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424 The Book of Indoor and Outdoor Games |
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seal in the middle. If wafers cannot be had, red sealing-wax will do as well. The paper should be in large sheets, and the letter "s" should be written in the old fashion that resembles an "f."
A barn is the ideal place for such an entertainment. So the invitations might be worded thus:
"An ye will come to an old-time partie, ye fhall be welcome on ye evening of ye tenth day of October in ye barn of Mistreff-----. All will pleafe appear in old-time countrie dress at ye hour of eight o* the clock."
The floor should be swept clean and waxed for dancing, and walls and ceiling decorated with bunches of unhusked corn, hung in bunches from the rafters, strings of red and green peppers, and of dried apples, together with boughs of maple, sumac, hops, and any other effective things that opulent nature may provide at that season.
Old-fashioned games should alternate with the dancing. A fiddler should furnish the music for the dancers, calling out the figures in the lancers or quadrilles in the old-fashioned way. If the talented violinist is not well informed on the subject, some one else may shout the directions for the guidance of the dance. The music should, of course, as much as possible be selected from the simple old tunes known to our rustic forefathers—"Yankee Doodle " and " Pop, Goes the Weasel" are not to be altogether despised. "Money Musk" and the "Virginia Reel" may alternate with a "Spelling Bee," a contest in "Apple-Paring " and " Corn-Husking." The ancient forfeit to the finder of a red ear—to be kissed by all the young men present—need not be insisted upon, but some penalty may be imposed on the young woman—to be decided by the young men present, |
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