Judge — March 1938 — page 43: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

pe ECENTLY I had the unmitigated misfortune of being at the most elaborately inane function I have ever attended in the name of Party. On my arrival I was led into a large living room where my hostess greeted me in a whisper, lest she disturb the earlier arrivals who were busily trying to write out the names of the forty- cight states in twenty minutes. When that was finished she immedi- ately started another game, then another and another, each requiring concentra- tion to the exclusion of all social ameni- ties. As the evening wore on, I noticed grim little lines settling around the mouths of most of the guests, but there was such a schoolroom atmosphere about the party that nobody dared murmur. “Let this be a lesson to you,” I said to myself. “Plan a party—yes. But remember that the planning and games are, after all, like the seasoning in the cake. They add spice to your party— but too much is worse than none at all.” So here are some condiments. Don't serve them undiluted: RATINGS This is really a nasty game—a good chance to tear everyone to pieces, and all in fun. Give everybody pencil and paper on which are listed ten items such as: ap- pearance, beauty, kindness, unselfishness, brains and character. Then send some- one from the room to figure out his own ratings by himself. Each item counts for a maximum of ten points, making a total score of one hundred points for perfection, which no one will dare give himself, probably. Meantime, the rest of you begin dis- cussing the person in question at the moment and all give him the ratings you think he deserves. Get the average A LET’S PLAY By Dorothy Hoffman rating for the crowd. Call in your vic. tim and let him read his ratings. Many a self-blown horn tapers off here on a sour note. Sitty Psycuics The conversation centered about the supernatural, metaphysics and finally on the question of the power of concentra- tion, the mystery of the psychic. “TI just know that I am psychic,” one large, imposing woman piped up. “Let's try and see,” someone sug- gested, with a bright glint in his eye. The arrangements were quickly made. The psychic lady would leave the room; while she was gone, remaining guests would select one object, and con. centrate on it. The lady would return and try to receive the telepathic mes- sages from the other guests. The lady left. A few minutes later she returned. Everyone sat in a grim pose, concentrating with all his might. The lady flitted from object to object, hover- ing over this, nearly touching that. Fi- nally she pounced triumphantly on a cloisonne vase. A thunder of applause and exclama. tions of surprise were her reward. She received the plaudits with a modest smile; then with a ‘“now-do-you-see?” look she turned to her husband. “You never believed I was psychic. Now you know!” The poor husband had to take it. He'll have to take it the rest of his life, for he'll never dare tell her that no object was picked, and no one concen. trated. The agreement was to approve anything she chanced on, and applaud to beat the band! MIxING MANACLES This string trick deserves a medal for laugh production. Tie a string about three feet long to the wrists of one per- son (A and A’). Slip another string of the same length behind the first one and tie it to the wrists of another person (B and B’). These two people will thus be interlooped. The rules are then stated. They must disengage themselves without removing the loops from their wrists, or breaking the strings. They may do anything else. When they finish their contortions, you will have to show them how. Take the over loop X and bring it ar, over to A. Slip this loop from the back under the string on A's wrist, pull it through and down over A’s hand. Pull both hands back and there you are. see Mr. Albert Bannister, 313 West 51st Street, New York, calls this Say It: Each guest is given a number and chooses the name of a favorite actor or actress for himself. The leader then be- gins to talk about these numbers and actors and actresses. Each time a person's chosen name is mentioned he must say his number quickly. On the contrary, when his number is mentioned he must say the name of the actor or actress he has chosen, Thus, if you are number one and have chosen Ronald Colman, you would do as follows: The leader says, ‘’The other day I saw a man with one (you say, “Ronald Colman’) of the most beauti- ful dogs. It was Ronald Colman.” (You say quickly, “One."") This goes on until everybody is out as a result of forgetting to speak at the proper time. The leader, of course, must not hesitate when he mentions a number or name. As each person goes out he must forfeit some- thing to the leader and the person who goes out last is allowed to decide what each must do to redeem his forfeit. If you wish to share your favorite games with other Let's Play readers, send them along. Hints To Hosts AND HosTeEssEs It has been proposed that we start a Society for the Prevention of Food Crimes in Cooking. We do so, forth. with, and let him who has a complaint be heard before the tribunal. First case—The plaintiff, Mr. Rob- ert Wilcox of Evanston, Ill., who is (Page 45, please) 4l comicbooks.com