The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          Dawson, Sadie Josephine.                               

Title:               Party games commonplace book          

Dates:             1906

Call No.:         Doc. 1570

Acc. No.:         08x72

Quantity:        1 volume

Location:        31 I

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Sadie Josephine Dawson lived in Norwich Town, Connecticut, in the early 20th century.  Nothing else is known about her.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Sadie Josephine Dawson recorded games, party amusements, and entertainment ideas in this notebook, dated 1906.  It is not known if these were games she played, or if she just collected the games for possible use.  Directions and answers are given.  Some of the items were removed from magazines, but most are handwritten.  A number of the items are Halloween games, and a number of those relate to fortune telling, especially foretelling the name of a spouse or the time when one was to be married.  Other games or entertainment ideas are for New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, the Fourth of July, and Christmas, and also for church bazaars, weddings, and wedding anniversaries.  Many of the games are suitable for young adults, some are for married couples, while others are indeed intended for children.      

           

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Purchased from Dan Casavant Rare Books.     

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            Amusements.

            Bible games and puzzles.

Children’s parties.

Christmas.

            Entertaining.

            Fortune-telling.

            Fourth of July.

            Games.

            Geographical recreations.

            Halloween.

            Holidays.

            Indoor games.

            Manners and customs.

            Marriage customs and rites.

            New Year.

            Puzzles.

            Saint Patrick’s Day.

            Valentine’s Day.

            Wedding anniversaries.

            Young adults.

            Norwich Town (Conn.) – Social life and customs.

            Commonplace-books.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

[note: where there was one, the name or title of the game is given; if there were no title, then a very brief description of the game is given]

 

Conundrum Tea  1

 

Independence Day Needs  2-3

 

Musical Romance  4-5

 

Variety of Little Misses  6-7

 

Forfeits 7-9 (p. 7 is crossed out, but still legible)

 

Nut Conundrums  10

 

The Bishop’s Riddle  12-14

 

Mrs. McTavish has Fainted Away  15

 

 “For Girls,” an article by Anna Ogden, with Christmas suggestions: “Mother Goose” for a Sunday School festival, decorations, gifts, entertainment, dresses, hatpin holders  16

 

Printed: Queer Trick with Figures, Give and Take [game with matches], Amusing Feat [kicking a cork], Entertaining House Parties  17

 

Printed: Clothes Pins [game], Living Statues, Letter Seeking, Cat and Mouse, Fair Exchange is No Robbery, Flag Raising for Charity, workbag directions  18

 

Printed: A Successful Dinner Party, Wild Huntsman or Bang [game], Beanbag  19 (these were pasted over verses)

 

Printed: Ho for Hallowe’en (ideas for parties), End-letter Game, Mirth [game], Predicaments [game], some riddles  20

 

Printed: at head of page: Monitor Book of Games; Fisherman, North Pole, Counting the Dogs, Game of Adjectives, Quotation Bee, Two in Place of One, Warning   21

 

Printed: Keep-Face-Straight Party, The Mails, Weathercocks, A Leaf Party or Social, For Rainy Days  22

 

Printed: Illustrated Story Telling, Location, It, Hidden Ring, an authors game, More Conundrums  23

 

Printed: Ice Carnival party, Old-Fashioned Party, I Come – You Go, Nut Race  24

 

Printed (from Monitor Book of Games): Spring Game, Drawing Uncle Sam, Steeple Chase, Imitation, Secretary, Cutting, Tip, Word-Making  25

 

Printed: Evening Spent with the Turk, Buttons Make a Lively Party  26

 

Printed: Peanuts Turned into Dolls, Musicians, Cushion Dance, Here Goes up for Monday, Serpent’s Tail, Quoits  27

 

End of poem about why a woman hasn’t married  28  (printed items on previous pages have covered the rest of the poem)

 

Printed: cooking party, offering hospitality  29

 

A Very Comical Pantomime Charade  30-31

 

Musical Term [sic] Illustrated  32-33

 

Tulip bed for hiding surprise packages  33

 

Halloween: Witchery; Touch Stone Charm; fortune telling with saucers  34-35

 

Halloween: Home or Travel; a geographical alphabet game; Bobbing for Apples, Raisin Test [for marriage] 36-37

 

A poem about telling fate from charms placed in a cake (poem partially obscured by a printed item, which was later removed)  38

 

Halloween: “The witch may cause much amusement…”  39

 

Halloween: A Weal or Woe Test; Pumpkin Alphabet; Fortune Hunting; Jumping Contest [for marriage]; Threading a Needle [for marriage]  40-42

 

Imitation (crossed out and incomplete)  43

 

Halloween: Imitations  44

 

Halloween: party invitation, reception and introduction at party, using candles to tell how long before marriage  45-47

 

Halloween: Samples of fortune slips; conundrums  48-49

 

Halloween: Barrel-hoop; a nut game; jack o’lantern game (initials of marriage partner); Fortune’s Wheel; Spinning Wheel; Magic Pumpkin; Sentence Forming Fun; fortune telling with colored candles; Beau Charm; Candle Chorus; a game with candle and apple; marriage fortune game; name of future partner game  50-62

 

A Cake Contest  64

 

“Pen Memories of Last Halloween (1904)” (a poem by A. S. Chapman)  66-71

 

“Witch Night, October 31, 1906” (a poem by Arthur Chapman)  72-74

 

A Literary Romance  75 and 81

 

A quotation about a peddler and a tongue twister  76

 

A Handkerchief Bazaar  77-78

 

rhyming invitations to a bazaar  79-80

 

A Bicycle Accident  82

 

Alliteration  83

 

A Culinary Courtship  84-86

 

The Penny Puzzle  87-89

 

Illustrated Proverbs  90

 

The Spring Number of the New Magazine  91-93

 

Men’s Wives  94-95

 

The Minister’s Cat  95

 

Scripture Alphabet  96-99

 

Christmas candles (game)  100

 

Spinster’s Tea  101-102

 

The Most Improbable Story; Words within Words  103-104

 

Forfeits  104

 

St. Patrick’s Guessing Contest (Something Green)  105

 

Utensils of an Old Kitchen  106-104 (incomplete, most answers missing)

 

Introducin’ Pat  108

 

Missing letters  110

 

Living Catalogue [literary game]  111-112

 

Twisted Animals [scrambled words] 113

 

Initials  114-115

 

Halloween: Lines on a Skeleton  116

 

Halloween: a game predicting time of marriage  117-118

 

Halloween: a game with a pumpkin  118

 

The Bundle Game  119

 

Halloween: a game using the rhyme “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, …”  120

 

Halloween: Nut Shower  121

 

Halloween: to find name of future husband or wife; quotations  122

 

Conundrums  123

 

Water Charm; another water charm  124-125

 

New Year’s party: invitation, decorations, games  126-129

 

Bean Bags  130-131

 

Rhyming invitation to a Christmas party  131  [see also p. 174]

 

A Fishing Party  132-137

 

A Dutch Party  138

 

A Thread and Needle Race  139-140

 

Toasts 140-141

 

Some verses: one for Valentine’s Day, two for Christmas, and one about being ready to play  142

 

French Coiffeur  143-144

 

Strawberry Contest 145-147

 

Occasion Telegram (for New Year’s Day); Game of Initials; Telegrams  148-149

 

A Potato Doll Contest  150

 

“Write following verses on cards and pass around, having each one read aloud before performance” (verses instruct the readers to tell a story, sing a song, tell a joke, etc.)  151-153

 

Progressive Initials  154-155

 

Flowers  156-157 

 

Brushing Cobwebs from the Moon [crossed out]  157

 

Vegetables in Disguise  158-159

 

Game: throwing a ball through a ring of mistletoe and into a basket  160

 

Game” keeping a ball of cotton in the air with fans  161

 

A Heart Party  162-164

 

Halloween: a game using invisible ink  165

 

Feather Tennis  166-167

 

Flip, Flap Flummery  167-168

 

Hearts Triumphant  169-170

 

Flower Party  171

 

Measuring Party (rhyming invitation, giving directions); game involving the identification of famous people; tongue twister about Theophilus Thistle   172-173

 

Rhyming invitation to a Christmas party (crossed out; same as on p. 131)  174

 

Snip  174-175

 

For A Heart Party  176-177

 

A list, probably of articles about holidays or holiday parties, from various magazines, 1900-1905  178-179

 

Game with a ball [crossed out, and partially covered by an article which was later torn out] 180

 

List of titles and things that could represent them (such as a pair of scales to represent Justice); jackstraws; horse shoe hunt  181

 

Riddles about Cupid  182-183

 

Questions, some about St. Patrick  184

 

Directions for a game(?)  187

 

Printed: “A May-Pole Carnival”  188

 

Printed: “Good Form and Entertainment” (suggestions for parties and weddings)  189

 

List of games and first names of girls  190

 

Printed: suggestions for weddings, 10th wedding anniversary, and some games with peanuts; suggestions for favors for wooden wedding anniversary party  193

 

Printed: “Seven Little Workers: A Playet in Verse”  [house keeping play for children] 194

 

Printed: “Good Form and Entertainment” (suggestions for weddings and entertainments, including a Klondike mining game)  195

 

Printed: “Papier-Mache Work for Our Boys and Girls”  196

 

List of games; printed: suggestions for Halloween party and Leap Year social  197

 

Printed: various games (including some for Halloween), conundrums, The Game of Scissors, A Parlor Trick, The Wheel of Chance, The Lucky boys Problem, a picture puzzle  198-199

 

List of books and magazine articles with games  200 and back flyleaf