Clap out and clap in Victorian parlor game

"Please sit next to me"

This is an interesting Victorian parlor game that splits the party into girls and boys, it also involves an innocent kiss which with today’s sensitivity some might find unsuitable. It is interesting that even though we think of Victorians as being somewhat prudish, correct and proper some of our ‘political correctness’ finds a lot of their social activities inappropriate. All that said it is an interesting little game that can be played today (with or without the kissing aspect).

This game is taken from the “Popular Pastimes for Field and Fireside”, circa 1860, book and proceeds as follows. All the boys are asked to leave the room, leaving the girls to themselves. The girls then stand behind a chair (or other place to sit such as a sofa).  Before taking their places one of the girls chooses a boy’s name (from those outside) that she would like to have sit in front of her. The boy in question is then called into the room, which now has all the girls standing behind an open seat.  The boy has to choose (guess) a place to sit down. If you sits down in front of the girl that chose him, he gets a small kiss on the cheek and remains seated. If he sits somewhere else the girls ‘clap him out’ in that they all begin clapping and he walks out the room. This continues until all the girls have taken their turn in secretly choosing a boy. The boys then take the place of the girls and the game is played again with the boys standing behind an open chair and calling the girls in.

This is one of those games that is interesting, as I have said, but seems to have its flaws. In the original version the same boy or girl could be called in again and again (if he or she guesses incorrectly) by different people in the room. This aspect would favor the better-looking or popular girls and boys and might make the others feel neglected.

Another way to play this game, which I believe is more suitable for today’s kid’s parties, is to have the rule that the same boy (or girl) cannot be chosen twice. The main idea of this version is that the boy (or girl) needs to guess who called them by looking at the expressions of the people in the room. The kissing aspect could be left in or taken out. One final variation would be to leave the kissing in but to have the person being called into the room being drawn at random. I am guessing that the ‘prize’ or otherwise of the kiss will change the expressions and behavior of the girls and boys in the room.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to have your party guests play a version of this game, it does give an interesting insight into the acceptable Victorian social interaction for children within an organized party event.

The Victorian parlor game of Blowing the Feather

Variations of this game crop up time and time again in Victorian parlor game books, dating back to 1850. Of all the versions I have reviewed the following seems to be ideal for today's children (and adults might also find it amusing).

The game is played by any number of people. The players sit in a rectangle and hold a sheet (tightly) under their mouths. The idea is to keep the sheet as flat and tight as possible. A feather is placed in the center of the sheet and (you've guessed it) the players try to blow the feather away from themselves and towards someone else. In the original rules if the feather touches someone they must pay a ‘forfeit’. Forfeits are decided by the group and could be singing a song or doing some other activity that would amuse the party. For today’s kids parties I would suggest that a ‘score’ is kept so as after a certain time (or number of times the feather touches someone) the player with the least ‘score’ could be declared the winner, although playing the game is its own reward.

Another variation of this game involves the players sitting around a table and trying to keep the feather in the air and avoid it ‘landing’ closest to them. Again, in the original version of this game, a person must pay a forfeit if the feather lands near them.

This game can also be played ‘in teams’, although only one player is competing at a time. The team’s game, sometimes called “French and English” (because the two countries had a history of fighting each other!) is played by fist dividing the party into two teams. A line is drawn (string) in the middle of a room and each team stands on each side of the line. Then the team selects their ‘champion’ and the champions compete by try to blow the feather so it lands on the other team’s side. The competing players cannot cross the line but can get on their knees to blow as the feather falls. A ‘referee’ is needed to start the game, by holding the feather high in the middle of the room and releasing it. The referee also judges exactly where the feather ‘first’ lands as the blowing might continue after the feather has landed. The loosing player (the one that has the feather land on their side) is ‘captured’ and replaced by another team member who does combat with the winning player. This proceeds until one ‘team’ is completely ‘captured'. I would suggest a small variation to this procedure, in that you should ‘pair off’ opponents (based on size) and have each pair compete in turns until all the team members have taken part.

Another variation of this type of game, that is more ‘co-operative’ would be to have the kids form a circle and try to keep a balloon up in the air as long as possible by blowing.  I would suggest trying a few of the above options out and see what appeals to your young party guests.

20 questions parlor games for today’s kid’s parties

The game of 20 questions was a popular Victorian parlor game and it can easily be adapted to many themed parties of today. The basic game is played by one person thinking of an object and the other players have 20 question to guess what that object is. The guessing players take turns to guess and if one of them guesses correctly, within the 20 questions limit, then he or she becomes the person thinking of the object in the next round. The questions are such that they are only answered by “Yes” or “No”. In this way the game is useful for encouraging deductive reasoning. For example the object “Cat” might be the answer and a good question would be “Is it an animal”, followed by “Is it domesticated” etc.  A kind of divide and conquer strategy (to limit the possible answers) is more useful than each person guessing specifics.  

The ‘object’ could include books, movies, or song titles etc.. The decision of how broad the object can be is up to the participants. The objects (whether movies, songs, books etc.) need to be familiar to the party guests. For example let’s say you are hosting a princess themed party and the object is a popular children’s story. The sort of questions asked could be “Does the story contain a princess”, Does the princess get married”, “Does the story contain a witch” etc.

The 20 questions game format is also excellent for having a group of people answer obscure trivia questions.  A question for the Victorian themed party might be:-

A very trifling and yet important thing that every woman should know is that it is exceedingly inelegant in rising from a chair to – Do what?

Here is how the questions might start:-

Question 1 - Does it involve the lady making a noise?

                Answer No (thank goodness)

Question 2 – Does it involve the lady making a gesture with her hands?

                Answer No

Anyway the answer to this particular question of etiquette is:-

                Raise herself by pressure on the arms, of the chair.

As you tell from the possible interaction and strategy, having guests answer these type of questions using the 20 questions format is interesting, amusing and challenging.

The above question is taken from the 12 questions on etiquette that I have researched and documented in my Victorian Tea Party experience, although other equally obscure questions, on various subjects, are suitable for this party activity.

Playground games of yesterday

Not really a Victorian Parlor Game but these vintage school playground games should be a lot of fun if incorporated into a modern day kids party.

All the following information was taken from:-

The Playground Book
By Harry Sperling,
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO
THE A. S. BARNES COMPANY
1916

If you are interested in this book it is freely available at Google books, as it is now out of copyright.
As well as some great party game ideas for kids the book is punctuated with some insightful advice such as:-

“The playground is essentially a place for play. Play is recreation. Play gives health to the body and joy to the soul. Whoever has not tasted the pleasures of youth’s playgrounds has missed much of the sweetness of life.”

When this book was written teachers would be assigned as ‘playground teachers’ and their function was not just to monitor the kids but to organize those games that the author described as “the sweetness of life”.

As I mainly research vintage games and activities for kids party games I am always looking for any quotes, in vintage material, that differentiates between boys and girls games. I found the following (interesting) advice in this book regarding the suitability of certain games and activities for boys:-

“The singing games will be found especially useful with the little folks who range in age from five years to ten. Girls older than this prefer the folk dances, while boys over ten will not play them under any consideration. In fact, a boy over eight should not be obliged any longer to join the girls’ games and dances.”

Anyway, avoiding the nature or nurture discussion (and not withstanding the fact that this book was written before the right of women to vote) I will move right along.

Here are a couple of games that came out of this insightful book and would make good, active, party games for today’s young kids.

The cat and rat game
For younger children (numbers 10 to 30):-
The children form a circle and join hands. One guest is chosen to be the cat and another the rat. The cat has to catch the rat, with the rat running around or in and out of the circle trying to escape. The party guests try to help the rat, by raising their arms to let him or her pass through, and hinder the cat by trying to block his or her path. As the game favors the rat, after a while another ‘cat’ can be introduced.

Balloon game
This game can be played in a classroom or outside. The game is simple and that is to divide the party into two teams and they have to score a goal with a balloon, by hitting it with an open palm of the hand. The goals are two strings stretched (either on poles or from wall to wall) about seven feet off the ground and the balloon has to pass over the string. The length of the goal is around 10 feet and the length of the ‘pitch’ is around the size of a classroom.

More vintage game ideas, including Victorian Parlor Games coming soon.