NOVEL PARTY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3573, 24 February 1914, Page 7

NOVEL PARTY.

PRACTICAL JOKE EVENING. COLLAPSIBLE CAKES AND FAKED CAKES. The Latest thing in festivities is the “Practical Joke” party. Each gnest is asked to bring some small harmless little practical joke,* and to “spring” it on the other guests during the evening. The roars of delighted laughter that greet each ingenious little trick quickly overcomes the greatest difficulty a hostess has to face at a party —the difficulty of “breaking the ice." At a practical joke evening held not long ago somebody found what appeared to ho a glowing cigarette-end on the table, apparently burning a hole in the polished mahogany. She was half suspicious, but it looked so real that she picked it up hastily—and found that tiiis, too, was a sham. By this time everybody was chatting merrily and eagerly looking out for flic next trick. This proved to he a highly lifelike “live” coal which was discovered on the hearthrug. The hostess herself was taken in this time, and frantically seized the thing with a pair of tongs—only to find that it was made of red-and-blaek paper. Supper t ime, of "course, proved the best time for practical jokes, and numbers of guests surreptitiously slipped faked things amongst the goodies on the table. The most successful was a cake that looked most inviting. But when a hold spirit attempted to cut it, ho found that the top simply collapsed under the pressure of the knife. The “cake” was hollow ! A most lifelike pat of “butter,” that half a dozen people in turn tried to pick up with a knife, only to find that .it was made of hard rubber — an astonishingly good imitation “oyster” slipped among a plate of real ones—and some highly-realistic rolls of bread, cakes, and pastries, all added to the fun.