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Children's Parties 501 |
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were told that they must hunt for their flowers—those belonging to the month in which they were born, leaving any others which they might find. It was explained to them that in the olden time when superstition ruled the lives of people, the birth-month flower was either worn fresh, or its dried leaves were sewed in a tiny bag and worn about the neck as a safety-charm. From an old English calendar of flowers it was found that the January flower was the snowdrop, February the primrose, March the violet, April the daisy, May the haw-thorne, June the rose, July the poppy, August the water-lily, September the morning-glory, October the hop, November the chrysanthemum, December the holly.
Changing the September flower to goldenrod, as more appropriate to our land, and giving asters to October, the children were sent upon their quest, each with a little basket in which to collect them.
Paper flowers—artificial ones—or cards upon which the flowers were painted, were hidden everywhere about the grounds. When the children returned with their trophies, flushed but triumphant, the treasures were examined, counted, and the prizes awarded—which were an artificial rosebush and a daisy-bush, all abloom, set in flower-pots, the one covered with pink paper frills, the other with pale-green, tied about with ribbons matching in shade. These were bonbon boxes, and the covers were lifted off by taking hold of the bushes. The ribbon-trimmed baskets filled with the birth-flowers were valued as souvenirs by the rest.
After the activity of the hunt, a restful game was proposed, and they were invited to return to the piazza —where preparations for a contest in "floral conundrums" had been made during their absence. Article |
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