



Produced by Giovanni Fini, Chris Curnow and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)







                         TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.

—Bold text have been rendered as =bold text=.




[Illustration:
  POPULAR
  PASTIMES
  For

  Field & Fireside.]




                           Popular Pastimes

                                  FOR

                          Field and Fireside,

                                  OR

                     Amusements for Young and Old.

                         CAREFULLY COMPILED BY

                             AUNT CARRIE.

                          SPRINGFIELD, MASS.:

                   PUBLISHED BY MILTON BRADLEY & CO.
                                 1867.




      Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

                       MILTON BRADLEY & COMPANY,

      In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District
                           of Massachusetts.


  SAMUEL BOWLES AND COMPANY.
  Printers, Binders and Electrotypers.




                              AUNT CARRIE

                               DEDICATES

                         TO HER YOUNG FRIENDS

                              THIS BOOK,

                     IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL ADD
                               TO THEIR

                            HOME PLEASURES.




Preface.


I WOULD like to make a few suggestions on “home influence,” before I
commence a list of amusements. They may be superfluous; if so, I trust
you will pardon me.

All parents, I am sure, must feel a deep interest in this subject, and
I think will agree with me that judicious praise is quite as necessary
in the training of a child as wholesome correction. But if we wish
our children to have a genuine love for us, and our homes, we must
sympathize with them, and never forget we were once children, and loved
childish things.

Mothers have by nature far more sympathy and patience than most
fathers. Some fathers are apt to think that home is only a place in
which to eat, sleep, and be generally comfortable; but as to giving
any of their valuable time to entertaining their own children, why,
the very idea is preposterous! A wife is presuming to expect it! Let
me appeal to your selfish instincts. You all wish to be loved and
revered, and are gratified if your children are attentive to your
comforts. Can you expect such manifestations, unless you set them an
example, and prove by a real interest in their pleasures, that you
sincerely love them? Is it not better to devote at least an hour a day
to your children, than to spend every moment in earning money for them,
which, unless you rightly direct and train them, will surely prove
their ruin?

There is no time in the day when home is so pleasant as at twilight,
or in the early evening hour. Then all are gathered (or should
be) together at home. In the country it is after tea; in cities,
particularly New York, it is after dinner. Then, I entreat you, fathers
and mothers, assemble your children around you, devote your time for
an hour or two in being children with them, join heartily in all their
plays; let them tell what has interested them during the day; draw them
out, and encourage them to open their little hearts freely and confide
in you.

Some think it childish and silly to play games. Yet if we would only
keep our hearts young and happy, we should retain our youth longer, and
love our friends and homes better. A good hearty laugh is wholesome.

Mothers, I intreat you to train your own children. Do not leave them to
servants. Hire them to relieve you of the care of your house, and to
do your sewing; but give your time to your children. “Verily, you will
have your reward.”

I have compiled this book to assist you in your home amusements. May it
carry to your home circle that spirit of enjoyment which is natural to
the young heart, and which should not be absent from the more mature.




                               Contents.


                                                                    PAGE

  PREFACE,                                                             v


  CROQUET.

  MATERIALS used in the Game—Preparation of the
  Ground—Choice of Sides—General Principles of the
  Game—Arrangement of the Bridges—Diagrams—Rules of
  the Game—Striking the Ball—Running a Bridge—Striking
  Out—The Rover—Roquet—Croquet and Roquet-Croquet—The
  Flinch—Suggestions to Beginners—Hints to Players—Carpet
  Croquet—The Board Game—Vocabulary of Terms,                         13


  BASE BALL.

  Origin of the Game—Rules adopted by “the National
  Association of Base Ball Players”—Selection and Measuring of
  Ground—Diagram—Pitcher’s Point and Home Base—Use of the
  Bat—Description of the Game—The Catcher—The Pitcher—The
  Short Stop—First Base—Second Base—Third Base—Left
  Field—Center Field—Right Field—The Umpire—The Scorer,               42


  ARCHERY.

  Position of the Targets—Attitude in
  Shooting—Directions—Bows—Targets,                                   64


  GARDENING AND FLOWERS.

  Benefit of Children’s Gardens—The Woods—How to Plant
  Seeds—Ferneries—Ivies—Pressed Flowers—How to Plant and Grow
  Strawberries—Grapes—Designs for Flowers—To Produce various
  Flowers from one stem—To Preserve Roses till Winter,                67


  ILLUMINATION.

  Materials—Lists of Selected Colors—Brushes—Coloring—Table
  of Colors and Mixed Tints—Design,                                   85


  HOUSE AND HOME ARTS.

  Decalcomanie,                                                       98

  Engraved Boxes,                                                    101

  Coral Flowers and Baskets,                                         102

  Imitation of Inlaid Ivory,                                         103

  Alum Baskets,                                                      103

  Painting on Glass,                                                 104

  Painting on Velvet,                                                106

  Casting in Plaster, Sulphur, &c.,                                  109

  Leather Work,                                                      111

  Cigar Boxes made Useful,                                           116

  Potichimanie,                                                      118

  Ornaments in Rice Shell Work,                                      120

  Allspice Baskets,                                                  124

  Rice or Shell Baskets,                                             125

  Wafer Baskets,                                                     125

  Impressions of Butterflies,                                        126

  How to take Impressions of Leaves,                                 126

  Paper Landscapes,                                                  127


  NATURAL MAGIC.

  The Æolian Harp,                                                   128

  The Magic of Acoustics,                                            129

  How Sound travels through a Solid,                                 129

  Singular Example of Superstition,                                  130

  Theory of the Voice,                                               131

  The visibly growing Acorn,                                         132


  DANCING.

  Pop goes the Weasel,                                               134

  Lancers,                                                           134

  Le Prince Imperial Quadrille,                                      137

  Common Cotillion,                                                  139

  Basket Dance,                                                      140

  White Cockade,                                                     141

  The Waltz and Polka Quadrille,                                     141

  Sir Roger De Coverly or Virginia Reel,                             141

  Nine-Pin Dance,                                                    142

  Caledonian Quadrilles,                                             142


  DRAMATIC AMUSEMENTS.

  General Directions for Private Theatricals,                        144

  Dramatic Reading Clubs,                                            147

  Charades and how to Act them—Examples,                             149

  Tableaux Vivants,                                                  154


  THE SIBYL.

  Sibylline Leaves—The Fiat of Fate—Flower Fate—Fate Box,            156


  THE PUZZLER.

  Conundrums,                                                        160

  Enigmas, Charades and Riddles,                                     162

  An Enigmatical Dinner,                                             168

  Paradoxes and Puzzles,                                             170

  Arithmetical Problems,                                             173

  Answers to Conundrums,                                             175

  Answers to Enigmas and Charades,                                   176

  Answers to Paradoxes and Puzzles,                                  178

  Answers to Arithmetical Problems,                                  180


  GAMES FOR OLD AND YOUNG.

  Blind Man’s Buff,                                                  182

  Shadow Buff,                                                       183

  Blind Man’s Wand,                                                  183

  Chinese Shadows,                                                   184

  The Comical Concert,                                               184

  The Menagerie,                                                     186

  Quaker Meeting,                                                    186

  Resemblances,                                                      187

  Put in a Word,                                                     188

  Proverbs,                                                          188

  Game of Characters,                                                189

  Lawyer,                                                            190

  Consequences,                                                      190

  Fox and Geese,                                                     191

  Stage-Coach,                                                       192

  Hunt the Fox,                                                      193

  Sneezing,                                                          193

  The Ready Writer,                                                  193

  Rhyming Words in Pantomime,                                        194

  Exhibition of the Modern Giant,                                    196

  The Shadow at Command,                                             197

  The Wizard of the East,                                            198

  How to Bring a Person down upon a Feather,                         199

  The Apparent Impossibility,                                        200

  The Turned Head,                                                   200

  Statuary,                                                          201

  “He can do little who can’t do this,”                              201

  “Brother, I’m Bobbed,”                                             202

  “How do You Like it? When do You Like it? And Where
  will You Put it?”                                                  202

  The Bird Catcher,                                                  203

  Questions and Answers,                                             206

  The Magic Wand,                                                    206

  The Rhyming Game,                                                  207

  The Game of Twenty Questions,                                      208

  Game of Photograph,                                                210

  York and Lancaster, or the War of the Roses,                       212

  Post-Office,                                                       214

  Hand-writing on the Wall,                                          214

  Graces,                                                            215

  Family Newspaper,                                                  216


  GAMES OF MEMORY.

  Grand Panjandrum,                                                  218

  “Le Jardin de ma tante,”                                           219

  A Good Fat Hand                                                    219


  PARLOR GAMES.

  Squails,                                                           222

  Parlor, or Carpet Bowls,                                           226

  The Union Game, or Red, White and Blue,                            227

  Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life,                                        229

  Grecian Games,                                                     230

  Jack-Straws,                                                       231


  GAMES FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.

  Dance, Thumbkin, Dance!                                            233

  Uncle John,                                                        234

  Mother Goose,                                                      234

  Clap out and Clap in,                                              235

  Fingers and Thumbs,                                                236

  “You are nothing but a Goose,”                                     237

  Buzz,                                                              238

  The Puzzle Wall,                                                   239

  Dolls,                                                             240

  Boys,                                                              241

  Play-Ground Rhymes,                                                243

  Forfeits,                                                          244




Croquet.


CROQUET has been for several years one of the most popular pastimes
in England, and is now very justly receiving a large and rapidly
increasing share of attention in this country. It is unmistakably a
game of _science_, in which the brain, as well as the muscles and
nerves, has an essential part to perform,—thus very closely resembling
billiards, to which game it is in some respects superior, in that it
is a more social game, and gives an opportunity for healthful open air
exercise.

Unlike most of out-of-door sports, it does not require the possession
of great strength or powers of endurance, or severe muscular exertion
on the part of the player. Excellence in it is almost equally
attainable to the weakly and delicate as to the healthy and robust.
Old and young meet on its arena on more nearly equal terms than in any
other known game of skill. A “correct eye,” steady hands and nerves,
and good judgment, are the essential qualifications for a good player,
and the possession of these advantages of course is not dependent upon
the age, sex, or condition of the person.

And it may perhaps be considered as the chief excellence of this game
that it gives this opportunity, which very few other games, combining
scientific play and physical exercise, afford, for persons of the
opposite sexes and disparity of age to join in one common amusement.
It should be a matter of congratulation to all to see the rapidly
increasing popularity of any healthful open air sport in this country.

We predict for Croquet a success wider in this than it has reached in
any other country. When we work or fight, we work and fight harder than
any other people, and we should be as enthusiastic in our play.

In preparing this chapter on Croquet we have endeavored to explain the
general principles of the game, and to present a code of rules, simple,
concise, and shorn as far as possible of technicalities of expression,
but comprehensive enough to include all points necessary to a thorough
understanding of the game.

In Rules of the Game, explanatory remarks are enclosed in brackets.


MATERIALS OF THE GAME.

A COMPLETE set of Croquet consists of _eight balls, eight mallets, ten
iron bridges, and two posts_.

The balls should be about ten inches in circumference, perfectly
spherical, and should weigh about eight ounces. They should be
designated by different colors, either by painting the entire surface
of the ball, or by a stripe of the color merely. But the first method
is much to be preferred, as a ball needs all the protection it can have
to preserve it from the effects of the weather, and for this purpose
nothing is better than good oil paint and varnish. There is a universal
predisposition towards large balls by all novices in the game; but
experience will invariably give the preference to a ball not more than
ten inches in circumference, if of rock maple or birch, and if of
box-wood, not more than nine and one-half inches.

[Illustration: MALLET.]

The mallet head should be about 2⅜ inches in diameter, and 4¼ inches
long, shaped somewhat like a dice-box; and the handle 33 inches long,
15/16 of an inch in diameter in the largest part, and ⅝ of an inch in
the smallest. It is customary to paint some portion of the mallets to
correspond to the colors on the balls. This is a very great advantage
in distinguishing the different players and assisting the memory to
connect them with their respective balls, and we much prefer it; but
some players prefer to leave the mallets undistinguished, and to allow
each player to select his own,—choosing such weight, size and length
as he may desire—and perhaps there is no objection to this. A feeble
or delicate person may not be able to play as well with a mallet of the
standard size as his opponent, and thus will be upon an unequal footing
with him at the outset; while, if each selects such as is suitable to
his or her condition, all will be satisfactorily equipped, and, of
course, upon equal terms, as far as the implements are concerned. For
balls and mallet heads good rock maple is the most desirable of all
our native woods, and hickory is the best for mallet handles. Box-wood
is very good for mallet heads, but is too heavy for balls. Box-wood
mallet heads and good rock maple balls, well painted, make an elegant
and superior set, and are preferable to a complete box-wood set,
while rosewood and lignum-vitæ balls are little better than iron, and
entirely unfit to use.

The bridges should be made of iron wire about 5/16 of an inch in
diameter, in form like an ox-bow. The width of the bridge should be
equal to the circumference of the ball, and the hight such that when
firmly set it will stand out of the ground a distance equal to its
width. They should be uniform in color. White is best, as it is more
easily seen, and contrasts more pleasingly with the green of the turf.
Some have adopted the practice of painting them of different colors,
but the reason assigned seems not to be a good one, and experience
almost unanimously pronounces in favor of a uniform light color.

[Illustration: THE BRIDGE.]

One manufacturer has adopted and patented the happy idea of galvanizing
or plating the iron bridges with zinc, which gives them a _permanent_
light color, and at the same time perfectly preserves them from rust.

Some writers assert that withs or firkin hoops answer very well for
bridges. They may answer as a very poor substitute, but a good croquet
player would no sooner play with such materials than a billiard player
with a slack rope for a cushion or an umbrella for a cue. In many of
the scientific “shots” of the game, the player calculates upon the
rigidity of the bridges, and an iron bridge, when set in sandy soil,
is at best none too rigid; and with loose or springy bridges the game
loses much of its attraction to a good player.

[Illustration: THE POST.]

The posts should be about 28 inches long, 1½ inches in diameter in the
largest part, and pointed so as to be driven into the ground. They
should have rings painted on them corresponding to the colors of the
balls, and of such width that the bottom ring will be as high from
the ground as the top of the bridges. Thus, supposing the post to be
28 inches long, commencing at the top, make each ring 1¼ inches wide.
This will occupy 10 inches, and hence allow the posts to be driven
into the ground 8 inches, and still have the lowest color so high from
the turf that it can be easily seen from any portion of the ground. The
order of the colors on the post is not essential so long as the light
and dark colors alternate; but the two uppermost colors belong to the
chiefs of the two sides, and therefore most properly should be black
and white, as those are the best representatives of dark and