Thanksgiving Day Party

Pumpkin Pilgrim Head Party Invitations. Print on bright orange construction paper.
Cut and paste onto doll sized cards to invite all of your friends to a wonderful
Thanksgiving Doll Celebration!

       Games for the Thanksgiving house party may be delightfully fun and as undignified as possible. The more riotous they are, the more charm they will have for the guests who celebrate this sweetest of all our holidays by playing along with their favorite doll. The games described form a jolly program of entertainment for the evening which follows our Doll's Thanksgiving dinner.

Barnyard Blind Man's Buff starts the list of games and is warranted to break up any row of wall flowers. As in the old favorite game of Blind Man's Buff, the players form a large circle about one player who is blindfolded. The circle moves about quickly, two or three times, and then stops, the blind man pointing a wand, or cane which he holds at one of the players who grasps it, and must immediately imitate the gobble of the Thanksgiving turkey, the crowing of a rooster, the baying of the barnyard donkey, or any of the sounds of the barnyard folks he chooses. The blind man tries to recognize the person's identity by the sound of his voice, no easy task, because the player is at liberty to disguise his speaking tones in any way he likes. The blind man has three guesses, and if he is successful in giving the player's name, he takes his place in the circle and the player whose identity was discovered is the next blind man.

Shooting the Turkey follows as the next game on the program. A paper turkey, painted with brilliant water colors, is fastened to a sheet of white paper, which is in turn fastened by thumb tacks to the wall. On the sheet, and around the turkey, black crayon lines indicate the target. The bows with which the guests are provided are made of curved willow twigs strung with elastic bands. Straight twigs having two or three hens' feathers tied to the end made the arrows. The guests stand at the end of the room opposite the target and shoot in turn, a prize rewarding the archer who hits the turkey bulls eye the greatest number of times.

A Turkey Hunt comes next. A large number of tiny turkeys are cut from brown paper and hidden in all sorts of out of the way places in the room in which the game is being played. Each player is provided with a small basket tied with ribbons - the basket being dainty enough to form a party souvenir, and at a signal everybody begins hunting for turkeys, filling their baskets as quickly as possible. At the end of five minutes the hunt stops and a prize is awarded the player who can count the most turkeys in his basket.

       The Thanksgiving guests will be ready to abandon these strenuous exercises soon, for a series of Progressive games arranged for them at a number of small card tables in another room. Four or six guests may be accomodated at each table, and at the end of each game they move on one table, the players at the table next them taking their places. The names of winners at each table are kept by an umpire who does not take part in the games, and a prize is awarded the person who wins the greatest number of games:

1. At the first table, big red apples, cloves, tooth picks and fruit knives are found, and the players make faces on the apples within a certain time limit, the game being won by the player whose apple on the umpire's decision presents the most grotesque face. It is possible to cut the apple skin in curls for these quaint figures, to carve most realistic features with the fruit knives, and the Apple Contest will prove one of the most popular in the game series.
2. At the next table, Peanut Jackstraws is played. A pile of peanuts lies in the middle of the table, and the players are given tiny fish poles with which to pull them out. These poles can be easily made at home. A wood meat skewer, wound with very narrow orange ribbon forms the handle, and a length of orange twine the line, to the end of which is tied a hook made of a bent hairpin. The players try to fish out as many peanuts as possible without moving any except the one for which they are fishing. As soon as a player disturbs the pile of peanuts he loses his turn, and must wait until each of the other players has fished. The biggest pile of peanuts wins the game, and the players move on to the next table. 
3. The next table is given up to a Nut Guessing  Contest. The players find slips of paper with the following lists of questions to which in fifteen minutes they must write the answers. There can be no comparison of answers or helps of any kind, and the longest list of correct answers wins the game. Sample questions may be: What nut grows at the seashore? (Beechnut) What nut encloses a city in China? (Walnut.) What nut does a schoolmaster love? (Hickory nut.) What nut did Captain Kid use? (Chestnut.) What nut colors eyes? (Hazelnut.) And as many other queer nuts as the clever hostess can think of.

       When the possibilities of the Progressive Game tables are exhausted, some freak feats will form a jolly end to the party. In one room a peanut maze has been prepared. A twisting, winding path outlined on either side by rows of peanuts, and only six inches wide is laid on the carpet. The guests start threading the maze in a long line. Any person who loses his balance or steps upon a peanut is disqualified at once, and at the end of five minutes the line will be a very short one.

       Another silly peanut game calls for four chairs, two side by side and two opposite the length of the room from the first ones. In two of the chairs that stand side by side there are piles of peanuts, the same number in each pile. Two guests station themselves by these chairs and with spoons carry the peanuts, one at a time, to the opposite chairs. The player who finishes first wins a prize.

Doll Sized Turkey Treats:

• Teeny Tiny Turkey Table
• Fall Leaf Cookies