The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 20, 1904, Page 8

¥ g ¥ ot o M I\, 4 A % % t ;‘A' R @ " B = Bhwewhy ksgiving—Pal- the ¥ | Constitutes the | verized i Suow Bank, on Whose Crown is a Small Log Cabin, With | ssed in Pu | an Garb | d About. BY ANNA S. RICHARDSON. age and conditi so agitates as does th is crepe s chocolate lack. skirts for the plain and ful nd over this round, full cloak with a hood ack and a fichu issuing from in the front. The white cap for is made with a flare or on a Dutch pattern, with the front ck like a fold and fitting around the face. The cap and fichu are of white and the dress of the dras or chocolate color. The white cap may be worn alone, or the hood from the cape may be drawn up over the wh cap. Little dolls with fair hair o RO000: case of a large Thanksgiving Ba ng, the hours which follow directly on the heels of dinner pre- sent a problem for the hostess. Naturally the elder guests prefer to sit jetly and chat about family affairs hich have arisen since the.last an- 1 gathering; but not so the young who des more attractive ms of entertaining. The wise hostess will plan amusements for the children nd young people, 80 that their elders left in peace for an hour’s con- ation As soon as the dining-room is cleared of all signs of the feast it can be changed into a play Toom, and some older girl should be elected as mistress of ceremenies and should plan the games so that the children are amused quietly until the elaborate dinner has been digested. A pleasing little contest for children is laid out on kindergarten lines. Two bowls, one containing big white pop- corn kernels and the other cranber- ries, are placed at their disposal, with a supply of toothpicks, threads and needles. The children are then re- quested to make some article or dec- rative design in the white kerneis and the red berries. It is remark- able how quickly the children will seize upon the idea and what fetching le ornaments they will produce. Toothpicks, run with cranberries and joined at the corners with popcorn, will make a frame to lay flat on the table and inside of this a child will block out a picture in red and white; or, strung on the thread, they can be wreught into red and white tassels, balls and odd shap§d ornaments, such as are seen on ChriStmas trees. The second game is a trifie more act- ive and is merely a variant of the old game of pinning a tail on the donkey. In this case a sheet is fastened against the wall and on it is drawn or pinned a representation of a turkey. A tur- key, drawn in colored crayons and then cut cut and pasted carefully on the r people, aselves bralded down™tne back lend the: best to the Puy n costume The costumes of the men are most e fective when made from chocolate col- ored paper, with knee breech and a round cape. White ruching or pleating may be introduced at the neck. Black paper should be used for the she stockings and broad-brimme shaped hat. The men carry high pressive looking staffs. A good qu of library paste will give better results in dressing the dolls than the use of needle and thread. Small imitation pine or cedar trees, which can be boug! in boxes of a dozen each at small cost, will add much 10 the attractiveness of the centerpie They are made in wood or paper mache and painted bright 1, and they re most effective when seen through the snowdrifts. They shsuld be lightly pow- dered with the sugar snow Such ¢ presentation of the first | AFTER THE TI o In the old rovided and sheet, Zives the best ¢ dcukey game a tail wa did service for all the players, but for the turkey game the housewife may provide real turkey feather saved from the gobbler which was served at dinner. Each child is given one of these feathers and a long pin; then, blindfolded, he is started toward the sheet in search of a proper place to pin the feather. If the paper turkey has been pasted on the sheet it is a comparatively easy matter for a blindfolded person o feel around until the bird is discovered, but it is not so easy to find the exact spot on which the tail feathers saould be pinned. As a result, when all have taken a turn, the turkey is liable to have tails sprouting in every direction, which of itself will create fun. The mistress of ceremonies must keep track of the game and award the prizz, which can be a papier-mache turkey filled with small candies, to the child whose feather strikes nearest the mark. For the third game, start the chil- dren in search of cranberries which have been hidden all over the room. For this purpose provide each child with a small basket of wicker or crepe paper, and have the cranberries hidden before the guests arrive be- hind ornaments, in the crevices of the table Jegs, behind pictures, on the upper sashes of the window—in any place which will tax childish wit and ingenuity. When the voyage of dis- covery is over the cranberries can be counted, and a small prize, such as a crepe-paper basket, filled with crim- son-coated Jordan almonds, can be awarded to the child who has found the most berries. By this time the heavy dinner will be pretty well digested, and the chil- dren will be glad to go for a run out of doors or a skate on the vond if, fortunately, the family gathering be in a country where ice forms early. If these games be too childish for the young people who have reached the age of fifteen or more, the hostess coraliv Thanksgiving celebration was made at an actual cost of $2, including the sugar, and it was an elaborate affair his knife and hammer, who could build candy will do well to plan some formal en- tertainment for the evening, which will be given under the direction of a college girl or boy versed in the handling of amateur theatricals. This will afford an afternoon's entertain- ment, for the young people will need to be drilled for the evening perform- ance. Even in this blase age, young people from fifteen to eighteen thor- oughly enjoy getting up a ‘“show.” New gland poetry has suffered an eclipse, and school boys and girls of to-day -are not so familiar with its beauties as were their fathers and mothers. It will, therefore, be some- thing of a novelty if the hostess ar- ranges a Thanksgiving evening with Longfellow, presenting living pictures from his poems dealing with New England home life. In preparation for such an entertain- ment she must have a few stage set- tings and costumes. A fireplace or mantel will do for the background of most of the pictures. A settle or two, some old-fashioned chalirs, dishes and a spinning wheel will also be useful. For costumes, paper, muslin or calico, in black, gray or dun color, can be worked cheaply into the Puritan cos- tumes, together with white kerchiefs and caps for the women, made from tarletan or tissue paper; and for the men there must be broad-brimmed hats with cone-shaped crowns, made from black canvas, and- white turn- over collars. Shoes with buckles and long, black hosiery are worn by the men, with knickerbockers fulled in at the knees. The cloak is round and stiff, and, indoors, a doublet to match the knickerbockers is worn. The dresses for the women have no trim- ming except a fichu. If time is allowed for making the costume, and sorme member of the fam- ily is deft at cutting and planning, a very respectable stage wardrobe can be produced at the cost of a couple of dollars. If the performance is given in double "parlors, folding doors may be used instead of curtains; and the ef- at that. The cost can be reduced if there is a boy in the family clever with NG GGG NS00 0G RS ANHRSGIVING DINNER---WHAT? GORGLGRL NGO 0G00R0000 fect of the living pictures will be heightened if on the side of the door next to the actors is stretched theatri- gauze, which is not expensive, and gives the effect of distance to the tableaux. Three sets of pictures may be pre- sented—the first scene from the famil- iar story of “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” the second may be @ scene from “Evangeline,” and the third, par- ticularly suited to a family gathering, should be “The Hanging of the Crane.” As the latter is laid rather on the lines of dissolving views, a cur- tain of dark stuff, which can be drawn and dropped again quickly, will add to the effect. These living pictures may be separated by music—a number of Longfellow's poems have been set to melodies. “The Bridge,” “The Ar- row and the Song,” “The Ralhy Day,” “Excelsior” and “The Open Window" can be found in the cheap collections of old-fashioned songs. The first scenes from ‘“The Court- ship of Miles Standish” will be found under the heading of part III, “The Lover's Errand,” and part VIII, “The Spinning Wheel.” The setting for this should be very simple, with Priscilla Allen seated at the spinning wheel. Be- fore the curtain rises some one who has been selected as reader or reciter is heard back of the scenes, starting with: “So through the Plymouth woods John Alden went on his er- rand.” When he reaches the line, “So he entered the house,” the curtains rises slowly and shows John Alden in the doorway, his hands filled with fiowers. The actors do not speak, but as the reader tells the story they act in pantomime the memorable proposal by proxy, ending with the famous ex- pression: ‘“Why don’t you speak for yourself, John?"” ‘While the curtain is down the reader recites the opening stanzas of .‘The Spinning Wheel,” and at the words “So as she sat at her wheel,” the cur- tain s raised to show the second woo- ing of John Alden, and again the ac- Ghanlsgiving . %iohavdgon ¢ X \\ a little in from twigs. Roles can . cut for doors and windows and the lat- ter filled in with isinglass or curtains made of white tissue paper. In the doorway can be stood a motherly look- ing doll with a drab or chocolate col- ored dreks, white fichu and cap. If this presentation impresses the housewife as being too subdued in col- oring she can change it entirely if she is willing to sacrifice the old fashioned spirit. The cabin can bulit from the long, very slender sticks of candy which will take the place of the logs, and which can be secured in many bright colors, and the dolls may be dressed in the crepe paper to match the gay little cabin. In this case the cabin should be filled avith bonbons, or the French mottoes containing tissue paper favors. These are attached by gayly colored ribbons, which run through the chinks of the log cabin and extend to the tors offer their pantomime, interrupted by the messenger, also in Puritan cos- tume, who brings word of Standish's death. The curtain falls on the two lovers plighting their troth. The picture from “Evangeline” is the famous betrothal scene of Evangeline and Basil, starting “Indoors, warmed by the wide mouthed fireplace, idly the farmer sat in his elbow chair.” The curtain rises to show Evangeline and her father seated on one side of the fireplace, the old man smoking his long pipe and the girl spinning. As the story progresses, Basil, her lover, enters and in pantomime he follows the reader’s recital of the uprising of the colony. Then enters the notary with a quill pen and his seals to witness the betrothal. While the two old men talk in pantomime the young people are seen to withdraw toward the win- dow, where they stand, the young girl clasped in her lover's arms; and the curtain falls on another familiar quo- tation: Silently, one by one, of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me.nots of the angels. In planning this set of pictures the hostess will find many hints in the po- etry which will tell her what proper- ties will be needed to set forth the scene, such as tankards, lamps and so forth. “The Hanging of the Crane” pre- sents the most pleasing possibilities and gives the children something to do. The poem should be read in its entirety, and the tableaux should be changed quietly and rapidly, so that the speaker’s . voice is not drowned by the noise .behind the scenes, The first picture shows a young man alone before the fireplace, in which/ has been hung a huge black crane, which may be built from wood or paste- board and stained black. He wears the Puritan garb and holds rather a sentimental attitude in the firelight, which can be simulated by the use of red paper with an eleetric light be- hind it. in the infinite meadows piates. Arter dinner eacn guest pulls a ribbon and as the cabin falis down it discloses treasures within which are carried away as souvenir: If the real log cabin centerpiece the pla small log cabins of pasteboard, can be bought in st slusively in favors. T y are stamp- ed on bristol board and must be cut out and set up. They can then be filled with small candies. Plate cards and souvenirs go far to- ward breaking l{xe ice when guests are taking their plates, as they furnish an immediate topic of conversation. If a permanent souvenir of the s desired for each guest then meats and bonb are to be a and the young girls of the fami use their deft fingers. Thanksgiving is presumably the feast of all good things, fruits and vegetables suggest themselves favors. At those invaluable shc ndent housewiv the five cent stores, can be bought small and velvet pincushions made up form of almost every fruit or veg that grows; or they can duced by clever fingers in : or crepe paper. If velvet is used, when the cushi initials or the m can be set in with pi table is the s, and in the souvenir is sant served each guest is his ribbon, and the ba individual blossoms, e for whom the pape: the autumn cc rs should be off some fad of the recig ample, the boy who has yea automobiles should receive one i fature made from aluminum or compo- sition metal. These come In sizes no bigger than your thumb at five cents each, and there is a small whistle In the hood of the automebile. Hansom cabs, sulkies, bicycles, musical instru- ments can be bought by the dozen In assorted styles in the same wares The girl who can make clever draw- ings with pen or pencil can hit off the fads of her guests much more aptly. These drawings may be made on plain calling cards and tied to a single chry- santhemum bloom, which is, after all, the really effective plate card. At the commencement of the sec- ond section of the poem, “And now I sit and muse,” curtains fall for a few seconds, and very quickly a young girl, dressed In old-fashioned white muslin, slips into the picture, and the two sit side by side on the high- backed settle. At the same time two helpers carry on to the scene a small, old-fashioned table, set with old-fash- ioned china and silver, with places for two. On the words, “The picture fades™ the curtains fall, and the bride makes a quick change to a gray or brown dress, which slips over the wedding finery, and takes her place at one side of the table, the young man at the opposite, and a child is seated In a high-chalr between them. ° The fourth sections shows tweo chil- dren Instead of one, and for the fifth the small table must be removed, a larger one carried in, and more young people seated around it. The husband and wife will have to don gray wigs, and, If expert at making up, will have time to draw in a few lines in their faces. The sixth scene should be omitted, as it is depressing, and the seventh scene, presenting the golden wedding, will make a much more attractive tab- leau. As an encore (applause is bound to follow) the two old people may be seated alone In the settle, just as they were in tableau No. 2, but now wear- ing white wigs. They are bent with age, but she still sits with her head on his shoulder, his arm about her walst. The success of this evening’s enter- tainment will depend entirely upon the heartiness with which the young peo- ple enter into- the spirit of the scenes. If refreshments are served after the performance, they should be the typi- cal Thanksgiving dainties served in New England households—cider, apples, popcorn and pork fruit cake, or a spicy gingerbread to which raisins and cur- rants are added. B vewee a Y 254 ¥35 = i o oy g o o OBy