FOR A PARTY FULL OF FANCY GIVE A “SPRING OPENING”
The fun of this pretty, fanciful entertainment begins with the opening of the invitations. These are written on yellow tissue-paper and are enclosed in eggshells which have been carefully broken and then glued into place again. Those who wish to do so could send them via Uncle Sam’s mail, packed carefully in the tiny hatboxes which come for place cards at ten cents each. On the other hand, ordinary jewelers’ boxes will serve the purpose just as well. On the box write “Spring Opening. Please open at once,” and on the egg-shell “Important Despatch to Be Opened Immediately” or anything of the kind which conveys the same idea. A simpler method which some hostess may prefer is to write the message about the party on egg-shells which have simply been blown, as this saves preparing the notes, etc., but it is very cunning, if you have time for it, to make the opening as complicated as possible to emphasize the idea. Jewelers’ yellow cotton is pretty for packing egg-shells in the boxes.
How To Decorate
For the decorations, convert the parlor into a picnic scene with features suggesting early Spring. Get real blossoming boughs if possible, with buds just opened or about to open, and bank the walls and fireplaces, etc., with these. Make tissue-paper substitutes if the real blooms are not out in time, or secure them from the favor shops or the Japanese store. In the forks of the boughs tie wee ducklings and Easter chicks made of raw cotton or of plaster or wax, and under the thickets thus formed have nests containing Easter eggs.
In baskets trimmed to represent Easter nests pass around egg-shells that have been broken and refilled with tiny favors. Afterward the shells are either gilded and silvered or they are closed again with strips of gilt or silver paper. The gilt ones are placed in one basket, the silver ones in another, and after the girls have drawn the gilt and the men the silver, there is a general “opening.” The pair whose emblems or tiny favors match are partners. Among the many things which can be selected of a size to pack into egg-shells are wee flags, tiny whistles, paper flowers, raw cotton chicks or birdies, peanut owls, and candy eggs.
The crepe paper headwear which form the favors in one dance could be brought upon the scene in a huge hatbox elaborately sealed and decorated with Spring blossoms, chicks, etc.
Another Opening
Where it is not desired to arrange the affair as a dance, another plan equally appropriate can be found. First of all, have an egg search for egg-shells which have been hidden all around the room. These eggs can be gilded and silvered as described for the dance and can be used as a plan to find partners by matching the contents; or each can contain a question about eggs, which questions go to make up a series forming an interesting contest. Whatever the contents of the eggs to be opened, it is pretty to have them arranged in nests made of baskets filled with straw.
In the case of the contest each on opening his egg-shell might find not only a question about eggs written on a numbered slip of tissue-paper, but also a funny emblem which will give him, when matched up around the room, a partner to assist in working out the egg puzzle. Give all cards and pencils decorated with designs of chicks issuing from egg-shells (that is, give each couple such a card with pencil attached between them) and pass the question slips from hand to hand. The pair who work out most answers correctly could win as prizes cardboard eggs filled with candy.
Another prize suggestion is a potted tulip plant with buds ready to open, or a large (exaggerated size) crepe paper lily or tulip bud might be presented, which, when opened, is found to contain a stickpin or a little bottle of perfume.
The Mary Dawson Game Book: A Manual of Original Games and Guessing Contests, Mary Dawson, 1916
Mrs Daffodil’s Aide-memoire: All this talk of egg-shells and tiny favours and matching up with partners is very dainty and, no doubt, decorous. Mrs Daffodil would suggest another egg-themed entertainment to generate a wholesome and hearty spirit of camaraderie between the sexes.
HOUSE FOOTBALL
This is a novelty in amusements, and does not possess the element of danger of the real article. All of the furniture must be moved against the wall or out of the room. An egg with its contents emptied is set upon the floor. Two gilded posts at each end of the room mark the goals. The ladies and gentlemen are divided into equal sides; they go down on their knees, each trying to blow the egg shell past the goal of their antagonists. The game is new, but the position somewhat fatiguing.
Godey’s Lady’s Book June 1897
Mrs Daffodil invites you to join her on the curiously named “Face-book,” where you will find a feast of fashion hints, fads and fancies, and historical anecdotes
You may read about a sentimental succubus, a vengeful seamstress’s ghost, Victorian mourning gone horribly wrong, and, of course, Mrs Daffodil’s efficient tidying up after a distasteful decapitation in A Spot of Bother: Four Macabre Tales.
Mrs Daffodil Digresses 