Uphold the Christmas Spirit

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20995, 23 December 1939, Page 15 (Supplement)

Uphold the Christmas Spirit

|| An Excuse for a Party

33 Cheerfulness on the home front is one of the great factors which W make a country strong. Instead of bemoaning the war we must keep our homes gay, %ake the evenings happy, and uphold the traditional J&j Christmas spirit this year more than ever. jffi You’ll probably spend a good deal of your spare time doing knitting and other war work, but remember that all work and no play makes jg Jill a dull girl, so keep up your spirits and get your neighbours to drop jS in for some communal fun, and hold an informal Christmas party with 33 games and simple fun. 38 You might start off the fun with a sing-song game like the following. $! Variety Bill Players sit round in a circle and each is given the name of a wellknown variety or concert artist, George Formby, Gracie Fields, Gladys JSr Moncrieff and so on. jg The conductor of the variety bill stands in the centre

of the circle and announces that the choir will sing a popular chorus. All start to sing heartily (any chorus . they all know will do), but suddenly the conductor I. stops the music and announces that Gracie Fields—or any other player—will render a solo. The selected artist must immediately burst into

jS song with another chorus. If the singer is unable to do so before the ijsj combined choir counts out five, he or she pays a forfeit. fS A rule to be observed is that when called upon for a solo, the artist 33 must produce a new chorus each time, otherwise a forfeit must be paid. ■fjt Merchant Ships Each player draws a ship on a slip of paper and then divides the ship into six “holds” for cargo. A dice is used in the game and the pips on the dice represent the fol- @ lowing merchandise: 1, tea; 2, rice; 3, coffee; 4, grain; 5 sugar; 6 oats.

Players sit round a table and each takes it in turn to shake the dice. When a player shakes a two she writes the word “rice” in her No. 2 “hold.” A six would mean that “hold” 6 is full of oats, and so on. The game continues in this way until one ship reaches port with all her holds full to win the game.

National Gallery Sa And now for a “walk-round” game to give you a leg stretcher. The artist of the party draws on ten separate slips of paper ten difjg ferent rough sketches each of which is a clue to the anme of a well-known jig person. For example, an umbrella might indicate Mr Chamberlain, a *3 beacon for Mr Hore-Belisha, a racing car for Mr John Cobb, a beard for 38 Bernard Shaw, and so on. 33 These sketches are then pinned in convenient places round the room 38 and the art gallery is thrown open to the public. *5 Players walk round and try to puzzle out who are the characters 2S represented. gS During the evening serve a buffet supper consisting of savoury finger a* foods, with perhaps one large decorated cake of the layer variety. I 3g suggest the following menu with the addition of a few Christmas 38 novelties:— 33 Hot savouries, baked in individual fm ramekins: macaroni in cheese sauce topped with breadcrumbs and garnished just before serving jm with small slices of olive, sprig of parsley JfS and a bit of salmon. Savoury biscuits: made with assorted kS flavourings: anchovy, stuffed o live, cream 33 cheese, tomato, gherkin, sardine, chopped 33 nuts, sprigs of mint. Plate of plain, wafer thin wholemeal bread, $5 buttered and rolled, encircled by a ring of stoneless dates. M Decorated cake ffief Olives and radishes £% China Tea. Coffee. &L Cream. Lemon.