be given to the most original stunt, but with the average group it is very helpful to have either a list of advertisements at hand, together with properties, or to be sure that in each group there is someone who can be depended upon to take the initiative for that group in putting on a really effective stunt. I speak from experience!

Limited Conversation.

Perhaps you are responsible for the “socializing” of a very large group, most of the guests being strangers to each other, and you wish to break the ice and to get guests into the spirit that makes for easy and truly social conversation.

To announce certain topics of conversation and ask that everyone talk on just those topics with one’s neighbors in such a group as has just been described, often has an effect that is more tongue-tieing than socializing in its effect, and a human kink must be put into the plan to make it really effective in getting your guests into the relaxed and jovial spirit that does wonders with a group, however large or “strange.”

A list of topics for conversation is made out as usual, but a ruling is added that makes conversation on these topics far more difficult and therefore far more interesting than just plain conversation which is very evidently for the purpose of “mixing up” a strange group. That ruling might be that every statement must be the very opposite of what one really thinks about the question of the moment. For example, the question may be, “Do you believe in Woman Suffrage?” According to the ruling, no matter how thoroughly a man despises the thought of Woman Suffrage, he is obliged to vehemently defend it, and no matter how ardent a suffragette his immediate neighbor may be, she is to scorn it with every breath.

After a minute or two the next topic is announced. It might be “What do you like best?” and everyone is to pick upon the thing he most dislikes and eulogize it to the best of his ability. That same ruling applies to all the six or seven topics announced, and to say the least, startling statements are the result, to say nothing of the hilarity that is inevitable over a conversation with the Baptist minister’s wife who vows that picking potato bugs is her favorite pastime!

This group is a large one, so no effort is made to pair guests off with partners but topics are announced, together with the ruling that one’s immediate neighbors are one’s partners, and that guards will patrol the room to see that no one talks on any subject but the one announced, to see that everyone is talking, and that the limitation imposed is very strictly observed. To make sure that they talk to more than one person the guests are asked to change their immediate neighborhoods between topics. The breaking of any of these rules calls for a forfeit.

If one is entertaining a small group in a home, a progressive system of partners is arranged, by which guests progress from one partner to another. Each one is given a card on which a number is written, ladies holding even numbers and men, odd. On the men’s cards in addition, is written their conversation program, namely, the numbers of the partners they are to have for the different topics of conversation, and it is their business to hunt up each new partner as the signal for the change is given. For example, Mr. Hunt is No. 5. His program reads: 6, 8, 2, 12, 4, 10. That means that for the first topic his partner is to be No. 6 and that when the game starts he is to hunt her up and talk earnestly with her on the first topic. A bell is rung after about two minutes and he must hunt up No. 8 and talk with her about the second topic, and so he progresses from one partner to another until he has talked with his last partner on the last topic.

Another limitation which may be applied to conversation is that all statements must contain one’s own initials. The question may be, “What is your favorite sport?” Mr. Graham’s initials are S. M. G. so his favorite sport is obliged to be, “Selling moldy groceries!”

Still another limitation maybe that all remarks be untruths. A further limitation, and a painful one, but one which is particularly good for a small crowd, is that all statements must be made in rhyme, no matter how inevitably abominable the rhyming may be!

Topics may include any possible subject, from current events to modes of dress. The following list is typical:

1. What is your favorite sport?

2. Do you believe in Protective Tariff?

3. Will bobbed hair stay with us?

4. Who is your favorite poet?

5. What is your occupation?

6. What do you like best to eat?

7. What would you like to be?

A period of two or three minutes is given for each conversation. The whole affair should last not longer than from fifteen to twenty minutes. You will find that that will be plenty long enough! Imagine a period not longer than that for a conversation on the above topics, carried on in rhyme!

The following are the answers given by the principal of the High School at a church party in a Middle West town:

1. “To ride a big fat elephant has always been my favorite stunt.”

2. “I’d hate to have you think I’m rude, but what is it, a breakfast food?”

3. “I really don’t profess to know, but I hope to goodness it will go.”

4. “Walt Mason is my favorite poet, he’s got the goods and he can show it.”

5. “I am a banker brave and bold; I grab the cash and keep it cold.”

6. “Most everything’s what I like best; to get enough, there lies the test.”

7. “I’d like to be a billionaire and make the whole world stand and stare.”

Holidays.

The question as to their birthmonths is asked of the guests, and they are grouped together accordingly, the Januarys over behind the piano, the Junes at the rear entrance, etc., etc. Each group is then asked to dramatize a holiday of the month it represents. No properties have been made available as this is to be distinctly an impromptu affair. They are all given about ten minutes for preparation, and then they are called on, one by one, to do their stunts. They are not called by name however, but by “location.” For example, the first group called on might be the one in the bay window, and the next, the one in the dining room.

When each group has finished its stunt, and only then, the audience is to guess what holiday they represent, and if the guesses are incorrect, the stunt must be repeated.

The following list of holidays has been found to work to good advantage.

1. January—New Year.

2. February—Washington’s birthday.

3. March—St. Patrick’s Day.

4. April—April Fool’s Day.

5. May—May Day.

6. June—Anybody’s Wedding.

7. July—July Fourth.

8. August—Mr. Ribbon Clerk’s Vacation.

9. September—Labor Day.

10. October—Hallowe’en.

11. November—Thanksgiving.

12. December—Christmas.

Bag Handshake.

Each guest is given a paper bag which is to be put on his right hand. He is to shake hands with everyone in sight, the bag being an indicator of how zealous he has been in his efforts! As soon as it is worn out he may rest in peace, but not until then.

The Little Theater.

The plan of “Holidays” is used over and over with different “motives.” One of them is musical. The words of a song like “Yankee Doodle” are written out on separate slips which are numbered alike. They might all be numbered. “1.” The second song might be “Dixie,” and its words are similarly written out on slips and numbered “2.” Each guest is given a number and is asked to find all others who have the same number. When everyone has found his or her group they are to have just a very few minutes in which to practice their song. When the time is up the leader calls out each group in turn and asks them to sing their song, at the same time putting enough dramatic action into their performance to really get the motive of the song across! The group which the judges agree on as best gets a bag of peanuts.

Dressing Up.

There is nothing like “dressing up” to make a crowd relax and laugh. Therefore, with a large group of guests, most of them strangers to one another, use caps and bells for as successful a mixer as you could desire. Fancy paper caps can be bought very inexpensively when bought in quantity, and the same is true of tiny bells. Each guest is provided with a little bell which has a string attached by which to hang it around his neck, and also one of these foolish paper caps. They are all asked to put on both bells and caps and to keep them on all evening.

A crowd of guests thusly adorned looks foolish enough to furnish entertainment for a long, long time!

Circle Handshake.

It is good psychology to have a genuine mixer at the end of the evening as well as at the beginning. After the last game, the guests form a circle. The leader asks the one standing nearest the door to shake hands with his right-hand neighbor, and then to continue shaking hands all the way around the circle, telling each one “Good-night” until he has gone completely around, after which he drops out of the circle. At the same time however, all the others are beginning to do the same thing. He had no sooner finished shaking hands with his right-hand neighbor and gone on to the next one and then on to the next, than this same right-hand neighbor began doing the same thing, shaking the hand of his neighbor to the right, and so on around the circle. Each one does the same thing, that is, after No. 2 has passed No. 3, No. 3 starts immediately to shake hands around the circle, and as soon as he passes No. 4, No. 4 does the same thing.

In this way it is inevitable that everyone shakes hands with everyone else and bids them all “Good-night.”

CHAPTER II.
GROUP GAMES.

Games for Small Groups.

Altruism.

Each one is asked to write out a stunt that any ordinary person could do. These stunts are collected, mixed up and then passed around, although nothing has been said about this having been planned! Each person is then requested to do the stunt written out on the slip of paper given him, whether he can or not!

Cruelty.

In this game each one is asked to write out a stunt that he would hate to have to do himself. When these stunts are all written out, an announcement is made to the effect that, in turn, they will all please perform the stunts they so kindly thought of.

Noise.

Each guest is asked to choose the part of some very well-known barnyard animal. The leader is to read a story she has written which is all about barnyard animals and which makes frequent mention of all of them. As she mentions each different animal, the noise it makes is to be imitated by the one who chose that particular animal. But whenever she speaks of the donkey everyone in the room is to imitate the donkey to the best of his ability and at the top of his lungs!

The Toyshop.

The entire group is supposed to have been on a shopping expedition on which toys only were purchased. They are not to tell what they bought but when called on, each one is to imitate the sound and action of her toy, and is to continue doing so until the name of the toy is guessed.

Smile!

Guests are either sitting or standing in two lines facing each other. The hostess, who holds a boy’s cap in her hand, tells one side that the inside of the cap is the signal for them to act, and the other side that the top of the cap is their signal. She stands between the rows and throws the cap up into the air. If it lands on the floor bottom side up, the side which has the inside of the cap for a signal must immediately go into roars of laughter, or they may giggle, simper, tee-hee, or show mirth in any way in their efforts to make the other side smile even the least little bit. Anyone who does smile at all goes over to the side of the enemy in disgrace.

The hostess acts as timekeeper and after a few seconds she throws the cap into the air again, and if it lands right side up the other group becomes hilarious and puts forth every effort to gain new members. After about three minutes of this, the hostess announces that each side will have one more turn (she manages to throw the cap so that will happen), that a count will be taken at the end of that time, and that the side which gained the most new members gets almost all of the refreshments, and the other side almost none of them!

And I.

Choose three people who are quickwitted. The first of the three goes around the circle quietly giving everyone a name; the second, an action; and the last one a place. When each guest has been told a name, an action, and a place, the hostess begins the fairy tale by making a sentence of the three things told her, adding however “and I” to the name given her. For example, she has been given the following. “Grandmother,” “Cracking the whip,” “Baptist Church.” Her sentence would be “Grandmother and I were cracking the whip in the Baptist Church!” The one to her right then takes up the tale. Her assignment was: “Hired man,” “Getting a permanent wave,” “In the shade of the old apple tree.” Her sentence is, “The hired man and I were getting a permanent wave in the shade of the old apple tree.”

So it continues around the circle, and a weirder set of experiences never occurred!

Impromptu Artists.

Pass around pencils and paper. Assign a “model” to each artist, in every case having model and artist across from each other if possible. This arrangement makes every guest both an artist and a model. At a signal they begin their artistry and are given three minutes in which to draw portraits of the models assigned. All artists must put their names on their pictures, but models’ names are omitted. The pictures are collected at the end of three minutes, are shuffled and again passed around.

Each guest must decide who he thinks was the model for the picture he holds. He writes that person’s name on the picture and when all have done that, the pictures are given to the suspected models. Violence has been committed with less cause! Occasionally someone picks a wrong model! That is why, at a signal from the hostess each one in turn turns over his picture and reads aloud the name of the artist as well as the name written on the portrait, and the artist is compelled to tell who his model was, regardless of what the picture looks like.

That is a good time to break up the party!

Excuse Me!

A question is put to the group as a whole: “Why weren’t you at the meeting last night?” In two minutes each one is to be ready to give his excuse, and the only requirement is that the excuse is to be put in terms of one’s own initials, and to be preceded by “Because I was——”

For example, one guest’s initials are “C. F. B.” When asked why she wasn’t at the meeting last night she glibly replied, “Because I was curling Father’s beard!”

Invitations.

Guests are standing about informally. The topic of conversation is, “Why I want you to come to call!” Each girl is asked to choose a man whom she will invite to call on her. Sue Lawson chooses Ned Parsons, and she is to urge him to accept her invitation to call but she will have to give him a mighty good reason for wanting him. He is to accept and is to tell her why he is so glad to come. In both cases one’s partner’s initials are of importance, for the reason one gives is to be based on them. Miss Lawson tells Mr. Parsons that he just must come to call because he “needs protection,” and he tells her that he will be glad to because she is “so lovely!”

Three minutes are given for invitations and their acceptances at the end of which time the leader starts calling for a report. “Ted Frazer, who invited you to call?”

“Gertrude Field. She said she wanted me to call because I was ‘turrible funny,’” whereupon the leader calls upon Gertrude Field to ask why Mr. Frazer wanted to accept her invitation. She replies, “To get a ‘good feed’!”

Elastic Spelling.

Let the host start spelling a word by giving the first letter. For example, he may have in mind the word “kitchen.” He says “K,” and the one to his left who is to give the next letter is thinking of “kill” so he says “I,” while the next one who is thinking of “kimono” says “M,” each one trying not to give a letter that will complete a word. The penalty for completing a word is to become a third of a goat. At the second offence the penalty is to become two-thirds of a goat, and at the third, a whole goat. A whole goat is compelled to “Baa, baa” at his turn instead of giving a letter. There are always more “Baa-ers” than one would anticipate, for even though you had in mind the word “kidnap,” when at your turn you added the letter “d” to “k—i—,” k—i—d spells kid, at least in the English language, so you go on record as part of a goat.

There is always somebody who will take a chance and give “any old letter,” just so he won’t finish a word. Each player has the privilege of challenging three separate times. When challenged, a player is obliged to tell the word he had in mind, which sometimes he had not! A player cannot be challenged after the next player has given his letter.

It is not only the English language that is stretched in this indoor pastime. Minds and imaginations stretch to the bursting point in a way that gives one a new respect for one’s capacity for laughter.

Twentieth Century Blind Man’s Buff.

Instead of just one being blindfolded, all but one are blinded, and it is the business of the game to catch this lucky one. He is not as lucky as it might appear, however. He has a little bell hanging around his neck on a cord, and to say the least, it advertises his whereabouts. He cannot leave the room, must keep moving, and cannot silence the bell in any way. At that, in the average room he can elude his pursuers for a few minutes at least, if he is nimble at all, for you know how utterly helpless one is when blindfolded (and how very graceful!).

As soon as the bell man is caught he is blindfolded and the one who caught him is “it.” The game is a hilarious success for about four or five minutes, but do not let it run on any longer than that or people will be getting uncomfortable and taking off their blindfolders and “Just watching this time, thank you!”

Are you wondering how in the world you could ever get enough large size handkerchiefs to blindfold a whole party? Don’t wonder. Instead, make blindfolders out of strips of gauze long enough to go around one’s head. Just about where the eyes would come put pads of absorbent cotton, using adhesive tape to hold them in place. These blindfolders are very inexpensive and far more hygienic than the usual handkerchief, and it isn’t half as easy to peek through them either!

Employment Bureau.

Guests are divided into two equal groups lined up against opposite walls of the room. One side is designated as the first to ask for employment. They go into secret session to decide on some trade. When ready, they advance to the middle of the room where the other group is standing in a line waiting for them. The first group says, “We want a job.” The others ask, “What can you do?” Then the first group begins to act out its trade in pantomime. For example, they have decided to be veterinarians. Some act as horses and cows while the others act as the doctors who examine their teeth, their tongues, look at their heels, make them run, etc., etc. As soon as their opponents call out “Veterinarians!” they break and run for their side of the room. Any of them who are tagged before they reach the wall go to the ranks of the enemy.

The other side then has its turn, and after about ten minutes of this, announce that the next act will be the last, and that a count will be taken to see which side lost and which won the most members. The winners get a double share of refreshments!

Automobile.

All of the guests but one are given chairs, and they are seated informally about the room. The one who has no chair is the assembler. To every other player is given the name of some part of an automobile, a list of which names has been prepared beforehand to avoid the uninteresting delay that is inevitable when a hostess has to stop to think of names to assign people. For example, there are the radiator, the clutch, the steering wheel, gears, speedometer, tonneau, brakes, all the different parts of an automobile which are easy enough to think of when one is at leisure and can sit down with pencil and paper and work out such a list, but a slightly different proposition when one is before a group of guests who are waiting.

That list is given to the assembler and he begins his story of a trip to the country one Sunday, a trip which was a series of mishaps. He tells how he prepared for the trip, bringing in the names of the various parts, and as he calls out the various parts they “assemble” in a line directly in back of him, with hands on the shoulders of the one in front of them. The story goes on, all about the accidents and hard luck of the day, how he stripped his gears, etc., etc., until all of the parts are assembled in line behind the assembler, when the automobile starts running around the room, at first slowly, but getting faster and faster until all of a sudden the leader stops abruptly, calls out “Honk! honk!”—at which time it is the immediate business of life to break ranks and get a chair. There is a mad scramble for chairs, successful for all but one.

This unfortunate is the assembler for the next time. Everyone is given a different part and the game goes on as before. At the end every effort is made to make this assembler, who was too slow to get a chair the first time, just as unsuccessful this time. At any rate, the one who doesn’t get a chair is the assembler for the next and last run, and if it has been possible to keep some person from getting a chair two successive times he is obliged to pay the corner forfeit, which compels him to cry in one corner, laugh in the next, dance in the next, and sing Home Sweet Home in the last.

Be Definite!

The hostess calls out the following words and expressions, assigning one to every guest in turn, and immediately each one must give his definition of the word or expression given him. The fun in this venture (and the fun may be endless!) lies in the word given out. For example, “Goatee.” Everybody knows what a goatee is, but mighty few can give an intelligent definition of it. Almost invariably the answer will be “Oh, you know. Something that—something that—well, you know—” and then will come the downward stroking of the chin! But no pantomiming is allowed, although you have said nothing about it. Anyone who pantomimes is punished by being given an extra word, the second, much harder than the first. The following may be included:

1. Goatee.

2. A feeble effort.

3. A puff of wind.

4. A good impression.

5. An accordion.

6. A spiral staircase.

7. A deep sigh.

8. A mere whim.

Help!

Get a piece of cardboard about the size of the back of a tablet. Tell the one at your right that he is to take that cardboard exactly as you give it to him and in exactly the same place, and that he will then give it to his neighbor in the same way. Put the short side between your nose and lip, holding it there until your neighbor takes it from you, not with his hands, but between his nose and lip. Even the handsomest person in the room is a caricature when he screws down his nose and stretches up his lip in his efforts to hold the cardboard there until his pugnosed neighbor can overcome his unholy laughter long enough to get his features in the right shape to take it.

It is a good plan to start three or four cards at different places in the circle.

Human Adjectives.

Divide the group into two equal sides. A leader is chosen for each group.

Each side is to decide upon some noun that has just as many letters in it as the team has members. Every member is assigned a letter. He is to decide on some adjective beginning with that letter, and he will “act out” that adjective for the edification of the members of the other team who are acting as audience for the time being. It is the business of the audience to guess what adjective is being dramatized. As soon as they hit upon the right adjective, they take its first letter as the first letter in the noun the team is dramatizing. Then the next human adjective takes his turn and so on until all the letters of the noun have been dramatized.

As an illustration, a team takes the noun “stone.” There are five members in the group and five letters in the word. The first actor has “s” for his letter. He chooses “silly” for his adjective, and he acts as silly as he possibly can and continues to do so until someone in the audience calls out the correct guess, “You’re acting silly!” The audience has the first letter to the word, “s.” Next comes “t.” The adjective chosen was “tired.” Then “o”—ornery; next “n”—noisy; and last “e”—empty. Taking the first letters of these adjectives in turn, the audience has the word “stone.”

Then the opposing team acts out adjectives describing the first letters of its noun, and so they take turn about, and if real snap and enthusiasm are put into the acting out of the adjectives this can be the game of the evening as far as genuine and sideach-y fun is concerned. Can’t you just see the minister of the Baptist Church acting “ornery,” pushing people about, twitching Beacon Jones’ nose, pulling Susie’s hair and in general, making himself an unmitigated nuisance and showing up a truly ornery disposition?

It is surprising always to find how many people enjoy acting ornery, and noisy, and silly, and all the other forbidden adjectives!

Parlor Slapjack.

Guests are standing in a circle, hands outstretched behind them. The one who is “It” walks around the outside of the circle, suddenly slaps an outstretched hand and, without stopping an instant, continues to walk around the circle in the direction he was going. The one whose hand was slapped immediately starts walking in the opposite direction, the objective for both walkers being the place that was just vacated. It belongs to the one who reaches it first, while the other becomes “It.” They are to walk only. No running is allowed.

But—certain rites must be performed before either one may take the place in the circle. “It” and the one whose hand was slapped are bound to meet on their way round the circle. When they do, “It” does whatever he wishes in the way of a stunt, and the other must imitate exactly before they may continue their race for the empty place. The following stunts are very good because of their esthetic value:

1. Make a deep bow.

2. Shake hands.

3. Sing up the scale.

4. Make an awful face.

5. Hop the rest of the way with one foot.

6. Run with hands waving in a flying motion.

Boast!

All guests are seated and are roughly divided into two groups. A representative is chosen from each side. Each one is to proclaim the merits of the members of his group. The only drawback is that they are to do it at the same time. Impartial judges are chosen, and they are to base their judgment on delivery, continuity of thought, and last, but most important, on truth! The speakers face the audience, and at a signal, start to speak at the same time, each one trying his best to drown out the other.

It goes without saying that it is a comparatively simple matter to speak intelligently and logically, and at the same time to speak as loudly as you can, especially when a rival is doing all these things at the same time.

A Mixup.

Two slips of paper are given each one, together with the request that a perfectly good question be written on one, and a perfectly good answer to it on the other. All questions and answers are gathered, the questions in one box and the answers in another. They are thoroughly mixed and then passed around, each one taking both a question and an answer. They are called on in turn to read their slips, and some of them are slips to be sure! At one party one of the men drew, “What did you do last Saturday?” and the answer was, “A permanent wave, a henna rinse, and a facial!”

Flattery.

Each guest writes his initials on the top of a piece of paper. These papers are collected, mixed up, and then passed around again. Players are to use the initials on their slips in writing out the most unctuous words of flattery they can think of about the owner of the initials, every word they use, however, having to start with the initials on the paper. The results are startling!

The papers are again collected and at refreshment time are passed out to their rightful owners to be read aloud.

Amateur Vaudeville.

The names of very well-known popular songs are written out on separate slips of paper. One of these slips is pinned on each guest as he comes in. Instead of greeting each other as usual, they are to shake hands with everyone and without saying a word in greeting, are to sing the song with which they are labelled. Anyone who is caught talking instead of singing his song is required to sing it alone before the group.

May the leader have mercy on her guests and not keep up this gentle game of greeting for more than four or five minutes!

Progressive Nonsense.

Tables are arranged as for any progressive game, the winning two advancing to the next table. Guests are in couples, two couples to a table. At table No. 1 the ladies are to compete in doing a sum in arithmetic, while the men’s contest centers around three buttons which are to be sewed on a piece of cloth.

At table No. 2 the ladies darn a sock with their left hands, while the men compete in paring one large potato apiece.

At table No. 3 the men write out a recipe for mince pie, while the ladies write a fifty-word essay on politics, which they must read aloud to the judges.

At table No. 4 the ladies tie their partners ties, the hostess acting as judge, while the men darn socks.

Further competitions may center about the following events:

For the Ladies.

1. Write a four-line limerick.

2. Write out your version of baseball and read it aloud.

3. Drive ten nails in a board.

For the Men.

1. Make a complete menu.

2. Embroider a very simple design on a doily.

3. Trim a hat and wear it the rest of the evening.

Almost any of these events may serve as separate contests, rather than as events in a progressive game.

Trades.

Each one chooses a trade for himself, the action of which he is to pantomime when the person who has been sent out of the room is called back in. This person is to guess what trades are being represented, and the first one whose trade she guesses correctly is the one to go out the next time.

At the entrance of this one, who has been outside the room, all begin pantomiming their trades at the same time. No one is to tell anyone else what trade he has chosen so that the same trade can be used over and over until it is guessed.

Transitions.

A very good quiet game for small groups is one in which transitions between words are made. For example, let the word “ship” be the starting word. From ship we wish to evolve the word “boat,” changing only one letter at a time. The transition might be as follows: Ship, shop, shot, soot, boot, boat.

Other very simple ones are the transitions between man and boy, boot and shoe, bed and cot, hog and pig, fun and joy, dry and wet.

Initials.

Each guest is given a sheet of paper and a pencil. He is to answer the questions written out on the paper, using only such words in his answers as begin with his initials. After about five minutes the papers are collected, mixed up and passed around again, and each one in turn is to read the paper he holds.

The questions run as follows:

1. What is your name?

2. Your occupation?

3. Your favorite pastime?

4. Your favorite food?

5. Your favorite color?

6. The thing you most abhor?

7. Your best feature?

8. Your one pride?

9. Your one embarrassment?

10. What do you long to be?

Typical answers are:

1. Charles Berner.

2. Combing beaches.

3. Caddying blithely.

4. Corn bisque.

5. Corn blue.

6. Cootie bites.

7. Cute bones.

8. Cunning baby.

9. Cracked bridge.

10. Colossal boob.

Stunts.

The group is divided into two sides. Both sides take a few minutes to see what resources they have in the way of stunts. They then throw up a coin to see which side is to perform first. The side which wins, that is, does not have to perform until the other side has given its stunt, starts to count slowly, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” and so on up to ten. If some member of the other side has not started to give a stunt by the time they count to ten, one point is gained by the counting side. If someone has started to perform however, they are to stop counting the minute the stunt begins.

Then their turn to put on a stunt comes, and the other side starts to count to ten. If they fail to have a stunt ready before “ten,” they lose a point to the other side.

There is always an intermission of one minute after a stunt has been completed, to give the opposite side that long to get a stunt ready. The stunts may include any possible kind of entertainment, from doing an esthetic dance to “speaking a piece” or a funny story. After ten minutes of this, the side that has the most points gets the most refreshments.

Games for Large Groups.

The Changeable Grand March.

There is nothing more valuable than the Grand March for a group of guests who don’t know each other and who have very little in common (as yet!). Just the ordinary Grand March will not do at all. It must be a grand Grand March, one which will thaw out every particle of ice, one which will cause the kind of laughter that creates that wonderful feeling of fellowship and friendliness. With that feeling once created you have nothing to fear for the success of your evening.

Guests are lined up in two lines, men in one, ladies in the other. There is something so blessedly impersonal about the Grand March in which no one, however bashful and embarrassed, is an individual but rather just a part of a long line, that you can almost invariably get every person present to “step into line.” Don’t make the mistake then of asking them to take partners. Rather, have the men march to the right and girls to the left, meet at the back of the room and come marching up the middle of the room with partners. That saves endless embarrassment and confusion.

The fun is on! Ladies take their partner’s arm, and the leading couple starts the line of march around the room. They are to start it with a walk, but suddenly the whistle will blow, and without stopping, they are to change their method of locomotion to the one called out by the leader. For example, they are walking along quietly and peacefully when the leader’s whistle blows and she calls out “Hippity-hop,” and they all hippity-hop. Next comes the order, “Fly like birds!” and away they all go, waving their arms like birds flying, and running on tiptoe. Then reverse and walk; walk forward on tiptoes.

Other directions may include orders to walk with eyes shut; reverse and limp every other step; walk and clap hands; stoop every other step; toe out; on heels; on one foot; get a new partner any place; walk and sing any song that no one else is singing; toe in; walk backwards taking large steps; forward and hum; whirl arms in circles; swim; keep feet together and hop like a toad; flap arms to the side and crow like a rooster; bend forward and swing heads from side to side; clap hands, first over head, and then behind back; whistle whether you can or not, and so on, changing the directions quickly and unexpectedly and in a good-natured way demanding immediate and accurate response. You’ll never get it.

It is not wise to continue this for longer than three or four minutes, or to give more than eight or nine changes. Your group will agree with you that that will be quite enough!

The Treasure Hunt Grand March.

Hide peanuts or small favors or covered candies in every conceivable spot. Guests are lined up with partners as if for a Grand March. The line of march is around the room without coming up the middle. When the music begins leaders start marching. Suddenly the director’s whistle sounds as the signal that the hunt is on. They break ranks and scramble to find the hidden peanuts. Two whistles sound sharply, the signal to discontinue the search at once, find your partner and get into the line of march, which is straggly and uneven at best, but it makes no difference as long as everyone is in it and no one is hunting peanuts. The music and marching continue until another single whistle proclaims an open season for peanuts, the last one.

At the double whistle they continue their marching as before except that the leaders bring the line down the center, and all halt while the director finds out who didn’t get any peanuts and who got the most.

The winner is called out, stationed in front of the line, and they are all obliged to pass by him and give him all their peanuts. They do this with weeping and wailing until they hear your announcement at the end that as a punishment for his greediness he in turn is to give up all his peanuts to the unfortunates who didn’t get any!

The Harmonious Hunt.

Are you looking for the kind of game that leaves guests exhausted with that comfortable exhaustion that comes from helpless laughter?

Divide your group into teams, each team having a captain and an individual team call. Calls may be braying like a donkey; mooing like a cow; cock-a-doodle-doo-ing; whistling; cat-calling; meowing; barking; quacking; baa-ing; gobble-gobbling; or imitating sounds of instruments like the drum, rubba-dubb-dubb; the piccolo, tweedle-deedle-dee; the trombone, boom-boom-boom; the triangle, knick-knock-knock; the mandolin, plank-plank-plank; the cymbal, zum-zum-zum; the accordion, yea-yea-yea, in each case pantomiming the action as well as imitating the sound. The action for the accordion inflicts real punishment on its imitators. Arms are bent upward and elbows are thrust out sideways and drawn in rapidly. This is particularly good for stout people.

Each team is assigned one of these calls and must use only that way of calling to the team captain. Peanuts or candy or favors are hidden in every conceivable spot. When the signal is given the hunt is on. No one, however, except a captain, is allowed to touch a peanut. That is the reason for the call. As soon as a person finds a peanut he stands beside it and sends out an S. O. S. for his captain, using his team call as the signal for help. The captain answers each call by running to the spot and picking up the peanut. After a definite length of time the closing signal is given and the hunt is over. Each captain counts his find, and the losing teams must give up all their peanuts to be divided equally among the winners in spite of inevitable protests.

This game may be used for either indoor or out-of-door parties.

The Inverted Spell-Down.

The formation for this game is two lines facing, partners side by side, twenty-six in each line. Two sets of alphabet letters, one set red and the other black, are given out, one to each line. In playing this with a small group where there are not enough guests to have twenty-six in each line, two or even three letters may be given to one person, those holding “unpopular” consonants like X. Y. Z. Q., etc., being given the extra letters. The leader calls out words, necessarily easy ones, and those from each group holding the letters making up that word must run to the appointed place and form the word, each one holding his letter high and facing the judges. The only rule to be observed in the spelling is that each word be spelled backwards. For example, kitty is not spelt k-i-t-t-y, but y-t-t-i-k! If a letter is used twice in a word the one holding that letter must go first to one place and then to the other. For example, in excel, e takes his place before x and then runs over to the place between c and l. In case of a double letter the letter is simply jiggled back and forth.

The place to stand in spelling a word should be chosen with the audience in mind. If the two lines are standing lengthwise in the room those forming a word should be at one end of the room and the judges and any audience at the other. In that way everyone can see. Those holding red letters when forming their words stand close to the red side, while those holding black letters stand close to the black. In this way one avoids having one color standing in front of the other.

The judges decide which side forms the word first and the score is kept and announced before each new word.

The time limit is left to the leader who tries within a reasonable time to run up a tie score, when, of course, interest is at its highest point. Then the announcement that the next point is the deciding one naturally creates a real tension which is hardly relieved when the leader calls out something like Mississippi or Pennsylvania for the last word!

Street and Alley.

Use a march to get your guests into lines, eight abreast, with enough room between the lines for passing. Lines must be straight. At a whistle from the leader each one is to make a quick quarter turn to the right, immediately joining hands with his new neighbors. Another whistle means another quarter turn to the right again joining hands with neighbors at once. Each whistle calls for a turn to the right and a joining of hands with one’s new neighbors. It is a good plan to let them practice the response to the whistle before the game itself begins.

When ready to begin, the lines face the front of the room. A policeman and a thief are chosen, a man for the policeman and a woman for the thief. The thief is given a very short start, and at a signal the policeman starts after her, chasing her in and out of the passageways or “streets” made by the lines of guests. Suddenly the whistle blows. Everyone takes a quick turn to the right, and new passageways or “alleys” are formed, with the policeman still doing his best to catch the elusive thief. Neither policeman or thief is allowed to break through a line or dodge under it.

The leader watches the chase very closely and blows his whistle at very short intervals, changing streets to alleys and alleys to streets, in some cases to help the thief escape and in others to help the policeman catch her. A good part of the fun of the game depends on the leader’s blowing her whistle at critical moments. When a thief is caught, the leader, who had already in her mind chosen a new policeman and thief, names these victims and they change places with the first policeman and thief.

Men almost always run faster than women, so it is a good plan to choose stout policemen and lively thieves.

Games for Either Large or Small Groups.

Musical Ruth and Jacob.

This is particularly for a group of guests who could in no sense be called musical. The guests are standing in a circle with a man and a girl in the center. If the group is large, have them crowd in to make the circle space smaller so that it will not make Jacob’s work too difficult. The game is played like the old-fashioned “Ruth and Jacob,” both of them being blindfolded, it being the task of Jacob to catch Ruth. Instead of calling “Ruth,” however, Jacob sings up the scale, whether he can or not, and Ruth answers by singing down the scale, both of them using “Loo” instead of do-re-mi.

The game is infinitely more ridiculous if neither one can sing, and if the leader has created the right atmosphere, even though a man protests, “I just can’t sing,” he will usually finish up by making a noble effort to do it anyhow!

When Jacob catches Ruth, the leader, who has in the meantime been looking over the circle, immediately announces the next two victims and almost invariably public opinion will be with her to such an extent that they step forth, willy-nilly.

Mimic.

If there are more than fifteen or twenty guests, choose about six men and six girls to form the circle. Even “Mimic” becomes monotonous in a large circle. Those forming the circle are seated, men beside their partners, the leader taking the part of one of the girls. She begins the action by doing something to the man at her right who in turn must mimic her action exactly to the girl to his right, and so the action goes all around the circle till it comes back to the leader who starts a new one. This may continue for about four or five rounds, and can be made the best game of the evening if the leader has planned sufficiently diabolical actions. For example, her first might be to do a funny step in front of him, at the time tra-la-la-la-ing in a high key. Her right-hand neighbor must imitate her to the very best of his ability. Her next action might be to sing up the scale to the highest note she can reach; next, she might cry as realistically as possible; and then laugh as musically as she can!

Shun the Circle.

Guests form a large circle, the men on the right side of their partners, all of them faced for marching. Four or more circles about four feet in diameter have been roughly drawn in chalk on the floor. The distance between them depends on the size of the circle formed by the group. When the music starts, everyone begins to march around in circle formation with the one rule that everyone must walk straight across each of the small circles described on the floor. Suddenly the leader’s whistle blows, the music stops, all movement halts, and anyone caught in any of the small circles is discarded. If the leader has a watchful eye she can blow the whistle at a bad time and make it mighty uncomfortable for some couple, just poised, to take the first step into one of the circles, or another couple just on the outer edge of the danger zone. The precarious balancing in either case is choice!

This continues at the leader’s discretion. Almost never is it advisable to carry it through till the last couple is caught.

Friendliness.